I just received YET ANOTHER one of those hate-emails that are so persistent on the internet--this time it was about Muslims taking over the US. Yesterday's was about how much better things USED to be in this country--presumably blaming liberals/Democrats, though it didn't come right out and say so. These emails are basically all the same--the recipient is intended to be among the "us" who are threatened by "them." They make bold, sweeping statements that might have one instance of truth, which is then blown into a sweeping assumption by someone who is either completely ignorant or is actually smart enough to know that if they present an ignorant person with someone to hate and blame, that person will neither question the assumption nor challenge it. They wish to hate someone and voila! Now they have a target.
Yesterday the world lost Miep Giese, the courageous woman who hid Anne Frank and her family from Hitler's Gestapo for two years. At a time when anti-semitism was widespread--including here in the US, Miep was smart enough and caring enough to look beyond what was being said about a group and see the individuals. She risked her own life to save people of a different faith. How tragic that the day after her death, one of my "friends" sent me an email about the dangers presented by members of one religious faith. Have we learned nothing from our own past? Couldn't this new decade be the one where we start seeing past the labels and seeing the people underneath?
1 comment:
I do so agree with you on this one.
All we can do is try to treat others as we would like to be treated.
Miep Giese was such a remarkable woman and so modest about her own part. Yes, there were others who looked out for the Jews in those dreadful times. They are people I admire for their courage.
It is merely a showing of personal ignorance, these hate messages. Unfortunately, History has taught us what such ignorance of the world could lead to.
Tolerance of other cultures is not always easy, but it is the way forward.
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