{"id":153,"date":"2003-12-29T18:42:46","date_gmt":"2003-12-29T21:42:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ericbrooks.com\/soapbox\/?p=153"},"modified":"2003-12-29T18:42:46","modified_gmt":"2003-12-29T21:42:46","slug":"where-hatred-ends-and-humanity-begins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ericbrooks.com\/soapbox\/where-hatred-ends-and-humanity-begins\/","title":{"rendered":"Where hatred ends and humanity begins"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rarely do I agree with Michele these days<\/a>. However I do respect her. She’s an excellent writer and this is one of those times where an emotional post *should* override politics and agendas.<\/p>\n

Yeah I admit it. I’m no fan of the Iranians. I’m programmed to hear the word “Iran” and think of the 1979 hostage crisis, Ayatollah Khomeni calling America “The Great Satan”. All that fun stuff. The hilarity of last April didn’t help either with Sayed and Blogshares. They hate me. I hate them back. No problem.<\/p>\n

Hating people back certainly doesn’t bring a solution in the long run (unless the goal is genocide or total annhilation), it’ll go on for generations. It brought to mind an old episode from The Jeffersons about bigotry and compassion<\/a>. George Jefferson (a black man) saved the life of a white supremacist who suffered a heart attack, while getting in a mad fervor and inciting a mob against him.
\n
\nHis reaction to George saving his life was: “You should have just let me die”.<\/p>\n

While George was discouraged, Tom noted how everyone was disgusted by this man’s blind hatred and propaganda… including the klansman’s own son. All from a simple act of compassion by someone they’d least expect. Actions speak louder than words.<\/p>\n

I certainly understand Meryl’s reaction<\/a> (or any Jewish person for that matter), as my initial kneejerk reaction was similar. Simon<\/strike> Laurence Simon<\/a>, on the other hand, is just a hateful jackass on any occasion. He’s another one I refuse to take seriously in Blogland.<\/p>\n

No, I don’t know what it’s like to be a Jew, (or even a Black, Hispanic, Indian, Arab, Asian or Hispanic person.) But a person can apply a fucked up incident, imagine what it would be like if it happened to them… and sympathize terribly.<\/p>\n

\"Courtesy<\/a>
\nYou can look at a picture like this one, and see a man that would want to see you dead… or you can see a father in a great deal of pain as he’s burying his small little bundles from heaven into a grave forever.<\/p>\n

I suspect at this moment he’s not thinking about how much he hates Americans or Jews… that is, if he ever hated them begin with.<\/p>\n

This earthquake<\/a> has tapped into a subject that is the heart of many issues we dance around. OUR HATRED. Or at least mine. Unlike many hypocrites out there, I’m not afraid to take a look inside myself.<\/p>\n

Michele’s point is that this is about PEOPLE not GOVERNMENT. It’s not about Yaweh, Allah or Jesus. It’s not about Israel -vs- Palestine. It’s not about President Bush, Mohammad Khatami, Saddam Hussein, Halliburton, or a poisoned ideology.<\/p>\n

Right now… it’s about people suffering that desperately need help. Not their insane leaders.<\/p>\n

Much like how George Jefferson’s actions changed the thinking of a room full of bigots, this may help relations in the Middle East in the long run. But it’s not even about that right now, it’s about doing the right thing.<\/p>\n

All I can afford to give right now is my deepest sympathy to the people of Bam, Iran… and to apologize for my previously flippant attitude toward “my enemies”. And I’m proud that my country is willing to rise above the petty emotions and the politics and give a helping hand to those in need.<\/p>\n

It’s that part of America that so many people are eager to forget.<\/p>\n

Sayed Razavi is *STILL* an asshole though. :0)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There comes a time when we have to acknowledge that we’re all human beings, and our blood is the same color.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-as-the-web-burns"],"yoast_head":"\nWhere hatred ends and humanity begins - SoApBoX<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ericbrooks.com\/soapbox\/where-hatred-ends-and-humanity-begins\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Where hatred ends and humanity begins - SoApBoX\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There comes a time when we have to acknowledge that we're all human beings, and our blood is the same color.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ericbrooks.com\/soapbox\/where-hatred-ends-and-humanity-begins\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SoApBoX\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"EricBrooksDotComWeb\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"EricBrooksDotComWeb\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2003-12-29T21:42:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.ericbrooks.com\/images\/posts\/iranquake-thumb.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Eric Brooks\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@EricBrooksCom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@EricBrooksCom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Eric Brooks\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ericbrooks.com\/soapbox\/where-hatred-ends-and-humanity-begins\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ericbrooks.com\/soapbox\/where-hatred-ends-and-humanity-begins\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Eric Brooks\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ericbrooks.com\/soapbox\/#\/schema\/person\/8ff62df16d2105a698b2aa19323dca30\"},\"headline\":\"Where hatred ends and humanity begins\",\"datePublished\":\"2003-12-29T21:42:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2003-12-29T21:42:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ericbrooks.com\/soapbox\/where-hatred-ends-and-humanity-begins\/\"},\"wordCount\":579,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ericbrooks.com\/soapbox\/#\/schema\/person\/8ff62df16d2105a698b2aa19323dca30\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ericbrooks.com\/soapbox\/where-hatred-ends-and-humanity-begins\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ericbrooks.com\/images\/posts\/iranquake-thumb.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"As The Web Burns\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ericbrooks.com\/soapbox\/where-hatred-ends-and-humanity-begins\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ericbrooks.com\/soapbox\/where-hatred-ends-and-humanity-begins\/\",\"name\":\"Where hatred ends and humanity begins - 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