Thinking about the Tragedy in Arizona

For the past 10 days now, the media has been all over the shooting that took place in Tucson, Arizona. In case you missed it and just want some of the basic facts, here's a good place to start with a regional Arizona-area newspapers recap of the events… http://azstarnet.com/news/local/article_88b4b436-1b53-11e0-8354-001cc4c002e0.html

The shooting was significant though because it brought to the nation's attention two major issues: gun control and political rhetoric. It created all sorts of stories in the news and Obama also delivered a very uniting speech which was worth noting. http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2042201,00.html

And of course, in every tragedy there is also heroism and this story that contrasts the killer with the man who saved Rep. Giffords is one that truly reminds us that not all is bad in this world! Amidst the darkness, there is light and amidst the bad, there is good!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/8262073/Gabrielle-Giffords-shooting-A-tale-of-two-Americas.html

There have been countless shootings over the last decade and almost each one of them features a mentally disturbed individual armed with a gun who then goes on to do something crazy. The question remains how do these people get guns? How are guns sold and why are they so readily available? I know that the Constitution gives the right to bear arms but perhaps that right was relevant at a different time, in a different society. Today when we have such an extensive police department and so many other peaceful ways to serve justice, do common citizens really need to own guns?  The victim at the center of the shooting was a Democratic congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.  I really like this opinion taken from the National Geographic that raises similar questions that are really worth thinking about…

http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=how-many-massacres-will-it-take-for-2011-01-12

The other major issue that came to the foreground as a result of the tragedy was a closer look at the political dialogue that we have today. A democracy sustains itself because of open, civil dialogue. Such things are possible only when people are assured that they can freely hold certain views and not endanger their lives because of it. Representative Giffords was a woman who had certain views and defended them. She was criticized by her opponents for these views but were these criticisms inciting people to violence? http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2011/01/10/was-violent-political-rhetoric-responsible-for-tucson-shooting

 More generally, has the polarization of politics gone too far? Nowadays it seems like you're either on one side or the other, Democratic or Republican, liberal or conservative, left or right… there is no middle ground! There is no civil place where all people can come together and form a consensus. Worse yet, it often seems that people aren't even interested in TRYING to find a center ground. Such radicalization is dangerous to our democracy and we have already seen its destructive forces with religion. Has America become an uncivil society? These 10 opinions compiled by Time are worth reading to get different perspectives… http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,2042134,00.html -

Weekly Surfings... The Rising Clash of Religions...

We live in a world where information is power and what better source for information than the Internet? You would think that when we're spending 4-5 hours a day online, we would all be much better connected with the world around us but I think most of us can agree that we often struggle to participate in civic dialogue or even in day-to-day conversations. We want to make a point but sometimes we lack the support for it. We want to share something good with someone but we can't find the right words for it.

It all comes back to a lack of reading. So along with the new year, I thought it was time to once again get back to some blogging and share some notable things I come across in my random web surfings. I'll try to mix it up and keep some variety but I can only hope that when you walk away from your computer, you feel like you know at least one thing more about the world. Most of the articles will either be basic information about global events or something that I found touching, inspiring or motivating. 

As always, please don't hesitate to share links, videos, etc . that you come across also! I've also tried to add tags onto each post so that you can find things that pertain to your interest...

Feedback is always welcome!

Anand

Samuel Huntington wrote about the Clash of Civilizations in the early 1990s. His thoughts were influential and triggered great discussion throughout the intellectual world. In brief, he suggested that in the post-Cold War world, people's cultural and religious identities will be the source of conflict, potentially culminating in a Third World War. The rise of religious fundamentalism in EVERY religion was noted greatly in the last decade and the start of the new decade with open conflict between Christianity and Islam only makes one worry… Here's the latest on what's going on in Pakistan… "In Pakistan, Christianity earns a Death Sentence"

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2035196,00.html

If you have a bit more curiosity, there is a law in Pakistan called the "Blasphemy Law". In vague terms, it says that anything that is expressed against Islam is illegal. It is a vague law in general (and I have probably made it vaguer) but the point is that it is interpreted broadly and in recent times has been used openly to imprison non-Muslims. Recently, a political leader who was against the law was also murdered just further deepening the religious divide…

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2040735,00.html

And there have been a series of events against Christians in recent times simply because of their religion… Here is a glimpse in case you missed the news..

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,2040755,00.html