On Terrorism: 3 Calls To Action
This is probably the thirtieth (or hundredth, if you’re on social media) article you’ve read on the recent brutal violence that has struck not only France but Turkey, Russia and Lebanon, to cite only the most recent. As you’ve probably heard, hundreds of lives were claimed last week in hatred, and new threats seem to surface daily. The attacks spanned numerous locations with the perpetrators killed by either suicide bombings or police intervention.
There are a lot of people with online opinions and outrage about the tragedies in Paris, for Beirut. Amid the layers of arguments and rebuttals, Teddy Roosevelt’s words stand out:
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could've done them better... The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming."
How do we elevate the conversation? How do we do something in the face of all this heartbreak that, for some of us, is terrifyingly close to home? We’d like to think it’s as simple as spreading love every day, but does love really conquer war?
Here on DP Life, we are guided by the timeless words of Father Moon, who taught about God’s immense sorrow for the state of humanity—from the Fall, to Jesus’s death, to this day; who practiced the power of forgiveness; bridged enemy cultures through actualizing international marriages; loved in the face of hate, and dedicated his life to telling the world that we can, too:
“Communist countries that were unhappy with my actions attempted to remove me through acts of terror, but I do not hate them. Nor do I consider them my enemy. I oppose the philosophy and ideology of communism, but I have never hated its people. God wants even communists to be brought into His oneness.” (As a Peace Loving Global Citizen, 249)
Can’t the same be said of today’s terrorists?
And it has. Antoine Leiris, who lost his wife in the Bataclan venue, addressed the attackers:
“On Friday night you stole away the life of an exceptional being, the love of my life, the mother of my son, but you will not have my hatred. … If the God for whom you kill so blindly made us in His image, each bullet in my wife’s body would have been a wound in His heart. We are only two, my son and I, but we are more powerful than all the world's armies... every day of his life this little boy will insult you with his happiness and freedom.”
Words like these must be so hard to say, and truly feel, but they call us all out of our reactive states and bring us to a place where we can’t help but move forward in love and understanding.
The call to action will be different for everyone. We might feel too removed from the situation to help, but we’re all thinking of the same thing: the future of this world.
Let’s start here:
1. Get off Facebook. By all means, stay informed, but what use is another thread of arguments? What more is a hashtag than a “#” followed by a few characters on a screen? Much of the conversations are placing blame where it serves no one, when in fact the majority of the refugees are innocent. The Muslim religion is innocent. No single country or religion ought to receive backlash for this atrocity. What could we accomplish if, for every post or comment, we also reached out to someone who needs help, comfort, love or understanding, right now?
2. Go back to the source. Be it God, the principles you live by, or scripture, there is something that centers and grounds you despite the whirlwind of emotions you might be feeling. Try saying a prayer or reflecting on some words of truth. What are they telling you to do?
3. Be a wellspring of good. Many of us feel like there is nothing we can do, besides repeat the same words of condolence and share the same old picture of lit candles. Life tends to happen in small moments, as our motivations and intentions shift the world around us in minute, subtle ways, slowly opening windows of opportunity. Go about your day as usual, but try loving a little larger. Shining a little brighter. Help those who need it, smile at those who don’t, and be an open channel for God’s love to reach out to this hurting world.
It’s our responsibility every day to uphold goodness and actively work to solve our world’s problems. So much has been given to us, and rather than run into self pity and excuses, we can use our strengths and abilities to do the work that needs to be done.
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