Well, I said I’d post something else when I actually had something to write, so here I am! Just a few more thoughts about earlier really.
I’ve never been affected in such a way by a terrorist attack before. It really hit me hard this time. I think this was because I’ve never had such a level of personal involvement before… I know loads of people who live and work in London. Fortunately I believe them all to be safe! Also, I travel down to London quite a bit… this morning I booked myself on a course down in London, very near to Moorgate station. Liverpool Street is the gateway to London from here, I travel on the underground round there virtually every time I’m down in London…
… not only could that have been my friends involved, it could have been me. And any of us could have been killed or injured.
And it’s like that with a lot of people. London is the hub of England, and important in the UK. Those terrorists weren’t striking at London. They were striking at all of us.
I was wondering earlier as well, “how could people do such a thing?” One person said to me, they hate our way of life – i.e., we have a lot of freedom here which they resent. This maybe has some truth in it, but I don’t think it’s the whole truth. We do have freedom here, yes, and we do have a great way of life – warts and all, I don’t think it’s a bad system. But at what price?
When you gain wealth and comfort at the expense of others, that causes problems. I don’t think the UK’s rise to prominence has been exactly morally upright at times, and I don’t think all of our foreign policies and dealings have been … well, Christian.
And I believe that it is possible these bad decisions we have made in the past are coming back to haunt us. Why do people in some other countries hate us so much? Not because we have a good way of life, but because they think we’re having a good way of life at their expense.
If we are to deal with this problem, the solution is not (as George W Bush and others might say) to exterminate the terrorists. No. We have to win people’s hearts – we have to act ethically and morally and be seen to act ethically and morally. Which is why I think it’s such a shame this has to happen in the G8 summit – where people are putting pressure on the government to do the right thing, progress is starting to be made.
We need to start treating other countries as we would want to be treated, and remember that we have a privelidged position to be able to help these other countries.
Heh… I’ve just listened to the song “Fix You” by Coldplay. The music seems to sum up my mood pretty well, the words don’t really, but I’ll post some anyway:
“Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you”
Take care all, stay safe, and I pray that God will protect us.
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