I caught a bit of Good Morning America this AM. They featured a story about the seven month ordeal of Amanda Knox, an American student jailed in Italy without charges–apparently on suspicion of complicity in the death of her roommate. GMA painted a grim story, tugging at the heart strings of viewers by interviewing the girl’s teary-eyed parents as well as her three sisters. GMA noted without comment but implicit criticism, that Italy allows a person to be jailed without charges for up to a year. I can empathize, without having any knowledge of the girl’s guilt or innocence. Ironic isn’t it, that there are parents and siblings from various countries around the world who are experiencing the same pain with loved ones being held in Guantanamo Bay by the U.S. Unlike Ms. Knox, they don’t have any family visitors. Their incarceration is not limited to one year. They may be subject to torture as well. Makes one wonder what expectation Americans should have in the future if they should have the misfortune of being locked up abroad. Will the government of the foreign country, its citizens or the world in general feel any concern or sympathy? In Christian parlance, I believe the verse goes “you reap what you sow.” As a Buddhist, the notion of creating karma can be readily understood in much the same way–even as in the familiar, “what goes around comes around.”
June 4th, 2008 at 10:59 am
Amanda Knox did not vollenteer to go into the service to fight for our country as the people in GB did. Amanda’s thoughts did not lean towards fighting, she is all about peace. Amanda and her parents saved for years to have Amanda get a good education and and Amanda worked hard to have Honor Roll status and be on the Dean’s List of Outstanding Students. “What goes around, comes around” and “you reap what you sow”???? Are you insane? What can you possibly be thinking… Apparently you believe all the rumors that have been spread about Amanda, let me tell you a fact, the picture of Amanda in front of the “Pot Shop” that the media loves to show, well, that was taken by her 70 year old Grandmother while they were on vacation and she asked Amanda to stand there to get that photo to show how different things are in different countrys, and the one of Amanda with the machine gun… that was taken by the same Grandmother in a museum…. and as for the parents crying… hell yeas they are crying, their daughter did NOTHING wrong, and is being held because of a prosecutor who is on trial for abuse of office and under investigation of witness tampering and falsefying evidence in a country where you can not even get a contract for purchase or sale of goods or services enforced because the government does hold up their end of the bargain and there is nothing you can do about it…. so get your facts and stories straight before you start tell how things are, you idiot!
June 5th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
You misunderstand completely. Sorry if this was not clear, but I intended no derogation of Amanda Knox or her family. I assume she may well be innocent although I know nothing of her case. That was not the point of my post. When I said “what goes around comes around,” I was referring to the treatment of individuals imprisoned by the US government in Guantanamo. Perhaps you are not aware that while the ostensible reason they are held is on suspicion of being terrorists, these people were often rounded up by loosely construed “allies” in Pakistan, Afghanistan and elsewhere and delivered to U.S. forces for rewards. Their actual status as terrorists is often no more certain or even as suspicious as that of Amanda Knox. If Italy treats an American student like this NOW, how will they or other countries treat Americans in the future based on how we are treating supposed terrorists now? Look at the case of the German citizen who spent time jailed without charges by America–who indeed turned out to be entirely innocent. The same for a Canadian. Both were tortured.