I was not able to make it to Jon Stewart's Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, but thanks to wonderful technology, Bryan and I were able to watch it (without commercials) on Comedy Central. While it would have been fun to join our friends in attendance, I quite enjoyed watching from my couch in my pajamas with access to my bathroom. Nevertheless, I was struck by the message comedian Jon Stewart had to offer. His voice of reason and the sincere speech at the end of the rally was what I was waiting for.
There are terrorists and racists and Stalinists and theocrats, but those are titles that must be earned. You must have the resume. Not being able to distinguish between real racists and tea partiers, or real bigots and Juan Williams or Rick Sanchez is an insult, not only to those people, but to the racists themselves, who have put in the exhausting effort it takes to hate — just as the inability to distinguish terrorists from Muslims makes us less safe, not more.
Most Americans don’t live their lives solely as Republicans or Democrats, but as people who are just a little bit late for something they have to do, often something they do not want to do. But they do it.
This message had the most impact on me. We as Americans have forgotten that we are a country of individuals. Individuals who think similarly to groups but have their own minds, their own reasons and their own actions. Because the terrorist who hit the World Trade Center was a Muslim doesn't mean all Muslims are terrorists. It's just bad logic.
A fallacy of composition arises when we infer that something is true of the whole from the fact that it is true of some part of the whole. For example: (A) Atoms are not visible to the naked eye. (B) Humans are made up of atoms. (C)Therefore, humans are not visible to the naked eye.
Racism isn't really an issue that I have, but I do have the same logical fallacy when it comes to religious groups. I've become quite jaded from example after example after example after example of Christians behaving stupidly.
It's not fair for me to judge all Christians for the actions of some. But, that is exactly what I've been doing. I see the horrible things that groups of Christians do, and I've become angered and allowed my anger to cloud my judgment. I am guilty of what racists are guilty of, what tea partiers are guilty of. I am guilty of generalizing, of amplifying stupid issues and of harboring anger. But this stops today.
Today, I have restored my own sanity.
We're the greatest, strongest country in the world. Thank God.
taped by a rally attendee
