An Open Letter to MLM Members
by
Nan Jacobs
copyright 09-21-2001
Age Rating: 18 to 127
Picture Credits:
Dear Marine Life Mag Compatriots,
It is not surprising to me that in the aftermath of last week's attack on the USA, relief organizations are overflowing with volunteers and donated supplies. They actually do not need any more at the moment. The "American" (that's generic for those who are US citizens, and my apologies to Canadians and South Americans) people are generous and caring and always rise to the occasion. Oklahoma City... local flood relief... western forest fires... towns flattened by tornadoes... need I say more.
But many people are asking, "Where can I go, what can I do, to help?"
One answer is always:
Monetary donations are needed.
President Bush in his speech to the nation tonight gave this website as a starting point for those wishing to help:
http://www.libertyunites.org/
My answer?
NEVER FORGET. DO NOT LET YOUR CHILDREN FORGET.
My husband and I hope to make a pilgrammage to NYC in the near future to grieve, to memorialize, and to imprint on our minds as reality a scene that seems more like movie special effects. Then, we will take our son to see Ellis Island, that portal of hope and heartache through which his grandfather and both greatgrandfathers and one greatgrandmother passed, and then on to the Statue of Liberty which symbolizes all that the United States meant to the four of them and to thousands of others even today.
Am I afraid to go there? Hell yes. I've always been afraid to go to NYC... I'm a country bumpkin. :-) And I'm more afraid now than ever. We will view the Empire State Building from the ground, thank you very much, but we WILL go, and we WILL, by doing so, make our own small familial statement that we will not allow our FREEDOM to be compromised.
I am a Quaker. By nature and religious conviction, a pacifist. I don't feel certain war is the answer. But how different is terrorism from Hitler's Nazi-ism? WWII was a time of great inner conflict for many Friends.
I know that for me, this will be such a time.
War is almost a certainty, given President Bush's ultimatums this evening.
I thank the Great One for the support of the global community at this time. The USA cannot stand alone against the far-reaching, inhuman heart of terrorism. The world must stand united against this profanity against all humanity, against that which not only rends the fabric of our way of life but strikes against the core of what it means to be human.
Thank you all for lending your ears and please consider the message on the following website :
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A very moving, and well-written essay. I don't agree that war is the answer to this situation. I can only pray that there will be an end to this horror one way or another.
Welcome !
