Tag: Christians

Gaza: Time to take sides

Posted on by kathiemm
International Symbol of Nonviolence.
International Symbol of Nonviolence.
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Author=Jmarchn

The news out of Gaza has been horrendous, overwhelming, tragic, heart-breaking. Death upon death. Destruction after destruction. Loss of life; losses for families, communities, the human race. It is easy to feel rage and horror, depression and defeat. Will the violence ever end?

Although the outlook for peace and reconciliation may seem at a discouraging low, there are also some hope-inspiring stories that should not be ignored and buried in these deadly times:

 

  • Following the strategy that helped bring about an end to apartheid in South Africa, a group of Palestinians have organized a Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (BDS) as an alternative to violence.

 

  • And closer to home there is Seeing through Walls, an awe-inspiring group of Jewish and Muslim artists who got together in 2010 to create a mosaic peace mural that “expresses our vision of peace, justice and hope for the Israeli and Palestinian people.” Please visit their site, view the photos of this magnificent project in progress, and feel your hope rejuvenated.

After considering these stories, you decide:

Which side are you on, man? Which side are you on?

If you’re on the side of violence, you’re home free. No need to do anything. There are enough people  benefittng one way or another from armed conflict and other sorts of atrocity to stoke hatred, distrust, and misunderstandings and thereby keep the violence going.

On the other hand, if you’re on the side of nonviolence, there’s a lot you can do. Donate your time, your money, your expertise to the efforts to find nonviolent solutions to the conflicts in Gaza and elsewhere. Your voice counts, it matters.

Make yourself heard.

Terrorizing with Islamophobia

Posted on by kathiemm

“I learned over time that extremists of all shapes try always to feed their extremism, and the way they do that is by digging into the news or searching in the religions of the ‘others’ so they can rationalize and feed their hate.”  –Contemporary Muslim scholar

As we move into the season that Christians consider the occasion for peace on earth and goodwill to all, we should remind ourselves of the critical importance of being alert to the ever-renewed messages of hatred.

Crusaders throwing heads of Muslims over ramparts
Crusaders throwing heads of Muslims over ramparts, by Guillaume de Tyr, 13th century. (In public domain; from Wikimedia Commons)

There has been increasing media attention to the scourge of Islamophobia infecting our vulnerable and perhaps fading democracy, but little in the way of understanding the problem.

Certainly vicious propaganda, disguised as objective consideration of “facts,” is abundant in print and in pseudo documentaries.

The claim, for example, that later statements in the Koran (sometimes condoning violence) always nullify earlier statements in the Koran (including many messages advocating peace, and demanding that women, children, and other noncombatants always be protected) is rejected by serious Muslim scholars.

Yet many people prefer to accept the propaganda than to seek greater knowledge and understanding of the Koran.

If Islam is like what [the propagandists] say, then why aren’t the vast majority of Muslims carrying arms and killing non-Muslims everywhere in the world? If Islam is evil, and if Muslims are blood thirsty people, then how do they explain the behavior of hundreds of millions of Muslims who live in peace? (One third of the world’s countries have a Muslim majority, and Muslim minorities live in almost every country in the world.)  — Contemporary Muslim scholar

Be alert. Ask yourself, what do the purveyors of hatred seek through their messages? Peace? Justice? A moral life? Or the power that can come from scaring citizens and convincing them that sacrificing democracy and human rights can somehow make them safe?

Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology