Monday, February 14, 2005
Innocence
I would have hoped that a Valentine's Day post would be something completely unrelated to today's topic, but that's not the way it worked out. So, Happy Valentine's Day to those of you who will celebrate it later (or earlier, depending on your time zone).
Today, I lost a great deal of my worldly innocence. No, not that way. As in my view of the world as a whole and my relation to it. Early this morning, I learned that the former Prime Minister of Lebanon was killed in a bomb attack in downtown Beirut. I only learned of this so quickly because my uncle, who is a professor at the American University of Beirut, sent me an IM to tell me about the bombing and that he was nowhere near the attach, so he was not injured and not in immediate danger. He wanted me to make a couple of phone calls to family and let them know that he's OK before they heard about the bombing on the morning (here) news.
in the hours since, I have learned more about the history and the politics of the area than I ever imagined I would want to know. Why? Because this incident has hit close to home - a family member lives very close to where Mr. Hariri made his residence, and not only am I playing the "what if" games concerning the location of the bombing (downtown vs. at his home) and my uncle's well-being, but I'm also concerned that there may be other attacks or retaliations or, God forbid, a resurgence of the civil war that divided Lebanon for so long. While I've always been a bit concerned about his being in Beirut, mostly out of my complete ignorance of the area and its history, now I'm hoping he can leave as soon as possible.
Up until today, I've been able to wrap myself in my arrogant, western-minded thinking that what goes on in the rest of the world has no direct impact on my daily life. I think most Americans probably find it easy to go through life with those blinders on, comfortable in knowing only their immediate surroundings. Even after 9-11, when I realized that "it can happen here," my world view only expanded slightly, and in the last year or so, I've gone back to my arrogant viewpoint that I'm OK and my world will continue on as it always has.
Not so much any more. This bombing was a real eye-opener for me. But only because I have a direct connection to the region now - my uncle. When he stayed with us just a couple of weeks ago, I was fascinated by his tales of travels to Damascus and the Christian history he experienced while he walked the streets where the Apostle Paul traveled after his conversion. He explained a little of the recent history of the area, but mostly to assure us that living in Beirut was safer that living in many urban cities in the US.
But now that I've read some of the news reports and dug a little deeper into the current politics of the area, I realize that the events there may definitely have a bigger global impact than just the health and safety of my uncle. I still don't know enough to have anything other than a knee-jerk reaction at this point, but I've quickly learned that I need to be more aware of world events so that I can make informed decisions and not half-baked schemes.
Who knows what the next few days will bring. Fortunately, my uncle has already contacted me several times today via IM to keep me apprised so I can relay information to the rest of the family when e-mail isn't quick enough. I just have to hope that I'll keep hearing from him on a daily basis, or at least when there's news that might cause the family to worry, until he leaves later this summer. In the meantime, I'll just keep my eyes on the world developments and hope he'll be safe while he's still there.
Entire contents of this site © 2003-2008 Eriq Oliver Neale/Simultaneous Pancakes Media unless otherwise noted. I hate that I have to point that out...Today, I lost a great deal of my worldly innocence. No, not that way. As in my view of the world as a whole and my relation to it. Early this morning, I learned that the former Prime Minister of Lebanon was killed in a bomb attack in downtown Beirut. I only learned of this so quickly because my uncle, who is a professor at the American University of Beirut, sent me an IM to tell me about the bombing and that he was nowhere near the attach, so he was not injured and not in immediate danger. He wanted me to make a couple of phone calls to family and let them know that he's OK before they heard about the bombing on the morning (here) news.
in the hours since, I have learned more about the history and the politics of the area than I ever imagined I would want to know. Why? Because this incident has hit close to home - a family member lives very close to where Mr. Hariri made his residence, and not only am I playing the "what if" games concerning the location of the bombing (downtown vs. at his home) and my uncle's well-being, but I'm also concerned that there may be other attacks or retaliations or, God forbid, a resurgence of the civil war that divided Lebanon for so long. While I've always been a bit concerned about his being in Beirut, mostly out of my complete ignorance of the area and its history, now I'm hoping he can leave as soon as possible.
Up until today, I've been able to wrap myself in my arrogant, western-minded thinking that what goes on in the rest of the world has no direct impact on my daily life. I think most Americans probably find it easy to go through life with those blinders on, comfortable in knowing only their immediate surroundings. Even after 9-11, when I realized that "it can happen here," my world view only expanded slightly, and in the last year or so, I've gone back to my arrogant viewpoint that I'm OK and my world will continue on as it always has.
Not so much any more. This bombing was a real eye-opener for me. But only because I have a direct connection to the region now - my uncle. When he stayed with us just a couple of weeks ago, I was fascinated by his tales of travels to Damascus and the Christian history he experienced while he walked the streets where the Apostle Paul traveled after his conversion. He explained a little of the recent history of the area, but mostly to assure us that living in Beirut was safer that living in many urban cities in the US.
But now that I've read some of the news reports and dug a little deeper into the current politics of the area, I realize that the events there may definitely have a bigger global impact than just the health and safety of my uncle. I still don't know enough to have anything other than a knee-jerk reaction at this point, but I've quickly learned that I need to be more aware of world events so that I can make informed decisions and not half-baked schemes.
Who knows what the next few days will bring. Fortunately, my uncle has already contacted me several times today via IM to keep me apprised so I can relay information to the rest of the family when e-mail isn't quick enough. I just have to hope that I'll keep hearing from him on a daily basis, or at least when there's news that might cause the family to worry, until he leaves later this summer. In the meantime, I'll just keep my eyes on the world developments and hope he'll be safe while he's still there.
