“First they came for the communists, but I was not a communist so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unions, but I was neither, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew so I did not speak out. And then they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.”
-Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was one of the few brave Christian leaders to take a stand and speak out against Nazism during World War II. For that he gave his life. He was executed while in a concentration camp in 1945.
He was one of my heroes in college.
Today, I feel compelled to speak out. You’ve probably read in the news about the Pentecostal pastor in Gainesville, Florida who espouses anti-Islamic philosophy and plans to burn copies of the Quran on Saturday, September 11th.
Try as I might to understand what is planned, I cannot, yet I know I must. I was raised a Baptist – I’m the daughter of a Baptist minister and my religious and spiritual roots grow deep.
Just yesterday as I accompanied my elderly father, The Reverend John Buczynski to his doctor’s appointment, I thought we might talk about this protest, but he couldn’t. In sadness, he simply shook his head.
Have we lost our compassion for others who hold beliefs different from our own? Have we forgotten that the Holocaust was perpetrated by wrong-headed Christians?
Intolerance and prejudice, if repeated enough, can become “truth.” While the intentions of this Florida pastor seem to reflect “his truth,” such a protest can only stir up hatred and anger.
An incendiary event such as the one planned for this coming Saturday can easily lead to violence. And I fear this is only the beginning.
Gen Petraeus has indicated that such an event that associates Islam with the Devil is only going to create a backlash in Afghanistan and bring harm to our own troops.
We need to stand up for what is morally right. We need to ask Pastor Terry Jones not to hold this demonstration that can only incite more harm and intensify religious intolerance.
As health and mental health care practitioners, we need to be agents for understanding and compassion in our communities and to reach out globally.
We need to help defuse the hatred and the anger that fuels extremist talk and belief – it can only play into the hands of those who want to do us harm.
In closing, I can’t help but remember back to Dietrich Bonhoeffer and think: “They’re coming for the Muslims” and where will I be?
Let us not find ourselves standing alone.
This is an important issue. Please leave a comment and tell us what you think. Include your full name, profession, city and state and country.
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From a fellow deeply-faithing Christian, thank you for taking this stand. Not because “who will stand for us?” but because it is the loving thing to do and Christ-followers are to be known for their sacrificial love. It is true that true love covers all transgressions and casts out fear. Let’s do this. With God, we can.
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Some time ago I read an autobiography of Bonhoffer’s life. It was very compelling and courageously sad in the end for him. His last act of life before he was hung was to kneel down on one knee and touch the earth. I have mixed views about Islam. On the one hand I have read some Sufi literature and it was so mystically beautiful. My concern is the literalism in all the religions of the world. Islam has its fair share of literalism. It also has a very unbalanced power structure socially in favor of men which is disturbing. I am also concerned about assimilation and encultluration for Islamic peoples. Granted we all practice some type of belief and we do so in our sacred spaces and we teach these practices to our children unless they do not want them. I fear is the extremists. However I do know that the extremist will win if we treat moderate Moslems in such a way that we radicalize them. Bin Laden wants to accomplish that because he is having difficulty getting radicals into the country, so he is trying to operate from within. Every act of extremist ignorance that we do towards these people will eventually drive more of them in to the hands of Bin Laden. During the time of the British Empire, General Gordon was the last man left, inside a castle during a Jihad against the English. General Gordon was a mystic and he understood most realistically what his fate would be. I am a contemplative moving towards mysticism slowly, and I remember telling a friend that we have to befriend and support Muslims that are either liberal or moderate and do not attempt to overpopulate by increasing their numbers. The Prophet Mohamed had a strategy of populating in new places until Muslims became the majority. He did not outlaw other religions, he just taxed them out of existence. The whole crisis in Serbia was about over population and the potential taking over of the Serbian culture and the death of the Serbian Orthodox church. These are real issues to know about. Yet in knowing that it does not mean that we should not extend the hand of tolerance and spiritual and cultural friendship to Muslims. I for one pay attention having been born in England right after WWII. European baby boomers have all been well versed in how Hitler did what he did. We know the signs. It is very important to extend friendship to these people after all they are human beings like ourselves. In the Gacho, one hand is the practical, the other is the absolute, when they are together all is well. When the hand of the absolute veers away from the practical, Zen wisdom tells us to abandon the absolute and stay with the practice. A similar analogy can apply to those of a liberal persuasion. One hand is the practical and aware, the other hand is idealistic. When idealism veers away from the awareness of the practical, abandon idealism, and be aware in the sense of being compassionate to our neighbors. I do not like extremes, Communism is at one extreme and Fascism is at the other. Democracy does a balancing act in the middle. Our task culturally and politically is to be tolerant and ever watchful of our government and what is going on in our culture. To me this is the duty of every educated citizen, whether educated academically or with common sense. We The People are responsible for what we allow and what happens in this nation, and hopefully All will be well and all will be well as Julian of Norwich said in 12th Century England. Be Well, Vivienne.
