http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/30/opinion/30kristof.html?ref=opinion
Op/Ed in the New York Times. Please read it, and be forewarned about some powerfully graphic images.
Women are second class, at best, citizens in many parts of the world, and are subject to extreme and severe bouts of violence regularly. It is imparative for people around the world to be aware of violence outside their personal geographies, as "no man is an island, entire on his own."
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Tragedy in India
I opened my computer and saw on the NY Times the
terrorist attacks in India. As someone who recently returned from the
country writing to one who has such a long and intimate relationship
with the country, my heart just broke. I know I read every day about
the tragic and consistent terror attacks in Afghanistan, but to see
something so close to home in flames...its like a constant repeat of
terror that seems to follow us around the world. From Israel to New
York to Spain to this horrible war in which we find America, terror
has seemed to crop up at junctures. I know we cannot live in fear, as
that is the goal of a terrorist, to take away people's rights to live
free, free from fear of random and pointless death. Like so many
countries in this world, India has its fair share of deep religious
discordance, and major schisms in understanding of one's fellow
countryman, and more importantly, fellow human being. I saw it daily
living in Israel, and I see it daily in New York, every time we pass a
homeless person on the street and choose not to do some form of help
toward one another.
The only answer is education. People learn what is taught to them.
Be it from wanton poverty, extreme religious beliefs, or bigotry, it
can only be passed on through lessons from other individuals. How
careful we must be when charged with the task of educating one
another! What an awesome responsibility we all carry. Is it possible
to make people see we are first humans, above all else? Hippocrates's
axiom should be held above all else, "first, do no harm."
terrorist attacks in India. As someone who recently returned from the
country writing to one who has such a long and intimate relationship
with the country, my heart just broke. I know I read every day about
the tragic and consistent terror attacks in Afghanistan, but to see
something so close to home in flames...its like a constant repeat of
terror that seems to follow us around the world. From Israel to New
York to Spain to this horrible war in which we find America, terror
has seemed to crop up at junctures. I know we cannot live in fear, as
that is the goal of a terrorist, to take away people's rights to live
free, free from fear of random and pointless death. Like so many
countries in this world, India has its fair share of deep religious
discordance, and major schisms in understanding of one's fellow
countryman, and more importantly, fellow human being. I saw it daily
living in Israel, and I see it daily in New York, every time we pass a
homeless person on the street and choose not to do some form of help
toward one another.
The only answer is education. People learn what is taught to them.
Be it from wanton poverty, extreme religious beliefs, or bigotry, it
can only be passed on through lessons from other individuals. How
careful we must be when charged with the task of educating one
another! What an awesome responsibility we all carry. Is it possible
to make people see we are first humans, above all else? Hippocrates's
axiom should be held above all else, "first, do no harm."
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