FORCED SURRENDER IS NEVER
COMPLETE SURRENDER
My heart
feels pain every time I see a policemen use heavy-handed tactics of punishment
upon citizens. The young high school and college students of Hong Kong wisely
chose a nonviolent approach to achieve their goal of political change. They
were prepared for the beatings, the pepper spray, the arrests, and jail time
that they knew would come from the hands of an evil regime.
Some might ask ---- What did they accomplish? They brought the world’s attention to the
evils of a one-party political system.
They re-opened old wounds as millions remembered the hardships they
suffered at the hands of their oppressors for the cause of freedom. Their
struggles also provided strength for other oppressed groups to continue their
fight.
My blood runs cold when I realize that I have become a part of a world
that stood by and did nothing as these young people were brutalized for the
sake of democracy. But I find consolation in the fact that one day these victimized
students will become parents and their children, even their grandchildren, will
be taught the evils of oppression. Generation after generation will appear
until one day the majority will be strong enough to overthrow their oppressors.
I hope there is a heaven, and I really hope there is a hell, because I
believe that evil should be punished. I
believe that every policeman who has used unwarranted acts of punishment upon
innocent victims, and every slave owner who used a whip on the backs of indentured
servants, or every soldier who participated in the Nazi death camps, will one
day be held accountable for their deeds.
I’ve tried to imagine what it’s like when a policemen’s night stick
cracks your skull or a slave owner’s whip strikes your back or what it’s like
to control your anger while marching into a Nazi death camp. Yes, it’s true, I
have sympathy for the oppressed, but I know that exploited citizens will rise
again. The Nazi death camps increased the desire for living. The scars from the
slave owner’s whips drew the maps to freedom. Prison cells have become the
classrooms for smoker’s choice, and the voices of hate have shaped the keys
that unlocked the closet doors for gays.
Oppression always provides the strength for the oppressed to win in
the battle for freedom.
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