Stand Firm, America!

by Audrey Yoeckel

I am so dismayed. There are citizens being attacked! Guilty of nothing, these good folks not only have to deal with the knowledge that there has been a supreme atrocity committed by some lunatics who happen to claim the same roots and religion they do, they stand accused by some folks who would paint them as "enemy" with the broad brush of intolerance.

Three firebombings of Mosques so far in Texas, similar and worse acts of violence carried out everywhere accross the nation for one reason only. There are some folks whose hearts already full of bigotry and hatred look for any opportunity to carry out violent acts against those who are vulnerable. These bigots have no business using our tragedy as an excuse to compound that tragedy by harming others. This is not American. It goes against everything we stand for as a nation.

We need to understand that American Arabs, Moslems and others of Middle-Eastern origin are not guilty of anything and have lost as much as the rest of us. We need to know that, as Americans living under our wonderful Constitution and Bill of Rights, it is our duty to defend them against the aberrant among us, to not allow these acts to be carried out by our neighbors against our neighbors. It is our duty to protect and defend our brothers. Would anybody stand by today and watch Nazis or the KKK send this kind of message to the rest of the world? It diminishes and shames us. When you attack my neighbor, you attack me.

If you have hatred in your heart against anyone at this time, then pray for deliverance from the bondage of it. Do not act on it. That is also our responsibility to our nation and our God.

We can only rise above tyranny by reaching out to all our neighbors and standing firm against it. Only by linking arm-in-arm against injustice will we ever be a strong and unconquerable nation.