If I were you....

[fourfuries at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 26074

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Herald Talia <heraldtalia at j...> wrote:
> 
> On Thu, 13 Sep 2001 13:14:11 -0000 fourfuries at a... writes:
> > --- In HPforGrownups at y..., heidi.h.tandy.c92 at a... wrote:

> When you are not in the affected part of the world, terrorism
> seems remote and surreal. You hear a statistic - 30 people dead in a
> bombing - and it kind of rolls over your head. You don't think of 10
> teddy bears that will never be hugged again, ten parents who come  
> home to empty houses. You don't think of 20 children who will never 
> have someone to call "Mom" or "Dad" again. You don't think of the  
> individuality of these people - of the lives torn asunder. 
> 	But when you actually live in the country where terrorism is 
> a threat, it's different. It affects you. JKR clearly already made 
> her choice. I'm speaking as an American who has heard about        
> bombings in GB, but also as a Jew with relatives in Israel. 
 

  Please, beloved friend, let us not start measuring who best relates 
to the pain of these tragedies.  Right now, the whole world is united 
in empathy.  Caring is not the province of any one nation, or people 
or even of just the survivors of similar horrors.
  I agree that people in other parts of the world are more sensitized 
to the risks of sudden, irrational violence stemming for socio 
political groups.  I do not think it means that the rest of the world 
is necessarily more sensitive.
  I think that one's emotional reaction is an individual perspective.
Some people cried from the very first report.  I didn't cry until 7 
hours into the ordeal, when I realized how woefully unprepared my 
country is to fight this kind of terrorism.

> Your innocence has been lost, and you're very lucky to have had it. 
> Other people, in other parts of the world are not so lucky. 

  As for lost innocense, I wasn't being personal.  I was speaking for 
a nation that occassionally forgets that love, honor, justice and 
freedom must be fought for in every generation.  For the reasons 
stated above, I will not recite the events that brought an end to my 
innocense, but it wasn't this experience.
  I, like many others, have been wondering how long it would be 
before such evil found its way to american shores, before the average 
american had to face the reality that while we may be invincible, we 
are not untouchable.  I await with much anticipation how the Land of 
the Free will react to this assault on its very person.

> I think JKR realizes this.  I ...hope she doesn't alter...her books.
> They are meaningful only if they reflect real suffering, and real
> redemption...The world became a slightly scarier place on Tuesday.  
> We need more art, more literature, more writing, to help us cope. 

I now and from the beginning have agreed with you, that JKR need 
change nothing for my taste; I urge you find no quarrel with me.  We 
are on the same team, playing from a new playbook, but out to win the 
same game.  If the world is a bit scarier, then the people of the 
United States are now a bit wiser, more mature, and better able to 
handle it.


4FR Convinced of the Indomitabilty of the Human Spirit.