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This website is being renovated throughout 2008. Pages and the content of pages will continue to change until the end of the year and there may be some inconsistencies and missing links. Please do not quote from or link to specific pages (apart from the home page) without contacting the webmaster first. The rhetoric of death or the tools of life? The options that face us By © Martin Foreman Word Count: 794 words Publication date: August 27, 2006 Last column I argued that the response of Western governments to Muslim terrorists was ineffective and counter-productive. Fighting violence with violence only creates more enemies. One of our greatest failings as human beings is our inability to understand other people’s emotions and thinking. We almost always give much greater weight to our own perspective on the world than to that of those around us. We think that if we do A, others will react with B or C. We believe that if we say something is true, our listeners will be convinced by our words. We tell ourselves that those who do not respond as we expect are fools or evil. President Bush believes that America is leading the world towards the twin beacons of freedom and democracy. (I reserve judgement on the motives of the Vice-President and his coterie.) Much of the rest of the world, however, sees a bully who beats up those who disagree with him. Prime Minister Olmert may calculate that a quick Israeli invasion will destroy Hizbullah’s armory and its support among ordinary Lebanese. Most others see a mini-US resorting to excessive violence. Unable to predict other people's reactions, George W is surprised that the Iraqis whose homes have been destroyed, families have been killed and who have been thrust from stability into chaos, do not thank America. Olmert wonders why homeless and the widowed Lebanese blame Israel for their destruction rather than Hizbullah. Fifty years ago, the Israel / Palestine issue might have been resolved with some determination by the US. Fifty years ago, most of the world admired America. Fifty years ago Jews and Muslims lived in relative harmony in communities as far afield as Morocco and Iran. In the years that followed, we squandered that goodwill. Our hamfisted actions in Iraq and our inaction in Gaza and the West Bank has created a world in which hatred of America and hatred between Jews and Muslims threatens to destroy us all. (According to the Pew Research Center, in the last six years favorable opinion of the US has plummeted in every country where comparative surveys are available, except India and Russia.) We are not the only ones at fault. Our failure to understand others is reflected in the Muslim world. And as we overreact to atrocities that wound our cities, young men, seeing their brethren killed, plot to destroy our planes and buildings. Of course, most Muslims are not terrorists. But as hatred of America grows, the ability to empathize with the US, the American people and America’s partners shrinks. And terrorists understand our thoughts, acts and motives no better than we understand theirs. Religion lurks at the heart of this violence. As I often point out, each of us creates our god from the models at our disposal. But while Christians have two clear options to choose from – the vengeful Yahweh of the Old Testament or the non-violent Christ of the New – Muslims have a narrower choice. True, Allah is known as The Compassionate. Many passages in the Koran and Hadith (commentaries) stress the importance of charity. And various sects, such as the Ahmadiyyas, claim that true Islam is peaceful is non-violent. Others, however, are easily prodded by the Koran towards destruction and death. “Those who reject (Islam) and belie our signs shall be companions of the fire and abide in it.” (2:39) “The punishment for those who oppose Allah and his messenger is execution or crucifixion or the cutting off of hands and feet or imprisonment” (5:33) "Put all the (Non-Muslims) on top of one another in a heap and cast them into Hell.” (8:37) Such verses, which effectively deny non-Muslims human status, fuel the anger heard daily in the mosques and on the streets streets of Baghdad, Cairo and Tehran – and London, Paris and Copenhagen. They burn indefinitely on the internet in Arabic, English, French and other languages. The men and women who spout these words, who cheer each American and Israeli casualty and who vow a life for a life for the blood of every Muslim spilt are innummerable. In their current state of mind, they are incapable of seeing that every death, whatever the faith of those who die, is a tragedy. We are fools if we believe we can overcome them by violence. We have to have the strength to resist their provocation. We must match their rhetoric of death with acts of life. We should rain upon their communities not the weapons of war but the tools to build better lives for themselves and their neighbors. Until we understand that we and our children are doomed to a lifetime of daily fear and occasional horror. Who amongst our leaders has the integrity and courage to stand up and say so?
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If God existed, he would... admire the beauty of a universe that he did not create recognize that eternity is meaningless deny both heaven and hell disown all men and women who speak in his name denounce the harm caused by religious "morality" help the human race to thrive without him If God existed, he would be an atheist. |