Would I have opened my door to save the life of another person?
by Robin Webber
Currently there is a vicious civil
war occurring in Afghanistan. The situation was created a decade ago
when the various tribal elements of this country banded together to
thwart the encroachment of the Soviet Union through its local puppet
regime. Afghanistan was one of the last "killing fields" of the Cold
War between America and the former Soviet Union. When the "superpowers" were
pushed out the numerous local ethnic and tribal groups moved in to
fill the vacuum of government. Unfortunately, as America, and now Russia,
move on with their own self-interests "the killing fields" are still
drowning in the blood of local villagers caught in the cyclical vice
of revenge and counter-revenge, simply because they look "different" or
worship Allah in a different tradition.
Dexter Filkins, a Los Angeles
Times staff writer in his article "Afghans Report Massacre by
Taliban," reports "that thousands of refugees have been pouring in
to the border city of Peshawar, Pakistan. All are fleeing from the
nearby Afghan region surrounding the city of Mazar-i-Sharif. These
refugees say Taliban fighters focused exclusively on an ethnic minority
known as the Hazaras, picked out by their distinctive Mongolian features.
This particular tribal group practices Islam in the Shiite tradition
placing them at odds with the majority of Islamic practitioners who
primarily practice after the Sunni tradition. What creates a part
of the tension is that both the Hazaras and nearby Iran practice
the same religious traditions, therefore, this makes them suspect
in the eyes of the Afghan majority." As I read the opening lines
of the article I could not help but consider the historical maxim: "If
looks don't kill, religion will!"
