A Plea To Humanity...

If I hear one more person say 'moderate' Muslims *should* apologise for what happened in France, Kuwait and Tunisia last Friday I will start screaming. Why *should* they? They didn't do it, after all; I don't recall two and half million British Muslims on that beach or in that mosque or at that factory, unless I blinked and missed them all?

Flippancy aside, what took place last Friday was terrible. It got to the point where everyone was a bit like, "well where the hell is this going to stop?!!" The beheading of Herve Cornara in Lyon was abhorrent; the massacre of 27 innocent people at Friday prayers during the Holy Month of Ramadan in Kuwait was abhorrent; the massacre of at least 36 innocent people on a beach in Tunisia was abhorrent. Any one of these incidents, on its own, would be shocking; for all three to come on the same day, one after the other...there just weren't any words to describe people's feelings.

But - without wishing to minimise what took place or upset anyone - here's the thing:

The massacre of nine innocent people at a church in Charleston was abhorrent.

The massacre of seventy seven innocent people in Norway was abhorrent.

Where are all the people demanding "the White community" apologise for Dylann Roof? Where are all the people demanding everyone who considers themselves right-wing rather than left-wing apologise for Anders Breivik?

Oh, that's right.

They don't exist.

David Cameron last week claimed that anyone within the Muslim community not actively shouting from the rooftops that what happened on Friday was the most appalling thing to happen was in fact "quietly condoning" ISIS. Really? You mean to tell me there are huge swathes of people in this country who just sort of shrug quietly when this happens and anticipate the next beheading or suicide bombing with a vague sense of "well, what can you do?" Really?!

Now I'm not saying these people don't exist. Far from it - every community has its vaguely lunatic fringes (some more dangerous than others), after all, and everyone knows someone who fervently believes that the days of "no dogs, no Blacks, no Irish" should make some sort of triumphant return. I'm pretty sure there are some in the Muslim community in Britain who condone what ISIS or Al Quaida have done. I'm also pretty sure there are some people in the White British community who quietly condone what Dylann Roof has done as well. Just because they don't say it aloud doesn't mean they aren't thinking it. Then again, however, I didn't start screaming from the rooftops on Friday about what a horrible, terrible thing had happened that day; does this mean that in some way I tacitly went along with what those three individuals did, that I somehow "quietly condoned" it? oh of course not. I'm not Muslim, so it doesn't matter that I wasn't self-flagellating in the middle of the High Street afterwards.

All this nonsense about "the Muslim community needs to do more" and "it's like they're condoning it if they don't actively say how terrible it was" - it's just that: nonsense. Does this mean that as a 'moderate' White Person I need to apologise to the Black community for Dylann Roof? If I chain myself to the offices of the Daily Mail or start a protest outside Britain First's headquarters, will that be penance enough or do I need to do more? Should I shave my head and don sackcloth-and-ashes while castigating everyone around me who makes a vaguely racist remark, just to prove how utterly, abjectly apologetic I am for the one white guy I don't even know who did this Terrible Thing? Cos, y'know, if communities have to start taking responsibility for the various lunatic fringes which hijack beliefs or race or gender or whatever in the name of their deluded 'cause' then shit, I do apologise wholeheartedly to the Black community for Dylann Roof. I also apologise to the families of dead soldiers for the Westboro Baptist Church since, y'know, I went to Sunday school a few times as a kid, so I guess I am (or was) part of the religious community as well. I also identify as a cisgender straight woman, so I guess I also owe the Lesbian/Gay/Bi and Trans communities massive apologies for the likes of Vladimir Putin and his policies. Just, y'know, so it doesn't look I'm 'quietly condoning' his stripping away of people's basic human rights.

Hey, I guess all this means I should start demanding a seriously grovelling apology from any Conservative/right-leaning people I know since, as a lefty-type, I was clearly the target type for Breivik's outrage and if you aren't proclaiming your sorrow from the skies then you must "quietly condone" the murders of young Labour activists as well, right...?

The whole thing is ridiculous. Can you imagine the outcry if President Obama had gone to Charleston and demanded that every 'moderate' White Person apologise for Roof's actions? It would have made the pre-Civil Rights lynchings look like child's play. And actually, what is a "moderate White Person" anyway? Is it someone who doesn't have a racist thought ever, or is it someone who sometimes thinks "geez, those Blacks/Mexicans/Insert Other Racist Stereotype Here are a bit of a nuisance" but would never dream of saying it out loud because that would be Racist and they really aren't but...? How moderate is 'moderate'?

Now I'm not saying there isn't more the Muslim community as a whole can do regarding radicalisation. Then again, there's an awful lot more society as a whole could do; people don't just wake up one morning and go "wheeee, I've decided to be right-wing Neo-Nazi/Islamic terrorist today - let's go blow stuff up after breakfast!!" It's about raising awareness; it's about providing support; it's about listening to people's grievances rather than dismissing them as "racist clap-trap" - but it's also about education. You think all Muslims are terrorists who've come over here to butcher us all in our sleep? Interesting thought, Little Johnny; now what makes you say that? Have you ever met anyone from the Islamic faith? No? here, allow me to introduce you to Little Mohammed so you can learn a bit more. Little Mohammed, you think all White British people want to kill you because they're all Neo-Nazi skinheads? Come and chat with Little Johnny; let's see if we can't find some common ground here. You both like playing on your X-box? Well isn't that a start...here, let's plug it in and see what happens...

Utopian Visions above aside, lets be clear here: anyone can be radicalised. These people, ISIS and their like, or the right-wing Neo-Nazi organistions, are past masters at deception and manipulation. The BNP recruit at youth clubs, ffs; one weekend it's all "come paintballing with us, you Disenfranchised Yoofs; it's free!" and then a few weeks later it's "hey, come out with us again and oh by the way, how 'bout them immigrants...?" Al Quaida recruit using Call of Duty; if you can communicate with your mates on a pretend mission, why not on a real one? (Paedophiles use Club Penguin, incidentally). There are so many reasons why people become radicalised into one group or another; insisting 'moderate' members of a society "do more to apologise for them" is frankly ludicrous. SOCIETY needs to do more, full stop. Parents need to goddamn monitor what their kids are doing online. Schools need to raise awareness and teach a broad, balanced curriculum which celebrates difference and doesn't demonise people based on race/religion/gender/sexuality/whatever. Society as a whole needs to wake up and stop pointing the finger at other people - if everyone would just Be Excellent To Each Other, as Bill and Ted so wisely said, maybe the world would be less screwed than it is now.

I am not going to apologise for Dylann Roof, or the white cops shooting unarmed black men, or anyone else. They are the ones who need to step up and say sorry, and they also need to get themselves educated fast before anyone else dies in a hail of bullets. But I don't expect my Muslim friends to apologise for last Friday's horrors, either. We know it was horrible. We know it was wrong. Two and a half million individual people standing up and apologising isn't going to change what happened, and it sure as hell isn't going to stop vulnerable people becoming radicalised and going off to join ISIS, Britain First, the BNP or any other extremist group. The people who run them are smart. We just have to be smarter is all. And that starts by not insisting every single person who makes up a community is somehow responsible for the actions of a small percentage of that community.

SO BE EXCELLENT TO EACH OTHER, PEOPLE!!!!! We're all Human Beans, after all, and we're all stuck on this big blue marble whizzing around in space; we've had two thousand years of coming up with ever more inventive and whimsical ways to demonise and destroy each other, marking out the Other and targeting them until We Win. Can we not have two thousand years of finding ways to be kind to each other; to support each other; to build bridges and stop blaming the whole world and his wife for the actions of individuals? Are we really so insecure as a species? That's...beyond sad.

I can't make any claim to being the World's Greatest Human Bean Ever in the History of the World; there are plenty of times when an uncharitable thought crosses my mind, or I find myself demonising or blaming some great mythical Other for the ills in the world. But I try hard to not be an intolerant, bigoted, hate-filled person, I really do, and I like to think I'm successful more times than I'm not. Human Nature isn't straightforward - one man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter, as the saying goes, and we are a contrary old species - but I am stating this here and now: I am going to try and be better at calling out people who are intolerant and bigoted. I plan on Doing My Bit to educate, illuminate and meet you halfway; I rejoice in the diversity of this planet and the intricacies of our relationships with each other. You might learn stuff. I definitely will. But I will not tolerate hatred and bigotry so be warned - I may end up having to seriously rethink our relationship if you insist on preaching hate and being divisive. It was unacceptable for Abu Hamza to do so; it is equally unacceptable for you.

As my Nan always says - if you haven't got anything nice to say, don't say anything at all...