Obviously I never knew Asad Shah on a personal level, and would probably not have crossed the street to make his acquaintance, so I am wary of becoming overly emotional over his passing, but something somewhere seems very wrong.
It may not even be appropriate, since the context was the Irish Republican movement in Ulster, and the outside influences which supported it, but on the grounds that it follows a generally relevant theme of peace and forgiveness, and anything but radicalism, I thought I'd post this.
I don't propose that we should all hold hands round the campfire and sing Come-Ba-Ya, but I love this song, and (silly old fool) usually get tears in my eyes when I hear it. For folk music enthusiasts, this is a great spot-the-faces session - some real heroes in this clip.
What do people have against Kumbaya and campfires? I sometimes think the world could use more persistent applied hope.
ReplyDeleteAnyway I am just catching up on yesterday's blog posts, yours in particular, and decided to comment here. Generally I was just nodding my head. I tend to regard hate crimes with much the same lack of understanding as the sort of excessive corporate/financial greed which destroys the world and leaves other people starving in the streets.
But I also wonder how violent we were percentage-wise 3,000 years ago when there were fewer people per acre. or even 1,000 yrs ago when social media was still largely verbal apart from the big corporation from Rome. Has crowding made us more violent or only made things more visible when they do happen?
No idea but surely reacting with anger, hate and fear just speed the downward spiral. Joining hands and singing might be more hopeful and maybe even productive in the long run.
I think there is no doubt that there is far less actual violence in everyday life now - it is only the reporting and the endless mobile-phone pics which make it seem so bad. In the case of the hate crimes, it seems that the visibility is the whole point - if I kill you, somehow it's better if I do it on live TV - I'll be a celebrity for just a brief moment.
DeleteI was voicing a hypothetical situation - I have no wish to kill you unless you insist on singing Kumbaya.
A little harsh - singing kumbaya should only be a flogging offence, except for persistent offenders, of course.
DeleteThat song is brilliant - I confess I hadn't heard it before. And was that my favourite singer at the end; Karen Matheson? (Sorry, tiny screen and deteriorating eyesight.)
Yes, that was the lovely Karen - also Ali Bain, Jerry Douglas and all sorts of good guys. It's James Taylor's own song - this from the Transatlantic Sessions Series 4, I think.
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