THIS shreds my soul. The link takes you to an article about a young person committing an atrocity while his elders stand by in approval.
And you know what?
I'm not really caring a whole lot about 'political correctness' at the moment. What is portrayed in the photo (couldn't watch the video itself, I just could not) is beyond any word I have at my command.
And yes of course I realize I'm just a little old gramma lady who lives in a tumble down cottage on Main Street of Small Town USA in the middle of nowhere. I realize that what I think or say or do doesn't matter a whit to anyone except me and possibly a handful of others.
Even so, although it is small, I do still have my Voice.
Excuse me folks, but our world is being bullied in the most horrifying way possible - and what are we going to do about it?
Where now all those Voices who have been so strident about 'taking a stand against bullying in our schools'? Where now those Voices that rant and rave about being offended? Where the Voices of those who speak out against Domestic Violence? Where the Voices that rail against injustice in our judicial and incarceration system?
WHERE ARE OUR VOICES?
A child commits murder and we condone it with our silence?
NO.
I tell you: NO.
The perpetrators are using religion as a weapon. No it is not the first time but this is happening in OUR time. OURS. Not way back in history somewhere but NOW and HERE.
We are being baited by a bully with a mean streak a mile wide.
Islam denies culpability, guilt by association. Christianity likewise; Judaism likewise; Buddhism the same; and Hinduism. 'We are victims!' Well, and so we are, all of us. And we are letting our own divisions get in our way. Islam cannot control this bullying 'child'; Christianity cannot; Judaism cannot; Buddhism and Hinduism cannot. Together, we could.
I write fiction, yet the times of which I write are not fictional.
Times and weaponry are different now but people are not. Peace too often comes at a price ... a dear price ...
From Mamm of Dunnottar:
" ... Stilicho breaks the silence.
‘We know you, young warriors.’
His words make Ataulf smile.
‘We are healers more than warriors, Stilicho.
We would have peace in this land and in all lands.’
‘Ah yes. So would we all. Going to battle for
the sake of peace, does this not sit ill with you, Man of Peace?’
‘No. It is too often necessary.’ ... "
And ...
" ... Her Voice sounds hollow and the two men turn to
look first at one another and then at Joan.
Davidson speaks quietly.
‘Joan, what see you? Can you tell us?’
‘Death. I see death, Davidson. Death and
mourning. I see great wrath unleashed, and the Mercy of the Mother. Victory yes
but at what price; Davidson my husband, what price are we willing to pay for a
Peace that will be long in coming?’
The hollow Voice goes silent and again the
three stand looking out over the fires of their people.
Come the dawning all is still and silent in the
camps of Alaric.
Even the birds have silenced their Voices.
The Dogs of War, from Chattan and Perth and
Tarnos, sit themselves near their masters and do not stir.
No whicker or neigh is heard from the horses.
It seems not a creature moves – neither bird of
the air nor beast of the forest, nor even the ever-active insects.
On a high place stand Mamm and Alaric.
Hands clasped together before them, their eyes,
one pair so green and the other such a deep blue, have locked once more.
Catan, the Silver Sword, and Glisten stand
motionless alongside of them.
Here they have stood in prayer through the
night.
Here will they stand in prayer through this
day.
The sun rises past the dawning and from a
distance at once too near and too far comes the Voice of the Carnyx of Chattan,
clear in the morning.
Davidson flinches but a grim smile touches his
mouth.
‘The Voice of Chattan is first to Speak,’ he
murmurs.
Too near, too near.
Too far, too far.
Hear now the Horns of Iona.
Hear now the Horns of Tara.
There Sounds the Voice of Perth; and again; and
again.
Now come the Voices of the Horns of Tarnos,
carrying shrill and high in the dawning of this day.
And here the bellow of the Voice of Dunnottar;
the Horns of the Fienne have chosen it on this day and send it before them into
Battle.
The Bells of Andorra give Voice.
Too far, too far.
Too near, too near.
Ataulf, Davidson, and Joan carrying Sma'David
and Mari at her side, come to stand near to Mamm and Alaric.
