Cheating Death and Daesh

French philosopher and writer Vincent Cespedes is urging the young people of the New Millenium to embrace "a new form of resistance" in the wake of the Paris terror attacks.  He says:

To be human is to say, ‘No, I will not commit evil in the name of a seductive fantasy.’ To be human is to say, ‘I am like you,’ when someone else is suffering.  Even if I do not agree with your ideology, with your discourse, to be human is to say, ‘I suffer on the inside if you are suffering on the inside,’ out of pure human compassion.’

It may appear counter intuitive to those who demand retribution, but the inevitable backlash that follows every tragedy will merely feed the narrative of Daesh (aka ISIS) in their ambition to drown the world in blood and madness.

Reactionary rhetoric, discrimination and persecution, exploiting fear to advance a partisan agenda, all while ignoring the larger humanitarian crisis … these are dangerously counter-productive as well as immoral.

For my part, I will be busy in the weeks ahead organizing “Compassion Vero Beach,” an event that will hopefully bring Christians, Humanists, Jews, Muslims, and Unitarians together in the spirit of peace and harmony. 

Just a simple "Meet and Greet" where people can socialize and rediscover their common humanity, thus far I have several local congregations on board.  My community needs a positive message to counter the hate speech in our midst.

Wish me luck.