For this article ladies and gentlemen, there are a lot of things we would like to touch upon. When human grief and disappointment know no bounds, one must take a moment to acknowledge that some events in our world make less sense than others. Natural disasters, accidents, and untimely demise are all regrettable and purely shocking. What has taken place over this past week, unfortunately, was none of those things. The attacks we have seen against innocent people in Beirut, Baghdad, Fotokal, and most recently Paris are some of the worst attacks we have seen in some time. This has left in our present state of mind, some degree of hopelessness and anger. How do we help? Why’d they do it? What happens next?

            There is no straight answer to these questions. All we can tell you is that if you do feel afraid, there is no reason for you to let your fear transform into ignorance. Upon that, you must never, let ignorance transform into hate. Lest we bring ourselves to the levels of those who would dare commit such crimes in the face of humanity. To combat ignorance, we have to get the facts straight. Islam is not the enemy of the west. All Muslims are not to blame for what has happened in these past weeks. The situation in Syria has been years in the making, and we are merely seeing the symptoms of an infection that has been let to sit for too long.

We must also recognize that we, as Americans, have gone down this dark road before. We cannot let our grief and our sadness turn into a lust for vengeance. We have to treat ISIS differently than any other threat the modern world has faced. And while there is no easy and simple solution to defeating ISIS, we cannot give into the fear and hatred in which they want to create.

But for now, let’s take on a more realistic battle that we as citizens must fight and win. When these horrid events unfolded almost immediately, several presidential hopefuls dared to use the deaths of the Parisians caught in the attacks as springboards to launch putrid and foul propaganda. With the sole purpose in mind of pushing their talking points forward, they did not try to console a frightened people. They instead tried to politicize a tragedy. It should not surprise you, that among these smug and insensitive politicians, were many members of the GOP field.

            There is no doubt that November 13th has changed the face of not only France, but the world forever. Now is a time for us to come together to banish darkness. That is a job that the world can only do if it is united, and not divided.