Salaam

Cut the Crap

Bush is indignant. Here and there accusations abound, and defenses spring complete with statistics (versus the other statistics). Hundreds of thousands of people are dead. Entire towns are erased as if they never existed, millions more are without family members and means of income. Thousands of orphans, widows, and widowers were created overnight. Look at your house, your job, your children, your parents, your friends, your town, your possessions. Imagine them all gone in an instant. How much money, time, care and effort would be enough to make the pain go away? The fact is that rich and poor alike will never give enough. Whether it's 15 million dollars, 350 million, a billion, or more, I'm confident that it is not in our nature to give enough, let alone too much. Can we stop worrying about whether or not we're "stingy" or not and just boldly admit, "Yes, I spend well beyond what is needed on me and mine. I will give, but it will not really be generously by any religious or secular definition. I must admit guilt to the label of "stingy" as I spend more on war and recreation than on relief- but now what is important is giving. More is better than less." How much money have we spent on trying to defend our "stinginess"? What a sad, sad comedy of errors.

posted by Abdul-Salaam @ 9:07 PM