Her website is far less a moralistic fable about stoic endurance than this thread! I got nothin' against the lady - I got everything against the way her cause was represented by editor on the first page of this thread, and subsequently!
If you want to find out what she represents, read the website and look her up for yourself.
Which is exactly my point! And how many times have I seen/read this moral fable before?
I have no idea and it is irrelevant, because you are the one who has decided it is a 'moral fable'. It isn't a moral fable. It is someone doing a difficult thing that they believe in to try to bring about dialogue and to do something practical to bring about peace.
The point is (and this may be just media spin) that this woman is now representing more than just the issue she purports
,
Purports? Her sincerity and courage are genuine; there is no 'purporting' about it.
but also as an 'example' to others. Look at me, if even I can do this, then *you* have no excuse...
Guilt-tripping people into feeling lazy *is* *not* *a* *healthy* *way* of achieving your stated political goals -
This is just projection from you. You feel guilty, whatever, what's that got to do with her walk?
and infact, what this achieves in reality is to bind her cause to that of the establishment.
No it doesn't. If her cause and motives strike a chord with a lot of people, maybe that is because they are laudable and, erm,
right?
What establishment figure wouldn't jump at the chance to be associated with Ms Hick's campaign? It gives *exactly* the kind of message they wish to push forward.
The walk is for ordinary people. Not 'the establishment'. If someone who has a job in the establishment wants to join in, they can. She works on a voluntary basis for an independent small charity devoted to grassroots peace and reconciliation initiatives.
On another cynical level (and one which hasn't thus far been raised) I'm also sceptical about the effects of a white woman victim of terrorism approaching Muslim communities across the country from the lofty high-ground of moral superiority.
Oh here we go. Get over it. She's an Aussie, she was on a train, she lost her legs, she's walking to bring people together to get them to join her on her walk and talking to each other.
She has said she forgives THE BOMBER. She has never said she forgives Muslims as there is no need to say it. Stop making stuff up that simply is not there.
In political terms, what she is doing is throwing down the gauntlet - if 'I' can do it, so can you!
She is doing something practical to promote dialogue and compassion and understanding. Anyone can do that, can work for peace. She is doing it this way, her way. She is trying to get people to think what they could do.
- and in the same breath, she is also simplifying a tension which is infact intertwined with centuries of economic and Imperial dominance and everyday otherworldy brutality into some kind of personalistic love-fest.
It's a walk. It's something she believes in. What would you have her do? Convert to Islam? Go live in Gaza? Stay at home and wring her hands?
As though the the real tension is actually between different British communities, and not between Western foreign policy and a globally scapegoated minority.
She is trying to get ordinary people to talk to each other, to think and to listen and to mix it up a bit. What can she do about Western foreign policy? She can do this. She is doing it. Stop carping, and go and do something inspiring and thoughtful yourself.