H/T to Small Dead Animals:

What would you do if you were aware of horrific abuse going on in your neighbourhood? What if a woman and her children living down the street were routinely beaten and terrorized by a man who cared little if anything for them. Would you be the neighbour with the courage to involve yourself personally, risking your physical safety? Would you call the police? Or would you be the neighbour willing to turn a blind eye, comfortable in the knowledge that feigning ignorance meant your peaceful life would continue apace.

If you are the type of neighbour who would take action to stop such abuse close to home then I applaud you. Now imagine this woman and her children live across town, would you still want to help, or does distance away from your own home diminish the severity of the crime in your eyes. If you are the type of neighbour who would try to help those in need no matter what their address, then this message is not for you. If however, you feel that being wilfully ignorant of such atrocities is the same as having peace, then I ask you to consider a few things.
Consider the four soldiers recently killed in Afghanistan and ask yourself what type of neighbours they would have been. Given their sacrifice, it is obvious these men were the best people in the neighbourhood, willing to risk everything if it meant they could give hope to those in distress.

Now consider the activists protesting against what our troops are doing in Afghanistan and ask yourself what kind of neighbour they would be. These activists have the full knowledge of Afghan suffering, yet still want to pull our troops out of that desperate country. Under Taliban rule, Islamic thugs operating under a twisted version of their religion routinely murdered women. Afghan girls were kept away from school, because in the eyes of the Taliban an educated female was to be feared and destroyed.

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