“By far the most dangerous foe we have to fight is apathy – indifference from whatever cause, not from a lack of knowledge, but from carelessness, from absorption in other pursuits, from a contempt bred of self satisfaction”
-William Osler
In Lebanon yesterday the Lebanese populace marked the 3rd year anniversary of the ‘Divine Victory’ over Israel during the July 2006 war between the Lebanese resistance and the IDF.
The crowd that gathered in support of the resistance and Hezb’Allah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was impressive to say the least,but the most stirring part of the whole celebration did not come in the amount of chants the crowd shouted in support of Sayyed Hassan or the number of people that made up this crowd but the burning scent of vehemence and zeal – like a deeply scented incense which caught every ones attention.
I sat translating the speech over twitter for those who did not understand Arabic and with every sentence I heard and decoded I felt a pang of jealousy hit me – The way this man spoke in regards to his people was astounding:
“I would like to tell you with all my love,my dear people in Lebanon,in Palestine and Iraq – our strength is in our unity,in our coherence.The future is for us,we can create our future,with our blood and our faith.This is the way we achieve the victory – with you,the people-so that this Lebanon can be the one of a strong will,one which will never bow down to any challenge.“
“We have two options. One is to succumb to Israel and let it call the shots in the region. The other is to be strong so that the Israelis would think a thousand times, even a million times, before they launch a war against Lebanon and Hezb’Allah. This option is ours.“
“I tell Israel,You can put as many soldiers as you can in your tanks,hold training etc I tell you that these tanks will be destroyed in our mountainsin and in our villages!“
Can any of you imagine our President saying these words,or our citizens feeling at all motivated in supporting such rhetoric?
“With our blood and our faith” – Many Lebanese are willing to stand up and die for their freedoms just as our own Sons of Liberty did long ago,but the questions is – But the question is,are we?
A majority of you are not even willing to donate your blood to the Red Cross,let alone shed some in fighting for your or anyone else.
Apathy is a disease which runs rampant in the United States over soil drenched in the blood of martyrs who gave their lives for this nation.But what do we have to show for it America?
‘To each his own‘ is a typical slogan that marks the way of life for a majority of Americans.
Dissidence,one of the rarest and most impavid of facility, is a straggling virtue which is only used when our own selfishness arises.
But when we are willing to shout and scream out the truth,when we are willing to fight and die in order to live in a free nation and when we as a people are willing to break the silence – then we can rightfully claim to be free.
Until then we are nothing more than slaves,shackled and bound to perversity,power and ignorance.
The death of individual and united autonomy will not come via our government or the powers that will but from the inside.
The death of America will come from selfishness,apathy and indifference to that which is wrong and unjust.
Americans,stop saying that you don’t care or that it doesn’t matter – this is the rhetoric of foolishness and of asininity.
When we,as people of the world,cry out to punish the guilty yet refuse to cry out for the innocent to be freed…
When we,as people of the world,demand justice for our own people yet neglect asking for the same for others…
That is when we know that the vile disease of apathy is claiming us and crawling into the deepest part of our hearts.
Liberty is never lost in one shot,but in stages,and until we cure ourselves of apathy we will find our precious Lady Liberty crawling on her knees.
This is not the America our found fathers died for.
“It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace– but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!“-Patrick Henry, March 23, 1775.
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