2003-03-23 - 12:36 am
It was great until the hostility became a little too much to handle. Just to make things clear on where I stand:
I am anti-war, not anti-American. I will not allow myself to cross that fine line between being angry with the decisions the American government has made and becoming prejudice against America.
There was too much anger at the protest today pointed in the wrong direction. Stomping on an American flag, booing the American national anthem, boycotting American products and fighting hate with hate is wrong. We're all saying that peace is about non-violence, that you can't get peace with guns and bombs, but you can't get peace by being prejudice and you can't get peace through hate mongering either.
I'm upset that a war has started, that people are suffering unnecessarily in such a barbaric manner. I'm horrified that homes are being destroyed, that lives are being turned upside down and for what? Violence, war, and hatred - that's no way to fix anything. Discussion, diplomacy, and democracy are the right way to go about it. Talk is everything, bombs are nothing.
Being a Canadian at this time is extremely hard. While our Prime Minister has listened to the public and refused to aid the US troops in this war, the country is divided. I don't want to be known as an anti-American because I'm not. Canada has always been known as a peace-loving nation and all of this hostility against America is tarnishing what we've always been as Canadians. I understand now, after today, why Chrétien urged the Canadian public to keep their criticisms to a moderate level. I saw so much racism and prejudice and misguided anger today that I'm ashamed to be living in Alberta.
I don't think what Saddam has been doing is at all right but I don't think going to war is the answer. I just can't wrap my head around it, why anyone would think that killing was right in any case. Why do people have to die by the hands of Saddam, by the hands of Bush, by the hands of anyone? I just don't understand any of this.
Anyway, I think I've ranted enough. I expect some people to respond to this. Actually, I hope that people do. I don't claim to know anything other than how I feel and I'm not about to tell anyone else that his or her beliefs are wrong. I just want to get that straight because I'm just as conflicted and confused about this whole global situation as everyone else.
G'night.