Silent they are; silent they remain.
And Alaric and Mamm break not their trance.
The Black Wolf approaches to stand silent at
the shoulder of Ataulf; here comes also Plusa to side Davidson, and the pretty
red mares of Joan and Mari whose names are Gala and Ghia.
Here too come the blood-red War Dogs of
Chattan, of Perth, of Tarnos.
Through the air come the Voices of the Horns
again and again.
Chattan.
Iona.
Tara.
Perth.
Tarnos.
Dunnottar.
Andorra.
They are now joined by the Voices of more
Carnyx, more Horns of many places and peoples.
And the Voices of the Horns flow through the
air in a medley, distant but clear, bitter but proud at the dawning of this
day.
Too far, too far.
Too near, too near.
The army of Alaric stands silent and still, in
prayer, on this day. ... "
More than fifteen hundred years ago - before there was any such thing as Islam in our world - people were taking their stand and losing their lives on behalf of a principle which maintains that individual Freedom is worth fighting for.
YouTube Book Trailer
I'm not a natural at much of anything, nor skilled ...
I did not set out to write a bunch of books, just so you know. They just kind of happened.
And now this stuff going on in our own time, our own world ... it makes me feel the way our Characters had to have felt when the same sorts of things were going on in their time, their world.
They took their stand, they held it against all odds, they protected and preserved what was theirs to protect and preserve.
And they did it for US. For us ...
Excuse me, but have we not inherited any of their strength along with the Legacy? Have we not got any of their gumption? That army was comprised of many and many an ethnic group, many and many a different belief system - from across Europe they came, not just the one family whose history we happen to be following through the Mamm Books.
And I don't give a darn whether or not you ever in your life read any of those books - what I WANT is for you YOU YOU to give a darn and to pay attention to what's going on in YOUR world.
You know that symbol thing at the end of the book trailer? This one:
It's a warning. If we keep going the way we're going we'll wind up at a dead end and our civilization will have to work its way back to where we got off track. Not in our lifetime probably, maybe not in our children's ... but unless we do something pretty darned soon as human beings (not as Muslims, or Christians, or Jews, or Buddhists, or Hindus, or Atheists, or Futurists, or anything else but as Human Beings) that dead end might well BE a dead end, literally, for us.
Yeah, I'm more than a little upset by the actions of one 'child'. It's triggered the 'preacher' in me.
All this time I've thought that Voices, in person and in print, could turn the tide.
Our silence, mine included, and yours, hasn't been a very effective deterrent.
If I could, I would bring back that army of so very long ago, all those warriors ... men and women alike ... Pagan, Druid, Culdee, Christian and whoever else ... and sic them on this bully among us.
Me, a Woman of Peace ...
Why?
What is it about this child's actions that has me up in arms?
It's because it is a child. A child who is not innocent. A child whose innocence has been sacrificed in the name of 'religion', in the name of WHAT?!?!
I do not give a darn what your personal belief system might happen to be, any more than that army clear back fifteen hundred years ago refused any who were Called to join them.
Here's another bit that I hope will make you think. It's a Song. Celtic Thunder's 'Voices' ...
The powerful Voices of these men ... 'There's a Voice that is starting to Call us; it's Voice that we just can't ignore. There's a Bell that is Ringing to tell us - we're in a time and a place like never before ... There's a time when we're Called to be ready ... a time when we're Called to be steady ... '
Ach. Just click on the link - their Voices are much more Powerful than my words.
Even so I do give you my Voice - and I do use it to Call you. Listen to what you hear around you. Use your own Voice to answer.
My words, my Voice, such as they are ... they're all I've got.
And whether or not anyone else Hears, my Voice and my words, and YOURS, need to be saying 'NO.'
NO it is not okay. NO it cannot continue. NO NO NO
Because, you see, enough Voices saying 'NO' might make a difference.
China, say 'NO.'
Russia, say 'NO.'
Europe, say 'NO.'
North America, say 'NO.'
South America, say 'NO.'
Australia, say 'NO.'
Africa, say 'NO.'
Asia, say 'NO.'
And mean it.
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