Calling For Peace In Dark Times.

Do you remember what you were doing 13 years ago?  I do.  I was working as an assistant to my Pastor at Family in Christ Christian Reformed Church.  I had just graduated from college and was working toward eventually going to seminary.  I didn't have anything on my plate that day, except for an appointment to get my hair cut around 9 in the morning.  I was in the shower getting ready to start the day, and my mom called through the door and told me that a plane had hit the World Trade Center.  As I drove to my hair appointment,  I listened to the news and it seemed like all hell was breaking loose.  Later that day I was glued to the television and watched the horrors unfold.

Thirteen years have now passed since that day.  It's really one of those days that you can point to in history and say, "Nothing was ever the same after that day."  Thirteen years later there are still ceremonies in New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington DC.  It is right and proper to remember those who died, and I imagine that much like December 7, 1941, September 11, 2001 will always occupy a place in the American mind, and it probably should.

Something disturbing happens every year around this time though.  Some people who are still angry, and some people who are still afraid, use this solemn occasion to vent that anger and fear at ordinary Muslim people.  This year, things seem to be worse. Current events in the Middle East have brought all the skeletons back out of the closet.  Truthfully it's hard to hear about, or see, innocent people being executed by masked terrorists and not be angry or even a little afraid.  However, it's how we respond to these events that is most important.

Social media and cable news have been flying the flag of fear nonstop since ISIS turned from a Syrian rebel group into a full fledged terrorist organization that has designs on becoming an actual terrorist state.  We're told that the only way to deal with this is violence.  We have to take the fight to the terrorists.  Some B-List celebrities masquerading as Christians have even taken to the airwaves and said that the way to deal with them is to convert them to Christianity or kill them.  This of course, isn't any different than the ISIS message of "convert to our version of Islam or die."

Islamophobia is rampant and TV, radio, and social media are doing nothing except stoking the fire. That's kind of scary, because our country has a history of issues like this. During World War II, people of Japanese descent were rounded up and put into camps. There were no charges. These folks were guilty of nothing but being Japanese in a time when our national fear was at it's height. It's important to remember that your Muslim neighbor, customer, friend, or coworker doesn't have anything more to do with Al-Qaeda or ISIS than you as a Christian had to do with the Crusades or the Inquisition.  Their blood is red just like yours.  Their DNA is almost exactly the same as yours.

What does Jesus have to say about this?  What example does he set?  Matthew 5: 43-48 is instructive.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (ESV)

Good luck finding that perspective on TV or Twitter.

Look, I don't have the answers.  Obviously we're not just going to be able to hug it out with ISIS. Remember though, with a couple of notable exceptions, their victims have largely been other Muslims.  My prayer is that in the end this is all resolved with the least amount of violence done to the least amount of people. Violence cannot be the only answer.  We've been fighting this "war on terror" for 13 years.  Bin Laden is dead, and yet the problem remains.

I invite you to join me in trying to be a part of a different solution.  Pray for peace, not war. Remember that the vast majority of Muslims are just living their lives the same as you and I are. Actively work to be a friend to others, including our Muslim brothers and sisters, instead of giving into the spirit of anger, hatred, and fear.  You don't even have to be religious to love one another and see others as friend instead of foe.  For those of us who are Christians, we are called to follow Him who was the Lover of Enemies, the Gentle Healer who didn't lift a finger against his own execution.  The hands of Christ were those of a carpenter, not a warrior or conqueror.

If you're curious about how a regular Muslim views the world, his faith, and the world around us, I urge to check out No God But God by Reza Aslan.  If you're a Christian who is looking for answers on how to be a friend to those of other faiths, check out Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road by Brian McLaren.  The blog Godspace also has a nice list of 9-11 memorial prayers from different faiths for those that might be so inclined.

Never Forget, but also remember....

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called Sons of God." (Matt. 5:10 ESV.)