MY NEW HERO
Jack Swanson
A seven-year-old boy opened his heart and his piggy bank to show solidarity for a disrespected mosque in his town. Members of the Islamic Center of Pflugerville, Texas were shocked to find that their prayer site was vandalized when they came to worship on Monday (Nov. 16). Following the devastating ISIS attacks on Paris, France Friday night (Nov. 13), anti-Muslim sentiments have been gaining fervor across the nation, and in this case, vandals smeared feces on the door of the mosque and on littered pages of the Quran which were scattered across the entry walk to the building. According to Buzzfeed News, this is the first time local police have ever seen this kind of destruction and are investigating it as a hate crime. A seven-year-old boy named Jack Swanson, upon hearing the news, decided to collect the money from his piggy bank savings — around $20 total — and donate it to the mosque as a show of solidarity.
If there’s anything I’ve come to realize over the course of my sojourn here on this Big Blue Marble, it’s that hatred is easy. Hating someone requires no thought and even less effort. Loving- or at the very least, understanding others who may be “different”- takes effort and energy. The rewards are greater, to be certain, but there are many low-information bipeds who for whatever reason are simply unwilling to put forth the effort to understand, love, and peacefully coexist with others who happen to think, live, love, and/or believe differently.
Sometimes, it takes a simple gesture of kindness from the most unexpected of places to point out that in the aggregate, we can be right assholes at times. In this case, it’s Jack Swanson, a seven-year-old boy distressed by the news that a local mosque was vandalized. Upon hearing the news, he took the $20 he’d saved in his piggy bank and donated it to the mosque. It was a small gesture, to be certain, but it was from the heart…and it was far more than most adults were willing to do.
When the local Muslim community became of aware of little Jack’s generosity, they were so touched they rewarded him with an iPad.
And so it was that human beings were once again reminded that we have far more in common than things that separate and divide us. In this case, it took a seven-year-old boy to remind us of something adults should already know- that love and kindness are easy. His parents are to be commended for teaching little Jack that ALL faith is important and should be treated with respect and dignity…and that a little kindness can go a very long way.
