With a grain of salt

These thoughts just spilled out of my head and I haven't really done any clean up, so take that as my disclaimer if you choose to look:

I.
Dear Mr. President.
I was wondering this evening, who do you think Terrorists are? Do you think those people love evil? Do you think those people kill just to kill? Do you think those people hate happiness? Has it ever occurred to you that everyone wants something good? Even if they want something bad or want something in a bad way or try to get something in a bad way, it is usually at the core about something good. That is what terrorists want the same as everyday American citizens. Perhaps they want help and are crying out to one of the richest countries in the world to turn its cold shoulder. Perhaps they are making war on our religion. Perhaps they are trying to get treasure in the afterlife or victory against the empire in this life. But they are motivated by something they consider to be good. They are pursuing their own happiness.

II.
Consider:
A “rich, well-educated, well-fed kid” might get picked on at school by bullies. Is it jealousy? Perhaps. Is it anger at this child and his lifestyle? Yes. Is it anger at God for seeming to have blessed one so much and not another? This also could be true.
The mother of this child is upset- her son has been attacked brutally and unfairly. The mother is justified to seek justice. She goes to the principal, she demands a punishment, she wants to speak to the boy and his parents. These are all good reactions to this behavior.

(Has her son learned anything from this incident? In most cases, wouldn’t cruel words and bruises inflicted by a bully make you think? Even if they tell lies about us to our faces, we have to hear them, right? We have to, for at least a moment, think about what is yelled and spit into our ears- have to consider the truth of them. Have we done that as a country? Or can we not tell what they are saying? Did we even pause to think before we went crying for revenge?)

The mother goes a little berserk. She has already seemingly resolved the conflict with the bullies’ parents. They have received their just reward. But now, in a desperate attempt to protect her precious son, she has gone on a hunt for any children at the school who might have negative feelings about her boy. If others might hurt him again, she feels it is her duty to chase and find them, no matter how long it takes. She goes to every classroom, extensively interviewing all of the children to find out if they know her son, what they think about him, if they have ever hurt him before and if they ever plan on it. She is more haggard than she used to be. Her voice has gotten louder and more overbearing. Life seems to be draining from her each day. Her eyes droop but she is still determined. The teachers whisper to each other and watch from afar as she comes. She has already gotten 2 children suspended and is ever on the hunt for more.

Even at home, she prowls. Her precious boy has brothers and sisters- he is the youngest and gets picked on- or has in the past. In the past, the boys’ parents would allow some teasing- it was healthy for a boy to grow up under a little bit of pressure. After the incident though, the mother decided that this too was debilitating to the young boy. She began to censor jokes and interrupt wrestling matches. She punishes these siblings for being on the side of the bullies from school. “But mom,” they say, “Some of those things they said are kinda true about him!” This cannot be allowed. They are grounded for the rest of the week.

Will I be grounded too?