June 8 // May 27, 2017
Amidst the endless divisive animosity on an Oregon train, we found something surprising.
Unity.
We’re going to step away from Washington, and the President, and the overseas travel and the rejected agreements and the Congressional hearings and the endless shrieking about who said what to who and when he / she said it or did it and what he / she meant to say or do or imply. That kind of activity will go on and on and on; and will no doubt be there when we decide to check back in.
No, we’re going back to two weeks ago to honor selfless people, who acted as selfless people seem to when confronting evil. They protect the helpless; they put everyone before themselves; they do the brave thing that often costs them the ultimate price.
Two weeks ago, we read about two men who were murdered on a Portland Oregon light rail train because they dared to confront a lunatic – yes, a lunatic – a man who was verbally assaulting two young girls on the train. The killer (and no, we’re not using his name on purpose because he is nothing more than a killer to us) chose to shout at the girls, telling them to “go back to Saudi Arabia,” and “kill themselves” because he believed they were Muslims. The brave men in the story – Rick Best and Taliesin Myrddin Namkai Meche, both killed, and Micah David-Cole Fletcher, a third man who was seriously injured - confronted the killer in an effort to protect the frightened and defenseless teenage girls and tried to diffuse the escalating tirade.
Two of them paid with their lives; the third very nearly so. Suffice it to say, the killer’s history tells a story of repeated criminal activity, incarceration, weapons violations, public confrontations, violence, and assorted run-ins with the law. His actions on this planet over the past fifteen years or so are little more than a timeline of anti-social behavior and reprehensible acts. The idea that he so easily and coldly executed two people – fellow citizens who did the brave thing in the face of evil – leaves us despairing about our future. Who are we? Are we him? Is this what we’ve become (especially in these last few months)?
No, we’re not.
No, we haven't.
In the midst of this very dark and depressing story, our better selves seem to emerge. Turns out, the guy on the train was completely wrong about everything and everyone. We care. And we care. And we care. We care for each other because that is the only thing we can do in the face of senseless violence. In fact, caring for each other may be the only thing truly worth doing. Because our instincts toward condemnation and retribution – while possibly warranted and probably understandable – don’t move us toward the light. They keep us bitter, angry, resentful and distrustful. Stoking those feelings, and assigning blame, ultimately divides us and – God help us – only furthers the causes of sociopaths like this killer, and emboldens the next one to act.
Yes, we started writing Two Weeks Ago News with the idea that almost nothing is worth the social media outbursts two weeks later. We found an exception here. But in this case, we hope the news continues because the light will outlast the darkness, and that the lesson from Portland isn’t that three men confronted evil that tried to divide us, and lost. It’s that three men confronted evil that tried to divide us, but those of us who witnessed it – from across the train or across the country – were even more strongly united because they did.
We can live with hearing that story over and over again.
Amidst the endless divisive animosity on an Oregon train, we found something surprising.
Unity.
We’re going to step away from Washington, and the President, and the overseas travel and the rejected agreements and the Congressional hearings and the endless shrieking about who said what to who and when he / she said it or did it and what he / she meant to say or do or imply. That kind of activity will go on and on and on; and will no doubt be there when we decide to check back in.
No, we’re going back to two weeks ago to honor selfless people, who acted as selfless people seem to when confronting evil. They protect the helpless; they put everyone before themselves; they do the brave thing that often costs them the ultimate price.
Two weeks ago, we read about two men who were murdered on a Portland Oregon light rail train because they dared to confront a lunatic – yes, a lunatic – a man who was verbally assaulting two young girls on the train. The killer (and no, we’re not using his name on purpose because he is nothing more than a killer to us) chose to shout at the girls, telling them to “go back to Saudi Arabia,” and “kill themselves” because he believed they were Muslims. The brave men in the story – Rick Best and Taliesin Myrddin Namkai Meche, both killed, and Micah David-Cole Fletcher, a third man who was seriously injured - confronted the killer in an effort to protect the frightened and defenseless teenage girls and tried to diffuse the escalating tirade.
Two of them paid with their lives; the third very nearly so. Suffice it to say, the killer’s history tells a story of repeated criminal activity, incarceration, weapons violations, public confrontations, violence, and assorted run-ins with the law. His actions on this planet over the past fifteen years or so are little more than a timeline of anti-social behavior and reprehensible acts. The idea that he so easily and coldly executed two people – fellow citizens who did the brave thing in the face of evil – leaves us despairing about our future. Who are we? Are we him? Is this what we’ve become (especially in these last few months)?
No, we’re not.
No, we haven't.
In the midst of this very dark and depressing story, our better selves seem to emerge. Turns out, the guy on the train was completely wrong about everything and everyone. We care. And we care. And we care. We care for each other because that is the only thing we can do in the face of senseless violence. In fact, caring for each other may be the only thing truly worth doing. Because our instincts toward condemnation and retribution – while possibly warranted and probably understandable – don’t move us toward the light. They keep us bitter, angry, resentful and distrustful. Stoking those feelings, and assigning blame, ultimately divides us and – God help us – only furthers the causes of sociopaths like this killer, and emboldens the next one to act.
Yes, we started writing Two Weeks Ago News with the idea that almost nothing is worth the social media outbursts two weeks later. We found an exception here. But in this case, we hope the news continues because the light will outlast the darkness, and that the lesson from Portland isn’t that three men confronted evil that tried to divide us, and lost. It’s that three men confronted evil that tried to divide us, but those of us who witnessed it – from across the train or across the country – were even more strongly united because they did.
We can live with hearing that story over and over again.