* These are just my thoughts as of this moment. I feel that it can be quite dark, so please, if you’re in a good mood and don’t want to ruin it, do not take it to heart.

 

One word. Limitless effects.

My mind has been thrown into a state of turmoil. After hearing of all the attacks in Baghdad, Beirut, and Paris (and contemplating how many other places were attacked that I do not have knowledge of), there’s only one question that I have in my mind. How can one person kill, while knowing the effects of the atrocities they are committing? Unless they’re numb to those feelings, they would need to be inhuman.

When one person dies, a funeral is held (a majority of the time), where the closest friends and family of the individual come to mourn them. All those people are affected by that loss; their life may not even be the same. Think about all those people, coming to just the funeral of one person. Now look at it now under the context, that in Paris, France alone, 130 people died. Those 130 people, were connected to thousands of others. Those thousand other individuals will be forever changed. They will have lost someone in their life, and a void may be created from that loss.  This is especially true for children suffering from the death of one or both of their parents. And what was the cause of this? An inhuman individual, playing with the lives of others as if they were his/her toy.

The moment you commit murder, the very moment you inflict enough harm unto another organism that is enough to cause their death, you are taking their life into your own hands. You are becoming the master of the other living beings fate, and you end their life. There is no way to justify such a thing, in my opinion. No matter how much you may hate, despise, or wish the other person to be dead. Never. But that is exactly what the perpetrators in the attacks on Baghdad, Beirut, and Paris (as well as all other countries where attacks took place) did. They did it with their little weapons of destruction, guns, knives, bombs. Those lives were not theirs to take. Those lives were not theirs to play around with. Not theirs to destroy. What was the point of taking those lives, other than to inspire terror among the people? To intimidate people into believing their religion?

What truly drives me insane about these displays of terror, is that the perpetrators are all doing so to spread the Religion that they believe in. The Religion that I also believe in. The Religion that an innumerable amount of people I know believe in. Yet, the people I know don’t go about spreading this Religion, Islam, through terror. The perpetrators must be different in some way. Yes, they must have been affected by the loss of their own loved ones, so they want to make it equal by taking even more lives. Yes, they must have a great love for God, and they want to eliminate all people whom they perceive as enemies. Surely that must be so! NO. That is not how it should be. Whatever maniacal thoughts went through the minds of the perpetrators as they performed these horrific tasks is completely, and will forever be, foreign to me. I hope that I will never be able to understand any murderer, for the rest of my entire life. I pray hope, however, that murderers come to the realization that lives are not something that are theirs; they do not own them. These perpetrators, as well as people all over the world, must learn to be able to spread their ideas through verbal communication, through persuasion, rather than through fear.

In the aftermath of the attacks, however, the exact same thing happened. France bombed Syria. Russia bombed Syria. All because of the fact that ISIL, based in Syria, has claimed responsibility for the attacks. Now, while these attacks on Syria were in retaliation to the attacks in France, Baghdad, Beirut, Mexico, and other areas, were they any different? Sure, there must have been some people who had connections with the attacks, but there were surely other innocent people. People who were just going about their daily lives. People, like those people who died in France, Baghdad, Beirut, and all other places where attacks took place. It is attacks like these which begin wars; an individual is killed in one country, and then the victims want to take revenge, producing more victims who also want to take revenge, until that one, single sparks, blazes into a terrible conflagration. Then, in the end, when one side has claimed victory, and all the problems are solved, we are left with a large pile of bodies, waiting to be claimed by their loved ones. Now, I admit: there is no way to peacefully respond to these attacks, none that I am able to think of. If the perpetrators are allowed to commence with these killings without back-lash, then they would be able to do all they would want to do. As far as I have seen, diplomacy, especially with someone who categorizes you as a enemy of their own religion, is impossible with ISIS, and ISIL; however, we must keep trying, to peacefully end this conflict, before the world is enveloped in dark, red, blood.

As I am pouring my thoughts into this piece of writing, I am compelled to write a poem that has been forming in my head. Forgive for its roughness, but I would like to write it down.

 

In this world, there exists an island

Of the greenest grass, the whitest snow,

of the tallest trees, that endlessly grow

This island is one that does not get too hot, nor too cold,

Where gold is abundant! Some have told.

Surrounding this island, this heavenly island, is the sea.

The beautiful, blue, sea.

 

There are two tribes that inhabit this island,

who live in peace, in tranquility,

until one day, when a plague spread, causing instability.

One tribe attacked the other tribe, motivated by revenge,

causing a back-lash from the other tribe, for their dead, they had to avenge.

Now, these tribes are locked in battle, in this island, this war-torn island, by the sea.

The beautiful, blue, sea.

 

After decades have passed, the war has ended,

lying on top of the grass, on top of the snow, are bodies,

bodies that are void of spirit, that are at ease.

The people of this land have departed,

leaving the cursed land, that is now uncharted.

Not a sound is to be heard in this island, this empty island, by the sea.

The dark, red, sea.

 

I believe that we should be able to talk with each other, as we are all human beings. We should be able to sort out our problems, without having to resort to violence. We must be able to understand that we are not justified in taking charge of someone else’s life. For the sake of humanity, for the sake of the world, for the sake of the people: Do. Not. Commit. Murder. It’s not just one life you’re affecting; it’s a thousand others.

-Rehman