Voices

I deal with overwhelming things by writing. Here is something I wrote last night as I watched news reports come in about the Paris attack. 

On Friday November 13, 2015, seven gunmen attacked three restaurants, a concert, and a stadium in Paris.

And we ask:

What twisted ideology made them do it?

They all were born to mothers, born into a family.

And at some point in their life they had to choose between good and evil.

And perhaps sometimes they chose 'good.'

Perhaps sometimes the choice was between 'good' and 'almost good,' and perhaps sometimes the lines between the two became blurred.

Perhaps sometimes there were voices: people they talked to, books they read, radio shows they listened to, and these voices told them what was and wasn't good. 

And maybe these voices were not true.

In fact, these voices were liars.

The voices lied until the men did not know the difference between 'good' and 'almost good', so what was 'almost good' they called 'good.' 

And they continued to listen to the lying voices until the line between what they called 'good' and what was truly evil became blurred.

Until, finally, one day they called what was truly evil 'good.' 

There were too many lying voices, or too few truthful voices.

And the lying voices lied because they, too, did not know the truth.

And why did the lying voices not know the truth?

Because they, too, had listened to lying voices. And on and on, until here we are, in a Garden, and a man and a woman eat a fruit. 

The first lying voice still holds many in this world captive.

The only way to combat lies is with truth.  We must speak the truth in love.