Forgiveness after 9/11

I am sure that almost everyone reading this is familiar with the events of 9/11, the horrific day signifying the worst terrorist attacks on American soil.  I am also sure that almost everyone knows of the hatred that was spawned by 9/11 towards Muslims by Americans.  Most of the hatred was simply that, hatred accompanied by skepticism towards any Arab looking person who lived in the United States.  There were instances of violence and some of those resulted in the deaths of persons totally unrelated to 9/11 or anyone involved with it.  One story is coming out again now because it is associated with a remarkable tale of forgiveness, a type of forgiveness that I don't know if I could even embrace.  The original incident happened a few weeks after 9/11 on September 21 in Texas.  On that day, a man in Texas decided to take revenge into his own hands and start killing individuals he deemed were Arab Muslims.  He luckily only shot 3 people; 2 died and one managed to survive somehow after being shot in the face.  The shooter was arrested and is now only 25 days away from being put to death himself by the state of Texas.   If the survivor of the shootings has his way however, the man on death row will get a second chance at life.  The survivor is now doing everything he can to keep this man from being put to death;  all in the name of forgiveness.  He has moved past the incident, looked back at it for what it was; a shooting based in ignorance, and has completely forgiven the man who shot him.  (I implore everyone reading this to follow the link and read the article and interview.)

We currently live in a society mostly dictated by revenge and making people pay for their mistakes however minuscule or grave they may be.  Our society would have us believe that the only way we can live is to seek revenge against those who hurt us in any way, whether it be a slap in the face or a shotgun blast.  Most of our population seems to have forgotten what it means to forgive, to move past other's mistakes, and live a life in which we can see others for who they truly are.   Currently, if we are hurt by someone else in any way, all we see is either a dollar sign or a noose over their heads, we can't fathom that they could have made a mistake and we base their whole existence up to that point on the one mistake they made.  In essence, we seek to turn that person into their own mistake regardless of their past history or the hurt that they may be feeling.  After all, we live in the country that celebrated the killing of Osama Bin Laden, that hated terrorist whom everyone tried to portray as 9/11.  It came to the point where when anyone thought of 9/11, they thought of Osama Bin Laden.  I feel the same would hold true for most Americans if they went through what the survivor went through on September 21.  They would look at the shooter only as an instrument of death holding a gun and seeking to kill Arabs.  How far have we retreated in our social consciousness where we can hold this view as our own?   Anyone who portrays Islam as a religion of hate based solely on the incidents of 9/11 is ignorant and sophomoric.   We could all learn from this one man who survived said hate and moved past it to embrace forgiveness. 

Anyone who follows a religion, dwindling as those numbers may be, knows of forgiveness and has been taught to some extent about it.  Yet how many of us can actually embrace the idea of forgiveness and move past our hurt to a place where everyone is equal and mistakes mean nothing?  We are all human and we will undoubtedly all screw up at one point in our life.  Would we, when we screw up, hope that others would forgive our mistakes or would we hope that they sought revenge against us for whatever we did?  We must look at everything that happens from different points of view.  Our own point of view is not the final point of view as such.  Everything that occurs has multiple facets and different triggers that caused them.  To look at an incident from only one side is to walk with blinders on, as a horse pulling a carriage does.  It demeans both us and the perpetrator of an incident.  It says that we are incapable of growing up and viewing the world as an adult should.   We must look past our own needs and desires and consider those of others.  Once we do this, we can achieve a more dignified place in life.  Will others abuse you for embracing forgiveness and looking past the faults of others?  Most likely, because that is the human condition.  Yet for once, maybe we can learn something from this survivor who has taken on a cause that few could ever imagine doing; seeking to free a man who once sought to kill him.  Today, let us look at others not with an air of disdain and condemnation, but with an air of acceptance and forgiveness.  If someone today causes you harm, move past it to the higher ground.  If we can all take one step forward today towards embracing forgiveness, perhaps we can inspire others around us to do the same.