Outlawing good
AND so it has come to this. A nation drowning in blood, a people sharply divi ded.
On one side, a howling, approving mob, although there are indications it is steadily diminishing, its ranks ironically and sadly thinned by the very monstrosity they cheer on.
On the other, a growing mass that was once the relative few who disapproved of the madness from the onset, their numbers boosted every day by those who once welcomed the promise of “change” or those who were once passive witnesses out of fear or the hope the carnage would be short-lived, and who had realized things were getting out of hand. And then there are those who have personally suffered, losing loved ones to the evil stalking the land.
Looking down from the growing pile of bones, the architect of the mayhem sees the force massing against the bloody tide and quakes in terror.
Not from their anger, though it is a righteous one, for he thrives on anger, revels in hate, feeds on a dark morality that allows him to judge who is or is not “human.”
No, it is goodness and compassion he fears, much like the ghoul or the vampire fears the light, for these give the lie to his twisted logic and demented vision.
Thus, he seeks to outlaw good and all those who strive to live by it.
First, he set his sights on institutions and organizations that work to defend and protect people from the likes of him, including the government’s own Commission on Human Rights and the United Nations, even as he exhorted his armed services to ramp up the killing.
Then he turned on the institution that, for all its many imperfections, remains to provide the moral compass for most of his people – the church – apparently believing that, if he succeeded in portraying it and its pastors as no better than himself he might rid himself of what could be expected to be among the strongest opponents of the carnage he let loose on the land. He even went so far as to besmirch – sans any proof – the reputation of a murdered shepherd as a fornicator.
Here’s the funny thing. He began his offensive on the church when many of its leaders were still actually timorous or groping for the proper response.
To the uninitiated, Islam is one of the three major Abrahamic religions along with Judaism and Christianity, meaning adherents of these faiths all worship the god of Abraham. They may call God by different names because of language differences, but for all intents and purposes, they are one and the same. And since Eid al-Adha is considered a major holiday, it is “regular.” That means people who have no choice but to work on this day will be paid 200 percent of their daily rate. Now, let’s do the math.