Last year I had five Muslims in my class. One of them was my best student, ever. She came from Afghanistan, and wanted to learn and learn some more, and she asked me countless questions all year long. I loved to hear voice, as she bounded into my class on Monday morning, "Hi, Mr. Geery!" She was and is my friend as well as a former student, as are most children in my class.
Are you angry at me for trying to help Muslim children, and other children from all over the world? Are you angry at me because our corrupt system, over which I have so little control, produced George Bush?
I would like you and Mr. Bush and every adult who advocates violence to understand that all the students I have had, from so many corners of the world, have been able to get along in a friendly manner, and with some guidance and effort, somehow resolve their differences without violence. Certainly if twelve year olds can do this, grown adults can try a little harder to do the same.
I found the website of the Islamic Shariah Institute, after reading your letter. This institute claims to have dedicated itself to bringing "the pure and pristine message of Islam to Muslims and non-Muslims via authentic and classical established Islamic material." Following are two messages from that website:
"Invite (mankind) to the way of your Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching and reason with them in the best manners possible" (Sura Al-Nahl 16, Ayah 125).
"Let there be amongst you a group who invite to good, enjoin what is right and forbid evil. These are the ones who are successful."(Al Imran, verse 104)
Rather than listen to such wisdom, you prefer to play the role of Allah, destroying the very souls He brought to life. And so it is difficult for me to see how any right-minded Muslim could look up to you. In advocating violence as you do, you have sunk to the same depths that your enemy has sunk. Your harboring of hatred and your desire to play Allah is no different than that of Mr. Sharon, and you are no more of a peace-maker than he is. Even my sixth graders can tell you that people need to put their weapons down, and be sincere in seeking other solutions.
In fact, I would like to quote to you some words from my sixth graders, words they wrote about the war in Iraq. I tried hard not to influence them, and I encouraged them to think for themselves, as I always do. I hope you will read their words several times:
Becoming president means to be responsible, to think about the people first, and to make the right decision, and in this case Bush made a bad one. If I got to ask George one question I would ask him is it worth it? Is it worth losing lives over war?
The war is just killing people and there dreams. George Bush is making a big mistake by leading us into a bigger war.
I don't like the war at all. Everytime I hear there is war it makes me want to cry. Sometimes at night I would have nightmares. I would dream that my dad got sent to war and that he got killed. What we need in the world is Peace, not wars. If I was in the war I wouldn't fight I would help the injured people instead of fighting for something stupid.
I don't like wars because it makes everybody sad and angry... I think Bush and Saddam Hussein are acting like two persons from kindergarten and they are fighting like kids. The children in Iraq are seeing their mother and their father dying. Some of the children in America are waiting for their father and they don't know if their father will come home or die.
I don't think we should go to war because all you grownups are telling us that fighting is not how to solve problems but there you grownups are going to war.
We should not take the lives of innocent people that have nothing to do with it. I think Bush just wants to be powerful and I also think he want to start wars with everyone who does not like him. How I feel about the war is angry and I also think it is useless. If I were president I would try to get along with all the countrys and not start wars!
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