| Punish,
Not the Innocent |
| Violence does not breed peace. |
| Hatred does not breed love. |
| This is what the Rev. Clarence W. Davis of Martin Luther
King Christian Church in Lake Anne told people gathered at
a prayer service Tuesday night after the terrorist attacks
in New York and Washington. |
| Davis urged people not to expect retribution for the horrible
attacks that shook the nation on Tuesday, because retribution
would only satisfy our urge for violence, not solve the problem
of hatred in the world. |
| And he's right. |
| The only certain path to peace is peace. Nations around
the world have become trapped in cycles of violence and rebellion
because they embrace the very principles that tear their societies
down: vengeance and retaliation. |
| When violence is endorsed as a solution, the road ahead
becomes foggy, murky. It's hard to tell where all the violence
will lead us, whether the path will take us anywhere near
peace at all. |
| Violence is never a solution, Davis told the parishioners
Tuesday, and somewhere in my soul I know he's right. |
| But I am a punisher. |
| I want retribution. People who commit acts that society
cannot tolerate should not be tolerated by society, and society
should shed no tear over finding these people and punishing
them. |
| Find them. Hurt them. The world will be a better place. |
| But don't punish the innocent. |
| Don't punish your neighbor because of his race or his nationality.
He is not responsible for terrorist attacks in America. Unfortunately,
these random attacks on people of Middle Eastern descent has
already begun. |
| By 5 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, barely 10 hours after the terrorist
attacks in New York and the Pentagon began, Fairfax County
police had already arrested two people for apparently racially
motivated attacks on people. |
| One man pulled a gun out of a bag and threatened a man and
his wife because he said they would not get out of his way
on the sidewalk. The other guy got angry with the service
at a restaurant and took it out on a man who was dining with
his wife. The man shouted racial slurs at the couple and then
hit the diner on the back of the head. |
| Why? What was that all about? |
| Wednesday morning came the report that vandals had struck
the ADAMS Center, a Muslim group based in Herndon, spray-painting
profanity and insults on the group's front door, hallway and
a sign. |
| This is the behavior I don't understand. There are many
American citizens of Middle Eastern descent and all have met
the same standard of citizenship that immigrants had to make
in the 1800s and 1900s, when my family arrived in this country. |
| Without those immigrants, where would America be now? And
where will America be without those immigrants in the future? |
| In the Washington, D.C., area, we are graced with a diverse
population that fills our streets, hallways, towns, businesses,
and sports arenas with color. Embrace that diversity. And
forget about hurting your friends. |
| The Rev. Davis was reminded how fleeting is life this week
as he and his fellow passengers were ordered off a plane just
before it was scheduled to take of from Baltimore-Washington
Airport Tuesday morning. |
| Life is so short, the Rev. Davis told the people gathered
Tuesday night, and we spend it on such foolish things. |
