Reply #165: You can't understand without being able to hear [View All]

[jaybeat]

There cannot be a dialog if only one side is permitted to speak. We citizens in the United States cannot make up our own minds about the ME conflict or anything else if we are not exposed to all sides of the conflict. Just because we don't like what they are saying doesn't mean that it is our best interest to be ignorant of what they are saying. I don't advocate listening to what they are saying to make them "feel better," I advocate it because *we* need to know what such an influential group is saying and understand why it appeals to so many if we can ever hope to offer their constituency an alternative. Keeping US citizens ignorant serves no one.

You're really off when you say that I am advocating that we " 'feel their pain' for good measure." That is straight out of the book of right-wing, Republican, war-mongering talking points. Listen to Rush, Hannity or any of the others, and that's what they say; that "liberals" want to make the terrorists "feel better," as opposed to GB & Co. who just want to kill 'em all so that can't kill us. You're either with us or your with the terrorists. Non-thinking, us vs. them mentality. Real productive.

Of course, I bet you're about to say, "But that's what Hisb'Allah is spouting! Kill the Jews! Us vs. Them!" But I thought two wrongs didn't make a right. So, just because some extremists don't want to understand the other side, does that make it OK for *us* to not try to understand them? You can't have it both ways. We need to be better, freer, more tolerant than the terrorists. If we're not, then what exactly are we fighting for?

You paint everything black and white with your polarizing talk of "broadcast hate" and your mischaracterizations of what I said. I didn't say "LET the gay kid shoot up the school"--I said we should understand what makes someone *want* to shoot up their school if we want to have any hope of preventing such tragedies. We can't kill every potential suicide bomber. If we did, we'd simply turn every member of their family into suicide bombers. God knows, Israel has tried the military-only approach--has it made them safer, overall? Have their enemies thrown up their hands and given up? BushCo tried it after 9/11--are we safer? I don't think so.

Violence will not end violence. Ignorance will not solve problems. Hate will not end hate. (Then again, platitudes probably won't end platitudes, either. Oh well!)