Thank you Ruth for this article. As a Saudi mind-Body therapist trained in the US, I have been very dissapointed in the past few years about what I saw as a changed America, whose spirity and principles were hijacked by a terrorism. It is wonderful to see this example of american citizens standing up again for the values that make this a great country. The worst thing we can all do is to allow a few acts of terrorism (no matter how horrible) to take us all hostage in the grip of ignorance and fear. I have and will always stand up and fight for what America has taught me as a young student: respect, justice and tolerance of others.
Reiki healer; as an energy healer, it is obvious that there is much healing needed by all. In general, anyone who has read the entire book of Revelation (any translation) will note that the breakdown of both government and religion in general will occur as part of the master plan towards peace. We have proven that we as a people can not (even though we all want to) govern or protect our own world, country, state, county, city, household or even ourselves without being in direct connection with God (whatever name you use). Anyone with a basic understanding of any denomination’s Sunday school will remember “thou shalt not kill” as the number one commandment of God. The fact that killing is all that has happened since the words were first penned is proof. We who have more advanced spiritual understanding, growth, and aspirations for progress know that we must have peace within ourselves (no hatred) for there to be peace anywhere else around us. There needs to be a common community knowledge of the basics before these acts of hatred from whatever source cease.
I believe that I should not give this man my energy but stand up to the fact that the Quran is a holy book and should be honored and respect as such, just like the Bible. Why the US is giving this man such air time is beyond me. He is very dark and likes the control and ego bust that he is getting. I send him my Rainbow Love to Lighten him Up, but I do not believe in the life he is Choosing. Ok, I do stand and say aload what I believe is correct for my life and that is we must all live in Peace and respect each others beliefs!!!!
Agree that we should all be practicing tolerance for others beliefs and unique ways of living…..and supporting each other in practicing loving kindness.
Dear Ruth,
I agree with you about the fact that this Pastor is showing his anger towards what he believes is a threat for his life and integrity and others as well. We as Christians, Catholics, Lutherans, Buddhists, and whatever other religion are not in the position of judging absolutley any one on this planet. Just as a simple reminder, we all human beings are created by the same God, hence we all humans are absolutely equal and because of this the only one with the authority of judging such a behavior and any behavior is God. And by the way, it is my understanding based on my readings that there’s no single religion that holds the absolute truth. If we all believe this (which I’m convinced is 100% truth) then there wouldn’t be any reason for such conflicts between religions to exist. I urge you and all religious leaders and other leaders in the world to pray God with the greatest sincerity from the heart so that God and only him gives us a beautiful miracle for us to have world peace for good and forever.
Thank you
I find it interesting that in the 21st Century humankind is neither kind to one another nor tolerant of their fellows. In my own study of the numerous religions through time, the core belief in each is Love your Neighbor as your Self. This is one of the Core aspects of growing from a Human Doing into a Human Being. Fear incites emotional reactiveness within individuals who are not grounded within themselves and in conscious contact with the Divine within. As long as individuals allow themselves to be manipulated by Fear, they lose their ability to think for themselves. I had a wise Spiritual teacher who said, “If you don’t think for yourself, someone else will think for you.” It is each individual unit of consciousness’ Destiny to learn to think and respond instead of just reacting. Humanity has a long ways to go to realize the Love and Peace they desire in the World first has to be within themselves. Mindfulness in these chaotic times is essential to hold the space for our clients who become or are already filled by Fear. What we see happening around us is part of all of our Shadow Selves. As long as we react to these negativities in our environment, we give them more power. What ever we focus our attention on increases. Have you noticed that what ever America declares war on increases? Drugs, Cancer, Obesity, and Wars themselves! I think one lesson each individual participating in Earth School at this time is to learn to discriminate what is Right for them and accept that what is Right for them may not be Right for others. However, what seems to be a Truth in all humanity is that we each have opportunities to learn to Love Ourselves – As Is and learn that each of our Brothers and Sisters in this great school has the opportunity to learn the same thing. Like in any school, individuals are at different levels of learning the lessons.
May we have Gratitude each day for the opportunity to learn, grow, and unfold in Love and Peace within ourselves so we may reflect mirror that to our fellow travelers. After all, We are All Relatives. Mitakuye Oyasin.
My wise, but with only a 7th grade education, mother always said to anyone who would listen after someone had proposed or done something stupid,”Don’t show your ignorance.” Unfortunately this man is showing his and all his followers ignorance. I think it is wrong, wrong, wrong. I am an ordained Presbyterian Elder and minored in Relligion as an undergraduate. We are told to love our neighbors as ourselves and the whole world is our neighbor. Where is the love? We all know that violence only begets violence. I pray that he will listen reason and cancel this horrible thing.
