Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Lessons Learned- The Oklahoma City Bombing & The Political Attacks on Islam

Every year on April 19th, Oklahomans reflect on the lessons learned from the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995.  The annual remembrance ceremony held at 9:02am—the same time Timothy McVeigh detonated a bomb parked in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building that claimed 168 lives—serves as a reminder of the impact violence had on this state, and our nation.

The lessons learned and memorialized at the Oklahoma City National Museum include this nation’s ability to come together despite the efforts of terrorists to divide us. The families of the victims, survivors, rescuers, and volunteers from across the world came together with unity and compassion to defeat the hatred embodied by that senseless act of violence. 

How have we honored this lesson as a State?

In contrast to the message of unity that our City’s national memorial symbolizes, our state's elected officials have promoted division by marginalizing nearly 30,000 Oklahomans based on their religious beliefs. In November 2010 former State Representative Rex Duncan warned people of the creeping threat of Islamic Law by saying repeatedly that Islam is a “cancer”.  State Senator Anthony Sykes joined the chorus by proclaiming that the spread of Islam in Oklahoma is a “scary concept”.  State Representative Lewis Moore also referred to the growth of Islam as an “onslaught”, and most recently Representative Sally Kern demonized Muslims in an effort to pass her own Anti-Islam bill (however to her credit she has acknowledged that “homosexuality is the biggest threat our nation has…even more so than Islam”).

Oklahoma's politicians have ignored the lesson of unity learned on April 19, in order to promote division and to rally their constituents around fear and bigotry. 

It is the responsibility of Oklahomans to honor the memory and sacrifice of those who were killed on the morning of April 19, 1995 by remembering the lessons learned every day- not only once a year. Those who mislabel the religion of nearly 30,000 Oklahomans and 7 million Americans as violent, should be reminded that the impact of violence on that day was overcome by unity, not division.  That the hate expressed on that day was defeated by education, not political opportunism. And, that the gloom and despair apparent on that day were overwhelmed by hope and healing, not intolerance.

We can honor the lives of all those who were killed in the Oklahoma City bombing by reflecting upon the lessons learned as we move forward. Violence is not promoted, or tolerated by any specific religion. However the compassion, hope and healing required to defeat such violence is found in all religions, and all Oklahomans. 

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