Bostonian Revelation

“Behind the Badge”               “Bostonian Revelation”     

By Joseph Pangaro

 

Now we ask ourselves: “How did this happen”?, “Why didn’t we see it coming”? There are a million other questions being asked about the act of terror that has gripped our country and sacrificed more innocents upon the alter of freedom.

We are hearing about complacency, a breakdown in intelligence and other theories as to how these two young men; filled with hatred and driven by ideology, could live among us, then without so much as a seconds hesitation; place a back pack bomb at the feet of an 8 year old child as he eats an ice cream cone.

Call it what you will, that is evil.

Unfortunately, as the weeks pass we will not call it evil; we will make excuses for it. We will call it other things because to deem it evil means we are judging and in 2013 we are not permitted to judge, or openly examine a thing and find it to be a festering, malignant darkness that comes at us relentlessly. Proof of our intolerance is to boldly point a finger at it and call it what it is.

Instead we are to ignore our common sense, ignore what we all say around our tables and with our friends, ignore what we see going every day all over the world. There is a war going on and freedom is the target. 

I purposely comment in quietly cloaked tones, to do more would risk bringing ridicule to myself for daring to notice the obvious. By conforming to the ill advised tenants of political correctness we are all positioned to be attacked again and again by whoever has a grudge, or hatred of our lifestyle, our country, or our freedom. It is considered a greater sin to point out the danger than it is to simply endure the results and pretend. This is what we have agreed to, if not openly, then clearly by our silence.

As part of the “silent politically correct” agreement we can have memorials, pray for peace, remember those we loved and lost and be thankful it was not our turn. We can cheer our police, firemen, and soldiers for their never ending acts of bravery when the battle comes home and dutifully chant- “These were just two sick men, this is not part of anything bigger, we are good, we don’t judge, we don’t hate, we don’t care what the facts tell us we will close our eyes and ignore reality”

Ask yourself- Why did this happen? How come we aren’t paying attention? As a country are we not trying to stop gun violence? Are we not trying to end racism, sexism and homophobia and other negative parts of our society?       

The answer is yes to all of those things. We are a good people and we are trying to evolve, we are trying to follow our better angels, but in doing so we have to cross many bridges that remind us of our old self, a self that wasn’t as open minded, or evolved and in striving so hard to avoid the sins of the past we have built a death trap for ourselves. We cannot have real discussion. We can only have feel good, happy talk that constantly acknowledges our past transgressions and asks for forgiveness over and over and over. By engaging in this ritual our discussions are left as meaningless jumbles of slogans, thoughts and expressions designed to display our desired and hoped for new way of thinking; letting everyone know WE are not haters and we don’t not have malice in our hearts for anyone because of their race, creed, religion or orientation. This is nice and makes us feel good, but it does not help us solve our problems.

To move forward we have to be able to say what we really think. If we did that then we might be able to identify where we have succeeded and where we still need to achieve.

Human progress is fraught with difficulty. Attitudes change slowly, understanding takes time. But if we do not come out of this Zombie like state of having to constantly prove we are good, we will be destroyed by those among us in the world that are the real haters, killers and destroyers.

So that’s my soap box- and my first step at healing from this latest, but not last terror episode we all just lived through. My sadness for the loss of the three victims of this evil act is tempered by the pride I feel in the Boston police, FBI, the first aiders, EMT’s and the ordinary citizens that rushed into danger to help those in need.

I will pray for the other injured victims and all the families that have suffered and I pray for all of us who are trying to understand how to be our best selves, and still be able to stand up and protect ourselves from all forms of evil that constantly seek to harm us.

America is the greatest nation that has ever existed. We have come from a time and place when even the greatest minds lived and practiced beliefs and life styles that are abhorrent to our modern senses. Instead of harboring hatred for them, we must acknowledge that some of their beliefs were wrong and we have moved on. They gave us Freedom and a system that empowers the people to choose our own destiny. Just as we have to acknowledge their wrongheaded beliefs we must also recognize their brilliance and the ideals they gave us about freedom.

In 2013 we are a living, breathing creation of those good ideals. As a testament to our evolving decency we have cast aside many of the outdated and in many cases horrible ideas of other people. There is still a ways to go, but we only get there by being able to speak out, without violence or fear of recrimination. Good will overcome evil if we allow all of it to come out of the dark and stand in the light.

This painful process has moved us to understand that the words: “All men are created equal” means exactly that; this understanding is the destruction of racism. The right to pursue happiness tells us that we should be free to love who ever we choose to love and as a people we should always celebrate love where ever we find it- This is acceptance of people who have been forced to hide, we should welcome them. We have the freedom to worship as we please: This means that God comes to each person differently and in their own way. It also means that there is no one way to worship God. We have freedom of religion, not freedom from religion, tolerance is a two way street. For those people who do not believe in God that is their choice and we are better off if we accept that and allow them their own road. They must also allow the people of faith the opportunity to walk their chosen road without being stifled, ridiculed or maligned. There is only one truth on this matter and eventually we will all know which is correct, until them let each person enjoy his own beliefs.

The evolved society will find its place, the new understandings will settle into the culture, but it takes time.

Until then we must open our eyes to the real dangers in the world. The ones that kill innocents with ice cream cones and feel they are righteous and justified for it.

Let me know what you think.    Jpangaro194@yahoo.com