Viva La France!
Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and the sunny, frigid, calm and endless blue skied island of Nantucket! Great to be with you on this cold January 11th day, a quiet Sunday morning to be sure, as the little Harbor of Hyannis lies in wait for a warmer day. Indeed, the only critter out on a day like this may be the Bufflehead Duck who makes his appearance ’round this time of the year, keeping ‘time’ with the occasional harbor seal and flying seagull ‘ore head…
Things are just a little more active in Paris, France at this moment however–eight a.m. eastern, two p.m. “European time”– as millions of people are and will be attending the various rallies “for peace, unity, freedom and the END to VIOLENCE!” in and around the prominent “City of Lights” squares, with 40 world leaders expected to be in attendance, from Germany’s Andrea Merkel to Great Britain’s David Cameron. The calm, peaceful march will evoke much emotion from this fragile country, who is having a tough time ‘absorbing’ it’s ever growing Muslim population.
The United States does not have quite the same problem they have in France, mainly because we have integrated Muslims with Jews along with Catholics, Lutherans, Baptists, Atheists, Agnostics, Hindus, Buddhists and other faiths that fit nicely together with our clear separation of church and state. Although some would argue that with this new 114th U.S. Senate being 92 percent Christian there could be some biases, but let’s not get side tracked shall we?
France has over 5 million Muslims living in the country today, with many not feeling part of the community, (living like many African-Americans do today in the U.S.), living on the margins of a society that in many cases hates them. It is a fact that can not be disputed, nor can it be swept under the rug. It must be addressed in overall policies and real changes in how we treat the vast majority of OUR minorities, hence the peace being restored. It is really that simple. The horrible killings of those simple, sweet cartoonists at the weekly French satirical periodical “Charlie Hebdo”, culminating in another attack at “Hyper Cached” by a fellow Jihadist, ultimately taking 17 innocent lives in the process, was unspeakable and does not need any more press.
However, this march of Unity today, seen around the world by billions, will hopefully show these terrorists that their brand of hate/terror/evil is not going to win. It will–like the horrible Nazi party that hijacked Germany leading up to and concluding with World War II–be stamped out and forgotten as just another evil wind that swept over the world for a brief spell, only to be disinfected and ultimately extinguished by the sunlight of the spirit–lo, by the very men and women, steeped in philosophical/political/religious satire, that you thought you killed the other day.
For let it be known that you cannot kill laughter, nor can you kill freedom of expression. And though it may dawn on some creators to tone down the rhetoric that offends–i.e. slurs of African-Americans or antisemitism or insulting the Prophet Mohammed that is at the core of Islam–to others in this callous world it will not
Violence in any form is abhorrent and must be addressed by the greater good–steadfast in it’s Knowledge that ‘it’ IS Universal and Infinite. I think that is what everyone in Paris is reflecting on today, keeping in mind that word inclusiveness. Taking a step back and making the society work for that ‘greater good’ seems to have better results for all involved. Rich or poor…
HAVE A NICE DAY! (and week ahead!).
PRESERVE THE WILDERNESS! Peace~M
