I have, as a child, forever been shocked and traumatised by various images and articles in the newspaper and social media that seem to put desolation and deep despair into people’s hearts. If I was in the place of people facing those problems, I can’t even imagine the despair I would be feeling. Can you guess what I’m talking about? Terrorism… Extremism… Refugees… It’s chaos in every way and it’s devouring everything I see!
Social media reminds us when Daesh has claimed another attack, how many people died and who was injured. The newspaper tells us that the terrorists are recruiting young gullible minds through Facebook.
School tells us to pray for the deceased, especially all those children who have been targeted.
I am just a young person aware of horrifying events through otherwise normal means of communication. I wonder what has the very word “humanity” become? To kill each other mercilessly? To wreak terror across the youngest of our kind? Who are we to call ourselves the smartest species on the planet? I say we aren’t!
We eat upon the souls of our cultures, our roots and our very being. Religion in its true essence is meant to unite society in peace and harmony. We happily decline the entry of people desperately in need to escape their home countries in the name of security, yet we let down the security of mankind itself. A paradox you may think, but this is the truth. The question to ask is: “What have we, children and adults alike, done that is helpful and shows our concern towards someone in need?” Perhaps you will admit it to yourself that you’ve most likely done nothing. Why is world so callous and selfish?
The important thing to realise is that terror is not the reason for our existence, peace is. If we believe in the end of terror and the start of peace, so it shall be. We must remember that one cannot extinguish the fire by using fire. We all must unite together, not as allies, but as a peaceful nations to eliminate the evil that has been the root cause of great destruction and desperation in our lives.
- The reader is a student based in Dubai.