First, we are all Vulnerable it seems from a core state and open (not necessarily voluntarily)to random acts for kindness, ambivalence or even violence. Now, we can decide to be Cosmocentric in our world view in that we are one world,and there are clusters of converstation going on and we are creating ours one conversation at a time. Those who have made a religion out of Loving…don’t care about what labels you use…Christian, Islamic, Jewish, Buddhist, Atheist, Unitarian….Scientific…Fundamentalists in general seems to have Obsessive Compulsive behaviors to support their conditioned, behaviors, beliefs and frames of value…Perhaps that is why I like the Wisdom of the Idiots: only by recognizing the idiot in ourselves can we start to become Sufficiently Wise!
Could we not send a petition to this man with our signatures? I’m sure he’s gotten many requests to alter his course,but it would feel good to at least have my name on a plea for him to not humiliate and infuriate Muslims,especially while so many are at war with the U.S.
I don’t understand how he can believe this is the right thing. It’s so unkind,so disrespectful,and so dismissing of the millions of Muslims who live peaceful,moral lives with deep reverence for the Koran.
At this time the pastor has called off the burning. This to me is a mirror of what is coming forward in America and the World. It mirrors what is and has been for generations narrow minded religious people. This pastor is just one and rather vocal one, but all over our nation intolerance has been there. Many say uneducated people are the ones that are associated with such hate. I tend to disagree. It’s across the economic social status of who we are. I believe God is allowing this for His plan. I have no idea what this is all about, but I don’t trust the pastor or any political leader, I put my trust in the one and only God. He will use all this for His glory. I do truly believe this is happening. I have no idea how, but I believe something big is happening.
Peace is not all sharing the same beliefs; it is being in the presence of others with different beliefs without anxiety, defensiveness or reactivity. I am still working on it.
Thank you for your articulate letter. Worth sharing.
In the spiritual realm, I am a metaphysician. At the new thought (church)center that I attend (Center for Spiritual Living in San Juan Capistrano, CA) we start each service with a ceremony lighting candles to EACH of the major religions of the world. For ANYONE to burn a book sacred to any one particular spiritual group is to invite the chaos of reciprocal retaliation and perpetuate the misunderstandings that already exist. I commend President Obama for denouncing such an action.
What a poorly guided Minister – how sad – obviously his decision is not firmly based in his Christian beliefs or teachings. His determination to burn a Book of Holy Scripture other than his own is certainly not being guided by a Higher Being but rather by the evilness that raises its ugly head to cause continuous discourse within many societies.
Too bad he is so limited in his ability to see beyond his actions and the potential ramifications of his sigle minded decisions. The problem is that he really is no different than so many others…..he just made his ‘more than’ 15 minutes of fame.
It’s funny that this ‘pastor’, who is probably another meglomaniac with his own power issues can speak out and practice his ‘religion’ because of the protections in the Constitution and he is using that right to try to take away the same rights of others. I am ready to leave this country because of too many people like him who get too much media attention and now he’s gotten the folks in NY to actually acquiesce to his demands. Unbelievable! He had no permit to do his fire so the police and fire department could have shut him down before he even got started but NO, he’s the excuse NYC needed to stomp on the Constitution. Ruth, your quote atop you blog is right on and we should all be in fear of where this country is going.
Dear Ruth,
I think we need to respect people more and have sense enough to know that just because some people in a group are bad, it does not mean that all are. If that was the case I would hate all white people. I say that because I am African American and I was raised in the deep deep south where I was treated very badly all my childhood by white people, and if I believed that all white people were bad I would not be the person I am today. So when I see or read about a person assuming that all Muslins are terroists and want to burn their Bible, I think that is just wrong. I would say if we don’t remember our history, we will definitely repeat our past.
Dear Ruth: Here is my view on the Pastor Jones threat to burn the Koran. If he has a LEGAL right to do so,that right must prevail, if he chooses to exercise it, over all views,objections and opinions to the contrary. What is then left to stop him within the confines and constraints of a democracy?
The answer: argument and persuasion, especially from authoritative and knowledgeable quarters; for example, the President, Secy. Gates and Gen. Petraeus have all emphasized to Jones and those of his ilk the dire harm that might come to the nation from burning the Koran.
Jones is apparently convinced, at least for the moment, and has either postponed/cancelled his plan. He now has agreed with the Imam for the both of them to fly to NY for further dialog around the possibility of moving the site of the mosque farther from Ground Zero. Potential violence has been held at bay by mutual agreements of opposing parties to further dialog for the ostensible purpose of resolving the issue in a mutually satisfactory way.
