Sep 13, 2001, 9:05am

First of all people, Don't Be Stupid. Do not let your stupidity and ignorance focus blame on people like Jish.

I have some Muslim friends, along with some Jewish friends. If anything, my Muslim pals are as upset about the events of September 11, 2001 as I am, if not more so. They've also, in the past two days, been victims of ignorance, of racism, of stupidity. By stupid, ignorant idiots who see a colour of skin, or a head dress, or an accent and immediately attempt to lay blame. Stop being stupid.

--

I'm numb. I'm still in shock. I cannot digest what has happened. Yesterday I essentially took a day off from work, from my cell phone, and from events and tried to focus on what I have, and those who are important to me. I had a lot of thoughts and sympathy for those who died and those who have lost loved ones.

We take a lot about our lives for granted. A nice sunset. A walk in the park. The ability to travel freely. The ability to make a phone call. A vacation. Our pets. Our children. Our way of life. Yesterday I spent a lot of time thinking about these things, and what we can do as individuals as well as a community and a planet, to not take these things for granted so much. I didn't have any easy answers, but one thought came to me. Hate is not the answer. Revenge may not even be the answer. Dilligence, care, understanding, comprehension and justice are.

I thought about myself and I realised that I use the word "hate" too much. I have said in the past I hate Future Shop, or I hate Mark Mushet, or I hate Telus, or I hate this or that. Hate inspires hate. It is self destructive. It breeds things like what we witnessed on September 11.

I'm not preaching a love in or warm gushy feelings for one and all. I'm saying that we as individuals, and we as a society need to have less hate, and more comprehension. More dilligence. More care. Human nature will probably never learn to give up hate, but we can (and should) learn to control that emotion more. Hate and jealousy ispire these terrorist actions. Care and comprehension can minimize them.

I'm also not saying that the perpetrators of these events should be handled lightly. If the ones directly responsible for this act are found, a gun should be placed on their foreheads, and the trigger pulled. This was a genocide. This was mass murder on a scale that is unfortunately far too common in human history. But the action should be prudent and should be exacting. The answer is not to bomb the hell out of a Palastinian neighbourhood where people cheered the events, or blow up a city in Afghanistan. That is an act of stupidity and pure hate, and will only breed more of these terrible, horrifying events we witnessed a few days ago.

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