Words in Response to Paris
11/16/2015
My mantra these last few days
has been that the best way to defeat ISIS is to not play the game by their
rules. They want you to be afraid and
angry. When we are afraid we are paralyzed and we make bad decisions. That is what happened to our governor when he
let fear overcome his good judgment and he said he would not allow Syrian
refugees into Massachusetts.
The president of France in
similar fashion gave in to his anger when he turned loose the dogs of war the
morning after the attacks. I am not a pacifist but I also know that the use of
force ought not to be a reaction but rather a calculated action taken with
thought and reflection. The use of force is also best exercised in cooperation
with others and with great attention to context.
The citizens of Paris offered
a wise response by going back out on the streets over the week-end. They went to enjoy their coffee and to let
their enemies know that they were not afraid. The city of lights turned on its
lights. The response to terror is to be strong. Paris is a city that has known
horror over the last century but the people of Paris are resilient. They are not
afraid. They are strong; we are strong as well.
My friend Courtney
Crummett who works in our libraries told
me a story about that famous theologian, philosopher and musician, Bob Marley
that is worth taking with you this evening. There was an attempt on his life in
Jamaica, but he survived though seriously wounded. He got out of bed to go to a
rally calling for an end of violence.
His friends were worried about how weak he was and they told him not to
go. “You have paid your dues. This is
not your fight.” But Marley said: “The people who want to
make the world a worse place do not take days off. Why should I?.” He went to the rally.
Bob Marley was strong; Paris
is strong. We are strong. We are not going to give in to our fear or to our
anger. We are going to be strong, thoughtful and deliberate. This a better way to live and we will not
fail to meet the challenges before us.
Robert M. Randolph
Chaplain to the Institute
