I live down the street from two different Islamic-owned grocery stores (plus I often buy hot dogs on sale at another in downtown St. Petersburg!). In each of these situations, the people who work in these stores are only nominally islamicized (they are, after all, selling PORK products in the form of 89 cent hot dogs and Cuban sandwiches of all things!). Yes, due to the War on Terror, I often feel a bit uneasy about entering these stores, but heck, at 89 cents per fully dressed hot dog and at $3.40 for a freshly-made Cuban sandwich (again, made with PORK products!), these Arabic store prices just cannot be beaten!!!
But, in spite of relatively congenial relations with my local Arabic-speaking grocers (who sell PORK, and also even sell alcoholic products . . . I guess they are not "technically" Islamic anymore . . .), I nonetheless am always living 'life on the edge' . . .
I have taken Tae Kwon Do, and I NEVER plan to use it, but nonetheless, I am ALWAYS thinking about various 'what if' situations.
Take the recent shooting in Illinois for example. Disgruntled student = 7 dead and 16 wounded.
The man who did the carnage apparently has a father who lives in LAKELAND, FLORIDA, just 45 minutes away from where I live!
OR, how about THIS example, just this past week, at St. Petersburg College, the campus in Clearwater (where I will be teaching 'World Religions' this May through July . . .) there was a 'gunman' who was arrested for threatening his girlfriend, complete with a campus lock-down!
WHAT IS OUR society coming to???
I have actually thought about going ahead and buying a hunting bow to protect myself at my apartment 'just in case' all pandemonium breaks out . . . (Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans did result in mass looting and the Lousiania Governor being forced to call in the Louisiana National Guard wanting 'boots on the ground' immediately).
Friends, we in the U.S. live in trying times . . . The DARK AGES of U.S.A. HISTORY!!!
Within these 'New Dark Ages' what we need is an INCREASE in POLICE PROTECTION!
EXPAND ALL LOCAL POLICE FORCES by 30% over the next four years!
Yes, we are living in such violent times, almost like the 'Wild West' even . . . In fact, in Texas, a new "Castle Law" is being put on the books permitting residents to use deadly FORCE against would-be intruders . . .
I believe in non-violence as a Christian. I am also a just-warrior in the tradition of Catholic Theologians St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas.
Blessings and LOVE in Jesus Christ,
Rob J. King
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2 comments:
My precinct in North Seattle contains the only Mosque in the area.
http://www.idrismosque.com/
The gas stations on the corner are managed by people who speak Arabic. Many of the women in my area wear a headscarf. I hear 'As-sallamu aleykum!' quite often on the street.
I'm not afraid. Why should I waste my time and energy being afraid of people like that? It's just not worth my time. Not when there is so much work to do to bring peace to the world.
I think we need to meditate on the difference between making something unavailable, and making something unnecessary. Liberals & Progressives don't want to make police protection unavailable when they are needed. I object when I hear that my city/county/state is losing funding for our police force. Being employed by the police department is a great job if you can get it! But if that reduction in funding follows a reduction in crime, I don't object so much. It means that the police have made themselves unnecessary, and people have other opportunities to make a living besides stealing copper wire and the like.
Same with the Pro-Life movement, which we have already discussed in detail. I object when people who are pro-life wish to make abortion unavailable, because there will always be circumstances when it is necessary. But you and I agree 100% on the goal of making those services unnecessary in our society. Not one more unwanted pregnancy! Not one more unwanted child! I can get behind that. If we make things unnecessary, if we make demand go down in 'the market', then it goes away.
Violence is one of those things. Make violence unnecessary, locally or globally, by giving people better things to do than shoot 'em up in schools or blowing themselves up in marketplaces. Give them jobs. Give them hope. Give them peace. If that's what we have to offer, with open hands, open arms and open hearts, then we will have nothing more to fear.
Chad,
You should move to St. Petersburg and become a police officer!
The 'men and women in blue' (or in our case, 'light green' uniforms . . .) do EXACTLY the type of 'preventative justice' that you rightly describe!
THIS also is my approach!
If you can shut down public drinking events at 10 p.m. then the crowds disperse, lowering 'street crimes' by pushing 'the party' back into the bars (until 2 am anyways) or back to people's houses, apartments, etc.
In many ways, this is 'common sense' and why I so vehemently OPPOSED the Draconian police focus of former mayor Rudy Giuliani.
And yes, although my local Arabic-speaking grocer MIGHT be a bit more 'abrasive' verbally (due to his culture, which is more demonstrative--this case just yelling if someone stands in line too long or something . . .), this does not mean that he is a danger. In fact, most Arabic Americans I know are QUITE hard-working, gentle, love their children, etc.
BUT and an important but, when PROTECTION is needed, we MUST have an increase in BOTH police force and the proverbially "boots on the ground." When looting broke out in Lousiana, it was the GOVERNOR herself calling for the National Guard. The L.A. riots (Rodney King verdict) also showed the need for a healthy-sized police force, complete with BACK-UP National Guard protection!
To do anything else is suicidal as a society (which is why I oppose the nomination of Barack Obama because he lacks the military panache of Hillary Clinton who sits on the Senate Armed Services committee).
Finally, just as I wrote this case, sadly (and quite alarmingly . . .) ANOTHER campus of St. Petersburg College had a similar 'lock-down' all day Friday (2-15-2008).
So, the gunshots are as close as my own city, my friend, and I want MORE 'boots on the ground' or else the gangster, the criminal, the insane graduate student will drive the rest of us indoors . . .
Love in Jesus Christ, Rob
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