Tag: Terry Jones

What did Terry Jones burn? (Part 1)

Posted on by kathiemm

[Note from Kathie Malley-Morrison: Today we welcome another contribution by our guest author, Dr. Majed Ashy.]

Book burning illustration
Book Burning by Hartmann Schedel, 1440-1514. Image in public domain; from Wikimedia Commons

Jones burned a book that requires every Muslim to believe, as part of the Islamic faith, that Jesus was the messenger of God and the Messiah, born to Mary as the result of virginal conception, a miraculous event that occurred by the decree of God. Muslims also learn that Jesus spoke while he was only a baby, restored sight to the blind, healed lepers, revived the dead, was resurrected and raised, and will return to earth near the day of judgment to bring justice and defeat the Antichrist.

Jones burned a book that says the following about the Old and New Testaments:  “He has sent down to thee the Book containing the truth and fulfilling that which precedes it; and He has sent down the Torah (Law of Moses) and the Gospel (of Jesus) before this, as a guidance to the people”—Qur’an, passage 3:3-4

Jones burned a book that says: “When the angels said, ‘O Mary, God gives thee glad tidings of a son through a word from Him; his name shall be the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, honored in this world and in the next, and of those who are granted nearness to God… She said, ‘My Lord, how shall I have a son, when no man has touched me? He said, ‘Such is the way of God. He creates what He pleases.”—Qur’an, passage 3:38-48

Jesus teaches us: “There is a saying, ‘Love your friends and hate your enemies.’ But I say: Love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way you will be acting as true sons of your Father in heaven.” (TLB, Matthew 5:43-48).

It is better to talk to each other and learn than to set the books to burn.

Majed Ashy, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology at Merrimack College and research fellow in psychiatry at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School

Can compassion replace humiliation?

Posted on by kathiemm

Humiliation is clearly a means for showing disregard and contempt, and is perhaps particularly insidious because it can be done without any direct physical contact.

Countless experts on the Middle East have made note of centuries of humiliation by Christian invaders. Those invaders took land and resources by force, divided peoples up into arbitrarily created countries to weaken political and military resistance, and denigrated the most popular religion of the area.

Because of wide recognition of the destructive aftermath of humiliation, the Preamble of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights begins by stressing the importance of recognizing that:

“…the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,” and that “disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind….”

Acting ethically to promote human rights, peace, and reconciliation becomes particularly challenging in the face of inhumane acts perpetuated by other human beings.  Certainly, the retaliation of Muslim militants against innocent people in a U.N. Mission in Afghanistan is horrifying, just as is the desecration of the Qu’ran by Terry Jones.

By now we should understand  how violence begets violence in a constantly escalating spiral. We have not yet solved the threat of Star Wars or other forms of mass destruction that can wipe the human race from the planet.

We must develop new ways of dealing with insults to our beliefs and our rights–alternatives that don’t promote the spiral of retaliations.  One such approach is the Compassionate Listening Project (see video below).

An outgrowth of years of reconciliation efforts with Israel and Palestine, the initiative is designed to teach peacemaking skills at every level of human interaction from the personal family to the global family. Members of this project are ready to talk to anyone, including terrorists, to promote peace.

Can we even imagine a world where compassion and listening replace humiliation and retaliation?

Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology

Remembering September 11, 2001

Posted on by kathiemm
World Trade Center towers collapsing on 9/11/01
World Trade Center on 9/11 shortly after the second tower had collapsed. (Photo by Wally Gobetz. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. From WikiMedia Commons)

September 11 is a day that needs to be remembered and reflected on for many reasons:

  • The tragic loss of life to several thousand innocent people.
  • The reminder that violent assault on any one individual reverberates through a family, a community, and a nation.
  • The recognition that for the first time in over 100 years, Americans were attacked on their own soil, challenging their assumption that security can be achieved through armed strength alone.
  • The killing of innocent people can lead to rage, a desire to retaliate, and calls for revenge.
  • Validation of the maxim that every time an invader takes one innocent life, 10 new people join the opposition.

The intent of Terry Jones, pastor of a small evangelical church in Florida, to burn more than 200 Qur’ans on the anniversary of 9/11 can be seen as a powerful example of rage, the desire to retaliate, and an act of revenge—the kinds of behaviors that perpetuate cycles of violence, hatred, and misunderstanding.

The loss of innocent American lives on 9/11/2001 was a travesty, as is Jones’s plan to burn the holy book of millions of peace-loving Muslims around the world.

Perhaps burning the holy book of millions is not as deadly as killing an innocent person, but as General Petraeus has pointed out, it certainly provides fuel for the small militant element within Islam aiming to harm American forces in the Middle East and elsewhere.

What does Mr. Jones know of the Qur’an? Has he considered Chapter 5, Verse 32: “[I]f anyone slew a person—unless it be for murder or spreading mischief in the land—it would be as if he slew the whole people. And if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people.”

Does he understand that the message of the Qur’an, which overlaps significantly with the Bible, emphasizes peace and brotherhood?

Is he also aware that, like the Bible, the Qur’an contains passages that can be distorted by seekers of power within each religion to advance their own agenda?

Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology