I’ve also posted this blog entry on my blog: http://www.theparadigmshiftshere.com
...we all need to dig much deeper - in unity, compassion, tolerance, forbearance, understanding, generosity, and respect - to first understand one another and then to realize and accept that we are essentially from the same 'mold' - if we are divided today, it isn't because of anything other than our own ignorance and choosing...
...it's very easy to point fingers and lay blame, but extremely difficult to take ownership...
...I am very tempted to rant on this in my trademark 'tongue-in-cheek' style, but in re-reading Barack Obama's 'Audacity of Hope', I'm beginning to resonate with his wise choice of speaking the language of inclusion, of conversation rather than confrontation...so, here's my humble attempt...
...as The Aga Khan eloquently pointed out in an interview: "...Rather than shouting at each other, we should be learning to listen to each other..."
I recently received following message in an e-mail discussion thread…
——-From: [undisclosed]Sent: Thursday, January 01, 2009 22:24To: [undisclosed]Subject: FW: A German’s Point of View on Islam anyone have a response to this?From: [undisclosed]To: [undisclosed]Subject: Fw: A German’s Point of View on IslamDate: Thu, 1 Jan 2009 16:44:35 -0500 FYI…this is mild to what is been circulated… “A German’s Point of View on Islam”A man whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War ll owned a number of large industries and estates. When asked how many German people were true Nazis, the answer he gave can guide our attitude toward fanaticism. ‘Very few people were true Nazis ‘he said,’ but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come. My family lost everything. I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories.’We are told again and again by ‘experts’ and ‘talking heads’ that Islam is the religion of peace, and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace. Although this unqualified assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and meant to somehow diminish the spectra of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the name of Islam. The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history. It is the fanatics who march. It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide. It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave. It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honor killing. It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque. It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals. The hard quantifiable fact is that the ‘peaceful majority’, the ’silent majority’, is cowed and extraneous.Communist Russia was comprised of Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 20 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant. China’s huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people. The average Japanese individual prior to World War ll was not a warmongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians; most killed by sword, shovel, and bayonet.And, who can forget Rwanda, which collapsed into butchery. Could it not be said that the majority of Rwandans were ‘peace loving’? History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all our powers of reason we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of points: Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence. Peace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they don’t speak up, because like my friend from Germany, they will awaken one day and find that the fanatics own them, and the end of their world will have begun.Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Serbs, Afghanis, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, and many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late. As for us who watch it all unfold, we must pay attention to the only group that counts: the fanatics who threaten our way of life.Lastly, at the risk of offending anyone who doubts that the issue is serious and just deletes this email without sending it on, is contributing to the passiveness that allows the problems of expand. So, extend yourself a bit and send this on and on and on! Let us hope that thousands, worldwide, read this - think about it - and send it on. Emanuel Tanay, M.DAnn Arbor, MI——-
FYI…this is mild to what is been circulated…
“A German’s Point of View on Islam”
Emanuel Tanay, M.DAnn Arbor, MI——-
First - this piece is erroneously credited to Dr. Tanay - the original author of this article is Paul E. Marek of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada - and the original article was titled: “Why the peaceful majority is irrelevant”
I am very tempted to rant on this in my trademark ‘tongue-in-cheek‘ style, but in re-reading Barack Obama’s ‘Audacity of Hope‘, I’m beginning to resonate with his wise choice of speaking the language of inclusion, of conversation rather than confrontation…so, here’s my humble attempt…
Dwelling on Obama’s wisdom, in the same book, he says: “…we seem to be suffering from an empathy deficit…[Empathy]…calls us all to task…We are all shaken out of our complacency. We are all forced beyond our limited vision…”
On that note, I’ll attempt to address this thought-provoking ’point of view on Islam‘ by quoting excerpts from a 2006 interview with His Highness The Aga Khan IV conducted by conducted by Stefan Aust and Erich Follath of Spiegel International (CLICK HERE for the full interview) - connect the dots…
…SPIEGEL: Does Islam have a problem with reason?Aga Khan: Not at all. Indeed, I would say the contrary. Of the Abrahamic faiths, Islam is probably the one that places the greatest emphasis on knowledge. The purpose is to understand God’s creation, and therefore it is a faith which is eminently logical. Islam is a faith of reason. SPIEGEL: So, what are the root causes of terrorism?Aga Khan: Unsolved political conflicts, frustration and, above all, ignorance. Nothing that was born out of a theological conflict.SPIEGEL: Which political conflicts do you mean?Aga Khan: The ones in the Middle East and in Kashmir, for example. These conflicts have remained unresolved for decades. There is a lack of urgency in understanding that the situation there deteriorates, it’s like a cancer. If you are not going to act on a cancer early enough, ultimately it’s going to create terrible damage. It can become a breeding ground for terrorism. Now to the issue of spreading faith by the sword: All faiths at some time in their history have used war to protect themselves or expand their influence, and there were situations when faiths have been used as justifications for military actions. But Islam does not call for that, it is a faith of peace.SPIEGEL: It’s true that horrible crimes were committed in the name of Christianity, for example by the crusaders. That was long ago, that’s the past. But jihadists commit their crimes now, in our times. Aga Khan: It is not so far in the past that we have seen bloody fights in the Christian world. Look at Northern Ireland. If we Muslims interpreted what happened there as a correct expression of Protestantism and Catholicism or even as the essence of the Christian faith you would simply say we don’t know what we are talking about.SPIEGEL: “The West (will stand) against the Rest” wrote Professor Samuel Huntington in his famous book “Clash of Civilizations” - Is such a conflict, such a clash inevitable? Aga Khan: I prefer to talk about a clash of ignorance. There is so much horrible, damaging, dangerous ignorance.SPIEGEL: Which side is responsible? Aga Khan: Both. But essentially the Western world. You would think that an educated person in the 21st century should know something about Islam; but you look at education in the Western world and you see that Islamic civilizations have been absent. What is taught about Islam? As far as I know — nothing. What was known about Shiism before the Iranian revolution? What was known about the radical Sunni Wahhabism before the rise of the Taliban? We need a big educational effort to overcome this. Rather than shouting at each other, we should be learning to listen to each other. In the way we used to do it, by working together, with mutual give-and-take. Together we brought about some of the highest achievements of human civilization. There is a lot to build on. But I think you cannot build on ignorance. SPIEGEL: Nonetheless, it is striking that a particularly large number of Muslim-dominated states figure among the most backward and undemocratic states in the world. Is Islam in need of an era of enlightenment? Is the faith even incompatible with democracy as others claim? Aga Khan: As I said before, one has to be fair. Some of the political leaders have inherited problems that are in no way attributable to the faith. New governance solutions have to be tested and validated over time. Nor do I believe Muslim states are systematically economic underperformers. Some of the fastest growing economies and some of the most successful newly industrialized countries are in the Islamic world. Now concerning democracy: My democratic beliefs do not go back to the Greek or French (thinkers) but to an era 1,400 years ago. These are the principles underlying my religion. During the prophet’s life (peace be upon him), there was a systematic consultative political process. And the first imam of the Shiites, Prophet Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law, Hazrat Ali, emphasized: “No honor is like knowledge, no power is like forbearance, and no support is more reliable than consultation.” …SPIEGEL: If you look back at the years that have passed since World War II — the Cold War between the East and the West, the ideological conflict with communism — would you ever have thought that this conflict could be replaced by one between the West and radical Islamists? Aga Khan: I beg you, please get away from the concept of a conflict of religion. It is not such a conflict. Nobody will ever convince me that the faith of Islam, that Christianity, that Judaism will fight each other in our times — they have too much in common. That’s why I am talking about this global ethic which unites us all. That’s why we are trying to work with the Catholic Church in Portugal on a program aimed at immigrant minorities. I am aware of a sense of disaffection with the society that many young Muslims feel because they think that the Western society has the intention of marginalizing or damaging them. …
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Do you now see how much deeper we all need to dig? - in unity, compassion, tolerance, forbearance, understanding, generosity, and respect - to first understand one another and then to realize and accept that we are essentially from the same ‘mold‘ - if we are divided today, it isn’t because of anything other than our own ignorance and choosing…
It’s very easy to point fingers and lay blame, but extremely difficult to take ownership…
As The Aga Khan eloquently pointed out in the interview: “…Rather than shouting at each other, we should be learning to listen to each other…”
Think about this for a bit…
- The Ranting Dream
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