By Catherine Butler

My son, an 11 year old wannabe in his last 24 hours of his tenth year, and I, walked into our local grocery store to buy ice cream for his class earlyyesterday morning so he could celebrate his birthday at school, the single most important day of the year for him. A wonderful event in a devastating week.  As we waited in line, our arms chilled by the 7 sleeves of ice cream sundaes we were juggling, I came face to face with the reality of what has happened to us.  I put a face to it.

It was so simple.  I know what to fight now.

The cashier was making some comment to the customers ahead of us about the apparent evidence concerning the Middle Eastern force behind this unspeakable act of terrorism.  "Well," she said blithely, shoving items into bags, "I've had some of 'those people' in my line before, and I always thought they looked nice....you know...normal.  But now I don't know what to think!"

The young guy with the bottle of Coke and the pack of cigarettes said, "Yeah, they're all fucking bastards." My heart stopped.  Okay, breathe.  Just remember to breathe. What are you going to do?  Your son is listening. I moved up the line a bit and looked at them as they finished the transaction and knew I had to act. So, I got in on this conversation.

I addressed the young guy.  I said, "So, are you a terrorist?"

"What??" he said, "F--k, no!"

"Oh," I said innocently.  "Well, you kind of remind me of Tim McVeigh. You remember him, don't you?  He was a white American terrorist who blew up the federal building in Oklahoma City a few years ago. He murdered several
hundred people with one bomb.  Since you look like him, I thought maybe you must be like him and be a murderer."

His eyes widened in disbelief and his mouth opened, but before he could speak, I said..."Well, I'm sure you are not a terrorist, just because you look like one, and neither are millions of the people who live in this country and around the world who are Middle Eastern or Muslims. This act of hate came from the evil minds of very few people with lots of money and lots of time to plan.  Just because you look like Tim McVeigh doesn't mean you are like him.  So, don't assume anyone else is problematic because of their faith or their appearance."

We stared at each other for just a moment and I remember the store was entirely quiet, except for the beating of my heart.  The young man looked me in the eye and gave me an imperceptible nod, picked up his smokes and his
Coke and left.

The cashier just looked at me in silence.  I handed her my money for the birthday ice creams, took my change and my beloved son by the hand and left that store, knowing now what the real enemy is to face.  Yes, it is a war on
terrorism, but in the face of all this unity that seems to be rallying in support against this crime, we have a grass roots battle against hate in our very own neighborhoods and in our homes.

No Muslim child should be afraid.  No Muslim parent should have to worry for themselves or their children because of what a few have done. Like every innocent American, there are equal numbers of innocent citizens of the world
who just want to live life in peace, raise their children, celebrate their birthdays, go to school, fall in love, practice their religion and die in peace when their time comes.  We must not allow ourselves to condemn those whom we do not understand under the guise of justice and fair punishment.

This has been bad enough.  Americans have died and will continue to die. Families mourn.  Let's not add to the casualty list by poisoning the air we breathe with words that we can't take back but which stay out there in the
atmosphere to be slung around to untold amounts of people, painting our hearts with hate.

Please, do your part to stop the spread of evil with your words, your discussions, your prejudices, your fears and your desire for justice at the expense of innocence. Don't contaminate your children with your fear. Justice will prevail, but not at the expense of our neighbors, our customers, our fellow citizens, many of whom chose this country because of the very freedom of religion the American Constitution defends....the same protection you enjoy every day, whether you choose to believe or not.

If hate wins, evil wins.  Which means, whoever did this wins.

I say no.

Go in Peace.

Catherine Butler, San Diego, CA