Human promise relies on reality

To the editor:

Columnist Mona Charen's worldview, to quote Tevya from "Fiddler on the Roof," "leaves the whole world blind and toothless." Scoffing at the perpetrators of the British bombings, she claims that an "Islamist ... campaign to undermine western societies" has a toehold in "Britain's overindulgence of any minority complaint," including, egad, those of Muslims.

I share Charen's outrage at anyone who would consider "women and children being blown to pieces" something to brag about. But that must include me. Death rates among women and children in war-torn Sudan, Afghanistan and Iraq continue to climb while some 40-odd percent of the U.S. either says nothing or touts our national morality. "Us or them till the bitter end" ignores the simple fact that to any side in a conflict the other side is the "stupid enemy."

It is too late to debate the causes of this mess, and there is enough blame to go around. Humankind has an endless history of violence and of vilification through meaningless labels, including "terrorist." Human history equals strife: Gettysburgs, Vietnams, Nagasakis, Baghdads, Ruwandas and 9-11s. But all that is only memory. For human promise to be realized our shared, global reality must be allowed to supplant the "us or them" worldview. Especially in times of crisis, clinging to the worst parts of nationalism, fundamentalism, genderism and speciesism will lead only to our own destruction. To use Charen's own words, war waged in the name of justice must be allowed to become our only "stupid enemy."

ROB DILLON, Cape Girardeau