Terror Poem by gershon hepner

Gershon, Shalom, Happy Chanukah! You are right in that the terrorism in the world today is not caused by social injustice or anything else. It is hate, but hate, generally speaking, whose source is in religion or belief systems. (This includes systems of political beliefs as well.) Unfortunately, our religions tend to separate us, rather than unite us in spirit. In Bosnia the hatred was geographic: 'I hate the people on the other side of the mountain because they live on the other side of the mountain and may have different beliefs.' Belief systems are at fault and until we can look in our own eyes and see God looking back at us and can look at another and see God looking out as us through their eyes we will continue this cycle of violence and hate. But we must not allow those whose hatred is virulent to infect us with their disease and we must stand firm in the face of acts of violence and provocation. It is a very dangerous line to walk. But walk it we must or perish. Le Chaim! Hugh

Gershon, this is powerful and reflects exactly what I believe. The more innocent we become, the more terrorists will roll over us and smile as the body count goes higher. Any war we fight must come from strength, not weakness. Thanks for saying this so succinctly. Raynette

It is a horror we now must face. like the hatfields and the McCoys who fought in the mountains for generations, some one threw the first punch. Perhaps religion and economics should give up the ghost....start fresh with a loving god and widgets.