I realize that all this may sound simplistic. naive and legalistic to many. But we shall see. Of course, while it is good to keep an open mind, it should not be so open that one’s brains fall out. But that is a subject for another day. Take care, be well. Marvin
I was just going to leave a comment thanking Ruth for speaking out about this planned burning, until I read the comment left by Rev. Elder, with his statements about the need for “rational, unemotional, independent analysis” of this planned protest. I think I’m being quite rational in believing that this plan is less a protest than actions intended to provoke anger, fear, and hatred. And, yes, this is exactly the stance that this professional psychotherapist takes when I am working as a licensed marriage & family therapist with a couple or parent & child and ask “Will this behavior, or these words, bring you closer and make you more connected or will it drive you further apart, stuck in your certainty that you are right and they are wrong, 100% wrong?” Yes, horrible things have been done to women and children in the name of the Quran, just as with the Bible and other holy teachings. What kind of an excuse can that possibly be? This so-called protest does not reflect nor represent the beliefs of
the American people any more than the acts of terrorists reflect the beliefs of people of Muslim faith. I’m thinking of the Rev. Martin Luther King right now and wondering what he would have to say about all of this. “I have a dream that someday . . . “
Dear Ruth,
Historically and presently, politicians of every stripe have used religion to bolster the rightness of their cause; European colonialists abetted by and allied with The Church and its Doctrine of Discovery unleashed and justified, in the name of God, the decimation of indigenous peoples throughout the western hemisphere.
The demonization of the Muslims, a neo-colonialist case in point, initiated by the Bush Administration as part of their nefarious campaign of terror and lies to manufacture consent to justify their illegal invasion of Iraq, in order to get at its oil, is an obvious and proven recent example of the neo-colonialist mindset at work one that President Obama has unfortunately elected to pick up and run with.
Citing General Petraeus concerns on the possible effect on the safety of our troops (some of whom are committing outright, off-the-books murder rather than sanctioned killing) of a Bible-thumping religious fanatic’s intended burning of the Quaren is, as I see it, saturated with bitter irony.
Petraeus’ very presence in Afghanistan, where unmanned drones regularly rain down death and destruction on innocent men, women and children (deemed collateral damage by some)is not viewed by its victims as an attempt to win friends and influence people.
Would we be doing that if they were white Christians?
Clearly, if the U.S. were not at war with Iraq and Afghanistan, the anti-Muslim surge in the U.S. (to use yet another Orwellian term)would not have arisen.
The “Good” Reverend would be left without a cause celebre.
We’d be left without a Patriot Act (our Constitution and Bill of Rights still intact), and the psychologists implicated in the design of twisted torture protocols, would be without terrorists to interrogate.
And our President might be focusing on and directing his full attention to the actual needs of the American people and their shredded economy, an event precipitated by those afflicted with the disease of insatiable greed who our President helped to bail out and re-install in key government positions putting the foxes back in the hen house.
Clearly, Greed, Ignorance and Aggression are in the saddle riding mankind. The demented Reverend is just a symptom.
Has anyone noticed
Lyndon Johnson manufactured the Tomkin Gulf incident to justify destroying Southeast Asia after France and the US had treated it as a colony for a hundred years or more.
George Bush manufactured terrible weapons in Iraq to justify destroying the country after Iraq had been unable to defeat Iran in a war in which the US supplied weapons to both sides.
The US superfluously dropped two atomic weapons on Japan making the US the only country ever to have used a nuclear bomb anywhere.
The CIA was instrumental in killing Salvatore Allende in overthrowing the elected government of Chile and installing a brutal dictator in the country.
The CIA was instrumental in overthrowing the elected government of Iran and installing another brutal dictator.
Osama bin Laden hates the US largely because the US maintains military bases in his country. His family has been in business with the Bush family for a hundred years.
When the two buildings in New York and the one in Arlington, Va were attacked my feeling was, “I wonder why it took them so long.” As the other nations of the earth emerge from their periods of colonialism I would not expect the people of those places to have any good feelings toward the US, If they do have good feelings toward the US it will be because whatever religion or non-religion they practice enables them to be much more forgiving than I have experienced the US as a society being in my 74 years of being being born in a hospital in D C, growing up in Arlington, Va, spending two years in the army, going to schools from 1941 through 1982, and learning a fair amount about subtle energies and energy medicine.
The great and glorious USA is unable to provide health care for its people, unable to maintain the infrastructure so that bridges don’t collapse, provide methods of having people eat healthily and have access to reasonable exercise facilities, and much else. But this country can maintain a navy with more ships than the countries with the 13 next largest navies.
But everyone can be excited over some guy threatening to burn Korans.
Rev Elder — I like what you wrote. I don’t participate in religions but I’d like to ask what kind of church you are associated with.
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Whatever major religion, all say the same -there is only one Almighty God, how we humans place Him in different categories, because of our own perceived truths is actually pathetic.
Fear scatters perceptions and rigidifies conceptions. Be not afraid….
I am deeply grateful that you have given voice to our concern and calling as mental health and family health professionals in a culture that contains significant violence toward the dignity of other people. Thank you.