Second in a series
Re “‘Your Words Fed into Anti-Muslim Violence’”
Speaking haltingly, City Councilperson Meghan Sahli-Wells, her feelings were so profoundly wounded by the story she had read in this newspaper that her responding words were widely spaced.
“I want to express how much it pains me to read (“Do Not Forget to Arm Yourself”) that story,” Ms. Sahli-Wells said of the Dec. 10 op-ed harshly critical of radical Muslims and efforts by obsessive liberals to seamlessly heal the Muslim-caused divide by casting all Muslims as guiltless victims of American bigots.
Ms. Sahli-Wells did not just take umbrage for herself at the op-ed’s message. She said it offended “my community,” without defining the phrase.
In the wake of the San Bernardino massacre by two more radical Islamists eight days earlier, the op-ed was a reaction to the perhaps unprecedented coast-to-coast fear openly, loudly proclaimed by normative Americans in every state. The national outbreak of fear of the next Muslim terror attack is volubly pooh-poohed daily by controlling liberals and the majority media.
Inevitably, the conversation would shift to guns and away from people.
“Obviously,” Ms. Sahli-Wells said, “you and I are coming from different places politically.
“On some level, though, we have had a very genuine human connection.
“But reading what you wrote just filled me with dismay. It makes…that…connection… very fragile.
“I wholeheartedly disagree with what you are saying.
“It makes me …having just been at the (King Fahad) mosque…face-to-face, eye-to-eye with people in my community, people who are teachers, people who are classmates of my kids at school, people who serve me at the stores, people who are my bankers, or people who are just quite simply my neighbors,” Ms. Sahli-Wells said.
She was about to dramatically shift the focus of our conversation.
“Knowing there is fear these days…there are terrorist attacks…there also are a lot of crazy people with guns who are shooting at Planned Parenthood, which is a different form of terrorism.
“To end, and to even begin, your article by talking about packing a sidearm, that touches home. That touches my community.”
I asked Ms. Sahli-Wells for a clarification about what “touches home” and “touches my community.”
“Guns,” she said. “The last line in your article seems to imply we all should be packing guns because of Muslims. I don’t know if that is how you meant it.”
It is precisely how I meant it.
I have scant fear of Baptists and Buddhists.
(To be continued)
