• “The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.” -Albert Einstein
• “Never open the door to a lesser evil, for other and greater ones invariably slink in after it.” -Baltasar Graciin
• “Tolerance becomes a crime when applied to evil.” -Thomas Mann
I am guilty of living under a so-called awareness of danger. When I see men congregating on the street, I cross to the other side of the road. When evening comes, I tightly deadlock my doors. And where once, I would take an evening stroll to the shops, I now only drive. But I have found out I am not alone. Other people, and especially the women I know, are now exercising the same sort of excessive caution. There is a strange silent curfew sweeping over this once pleasant land.
In the same vein that fathers would meet their children, when the nights drew dark and they were late coming home; many husbands, boyfriends and fathers are also stepping up their watch.
And despite the re-assurance that our safety is of paramount importance, extra CCTV cameras just aren’t cutting it for the sensibly minded. They are not personally there. They watch from a distance, cruelly recording and playing back the horror and the nightmare of the atrocities being carried out on the street against the unarmed, and the unprotected victim.
Travelling alone, public transport, gap years for student children, are all becoming very cautious and careful considerations if you are travelling to and from a city. These are the secret comments that I recently listened to, expressed by old and younger women alike. You could literally watch the seeds of resentment growing.
Are we the victims of an agenda of perpetrated fear mongering or is our so called awareness of our so-called terror, based on reality?
There is most definitely a lot of confusion which is most certainly being perpetuated by the mainstream media.
The recent suicide bombings in Brussels Zaventem Airport and Maalbeck metro station, which some say may possibly have been planned to coincide with the Easter holidays, were consistently reported and emphasized as being carried out by a ‘so-called’ Islamic state. What did they mean?
Were the terrorists connected to Islam or weren’t they?
Demonstrations which later transpired on the streets of Brussels were un-hesitatingly labelled as being carried out by far-right protestors and hooligans, dressed in black, wearing masks, and making Nazi salutes.
From the photographs printed, you can see the odd mask being worn were those replicating the mask used in the film V for Vendetta. You can watch the revolutionary speech from the film here.
Were some of the demonstrators objecting to the actions of a government who they believe have allowed the crimes of fear, terrorism and displacement to infiltrate their country? It is reported the crowd were also shouting anti-migrant slogans.
It is the writer’s thoughts that there was certainly a frustration between watching the peaceful solidarity shown in the unity of races, exhibited outside the Bourse in Brussels, and the unity expressed after the Charlie Hebdo demonstration in Paris; which did nothing to stop a further attack which was later carried out on the Bataclan concert hall in Paris.
The political correctness which also demands a silent obedient consent may also be at the root cause of a frustrated crowd who are now being used to almost distract attention away from the real perpetrators of a much more sinister evilness.
1 – Brussels attacks: Police move against protesters
2 – Brussels Attacks Weren’t Unexpected, Security Flaws Long Known
3 – Germany after the sex attacks: fences are going up and the mood is ugly
Terrorism and Assaults in the UK
Of course terrorism and assaults have always occurred in the UK. The 1975 IRA bombings on the Rotunda building in the city centre of Birmingham, England, awoke my particular generation to an era of bomb threats, bag searching, and regular evacuations from both schools and shopping centres. There was a time it was common place to hear of the ‘troubles’ as we called them. It was acknowledged and spoken about openly. The terror from across the sea in Ireland had come closer to home.
The UK also has a very bad history of hooliganism within the sport of football. Saturday’s in major towns and cities were once dangerous no-go areas. If you wanted trouble, you could always expect a punch-up on a football day. Elton John even sang a song about Saturdays. ‘Saturday Nights all right for Fighting’.
These days football is more about the offence created by ‘name calling’.
Rough and deprived areas have also always existed in every suburb of a city, where you know your level of awareness usually signals some extra ‘caution’. But no-one has ever been so blind as to know that abuse and violence can, and do happen anywhere. Alongside terrorism there is a growing culture of out of control alcoholism and drug addiction out there.
However, we now face a different type of assault. You cannot fail to sense and see it spreading – everywhere. It is not predominantly confined to football stadiums, late night city nightclubs, or the seedy side of town.
People are very afraid of Islam, and they are highly suspicious of strangers until they know them. They do not know who is who in the towns and the cities. They are afraid of the increased attacks that they now see being carried out by some of the migrants they are helping, and they are also tired and frustrated with the cultural acceptance which they feel forced to adhere to.
Should they be the ones to be made to feel guilty, or are they just exercising common sense.
Individually, people hover between the friendship and the peace they would want, against the scale and the intensity of the atrocities we hear about and now physically see and experience on a daily basis.
Germany after the sex attacks: fences are going up and the mood is ugly
Live and Let Live!
Perhaps some of the most challenging misconceptions that we ever have to deal with are the thoughts that many people have on co-existence. There are many emotionally charged ideals being circulated on how we should love and care for each other. Some of these are being promoted through religion and some through humanism. They are not exercising common sense. We do not live in an ideal world and evil does not play by the same rules.
And when humanists point out that religion is the cause of all wars it is sometimes good to also point out that world wide atrocities which have killed millions, have been carried out by communist regimes and dictatorships. This also does not account for those who have died believing that you can live a healthy life with no moral values. How millions of people die under the freedom of doing what they choose is a whole different story.
Responding with Light
So, by chance I was travelling within an area known as the Wye Valley on Good Friday and happened to stop at a small village. It was just a little bit off the beaten track. Tucked away, it had about four shops, and three inns. It was one of those quaint quintessential niches in England, which I love to find and the type of place where everyone knows each other. I daresay though it still had its own problems behind the closed doors.
As with all British villages there was also the local church, in this case it was the 12th century church of St. Casians.
For a short while I sat in the porch of the church, as though sitting in the parlour, waiting, the door ajar looking out over the green fields dotted with clusters of daffodils.
Just behind me I realized there was a huge cross. It was painted with red marks, indicating blood and sacrifice, and there were blood stained ropes tied to the wooden arms.
Next to it was another huge cross, this time adorned with flowers.
The crosses were obviously being used in an enactment of the crucifixion and the resurrection for the Easter weekend.
But everyone had gone home now, it was late afternoon and the crosses just stood there, waiting. Did I exercise some caution of my aloneness in this seemingly peaceful place. Yes I did.
I thought about how Christ had stood alone amidst the brutality of the day knowing what was coming. How the crowds had been emotionally manipulated and swayed to vote for Barabbas, and how the truth would be crucified.
My own discovery has been that Christ never made friends or accepted that which was wrong or evil. He never compromised himself or acted weak and in submission to abuse. He knew who was who, what was what.
When death comes, believers and non believers all lay flowers and light candles to bring back light and beauty into dark places. They act as tokens of remembrance to someone we have lost……
A strong wind blew through the porch of St Casian’s, the door was still ajar; it had gone chilly outside and the skies were turning grey.
Will the UK and the rest of Europe find light, which is the truth, in this darkness amidst all its fears?
Sources:
1 – Brussels attacks: Police move against protesters
2 – Brussels Attacks Weren’t Unexpected, Security Flaws Long Known
3 – Germany after the sex attacks: fences are going up and the mood is ugly
4 – Germany after the sex attacks: fences are going up and the mood is ugly
[These are my views as a woman living in England, on how the culture and spirit of my country has changed over 50 years. Why the country does not feel protected or strong any more, how it has lost, and is losing it values and decency, and how we are daily losing our free speech.]
© 2016 Shirley Edwards – All Rights Reserve
