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An old woman

thrown to the ground

stones hurled at her

struck with fists, feet

face bloodied

then hoisted atop a low roof

as if in reprieve

only to be drug back down into the mob

pelted with rocks

pushed over a barricade

beaten with sticks . . .

 

An old woman

probably somebody’s grandmother

kicked repeatedly

as she lay on the ground

slowly dying.

 

Words appear across the screen

below the grisly images–

“She threw a Koran in the trash.”

As if, by so explaining,

the reason was sufficient cause

to justify such violence and cruelty.

What may have been considered reasonable

in the 7th Century

does not seem reasonable at all

when viewed on my 21st Century

social media device.

 

Seventh Century mayhem

care of 21st Century technology

but the mayhem seems equally at home

here, now as then, there

for barbarity needs no home page

much less a fixed time location.

 

Her murderers

appeared driven by rage

such was the violence inherent in the scene

but the underlying motive

was fear disguised as outrage

The fear of a people threatened

by an act they could not abide–

the perceived desecration

of a symbol of their faith;

an action so unreasonable to their way of thinking

that their outrage blinded them

to the outrageousness of their response.

 

The arrogance that underlies

any notion

that MY beliefs entitle me

to take your life

simply because your views differ from mine

is stunning beyond belief!

Yet, inhuman as it is,

so very human.

 

It is easy

to appreciate our connectedness

to each other

as seen in the love of a mother to her child

or in acts of piety and self-sacrifice.

It is much harder to see it

when violence is acted out

against the defenseless.

But how is it any less real

when viewing our brethren murder each other?

Are we somehow less connected

to them?

 

What words are there

to describe the feelings

that arise as I sit, bearing witness,

to this unspeakable act,

taking place

thousands of miles and another world away

connected

not just by my Iphone

but by the invisible bonds that connect us all

to each other.

 

One thing seems certain:

Any religion

that is based on fear

is not a religion dedicated to

the celebration of life.

 

So, I sit here, in relative safety

(if such a condition truly exists)

worlds away from the scene on my Iphone.

And I sip my beer

and watch the ducks lazily floating in the river.

While trying to reckon with the dissonance

between the visions in my mind’s eye

and the beauty of my outward surroundings.

That violence may not be here, now

but the fear that drives it

is never far away.

 

29 December 2015

Tim Konrad