Reflections on fear and hatred...

I just returned from a week's vacation in Canada - a lovely time of renewal and reflection with my wife - during which time we walked and talked together in addition to listening to local jazz and participating in BuskerFest 2010 (a festival of street performers.) Each year we get away for a few weeks so that we might return to the work of ministry energized. One year that took us to London, another year to Scotland and for the past three years to Canada. I have fallen in love with both Montreal and Halifax and look forward to a trip to Thunder Bay!

I mention this because while we were at the street festival a number of the artists engaged the crowds in a gentle but persisting America bashing. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't ugly or mean-spirited - nothing like the ignorant venom that spills out of the mouths of those like Sarah Palin, Dick Chenney or Newt Gingrich - but it was real. And at the root of their jokes and jibes was a discomfort with American aggression. I know that isn't a nuanced or complete analysis - the US is also often magnanimous, generous and compassionate - but given the fallout of our two wars and the increasing hatred unleashed by the election of President Obama, an easy characiture of the United States is that we are a nation of bull-headed and arrogant bullies. And given the fevered lies being manufactured by the political and religious right concerning Park 51 - the proposed Islamic community center in NYC - people of goodwill need to clearly articulate our alternative values. Not only for the sake of religious tolerance - which is being tested once again - but also because balance and truth are antidotes to hatred and fear.

Now, I know that most people are not convinced by facts or a persuasive analysis of a problem. One old saying goes, "Don't confuse my opinions with your facts" while another says, "It ain't what you don't know that causes us problems, but rather what you do know that just ain't so!" Most of us change and mature because of experience and personal contact, right? I remember serving on the Community Relations Board in Cleveland, Ohio after being appointed by Mayor Michael R. White - and meeting my first Muslim. Sure, I had been doing urban ministry for about 10 years, but I am a lower middle class white boy from the suburbs and my childhood social circles never intersected with Islam until that time.

After all, I never knew an African American personally until 7th grade. There was a Jewish family living in our neighborhood, too, whose grandparents had lived through a death camp - there were numbers tattooed on their arms - but nobody talked about that back in the early 60s. It was uncomfortable and impolite. In time - mostly through college roommates and later through organizing with the United Farm Workers union - I broke out of my suburban captivity. But, still, until the early 90s I didn't know anyone who practiced Islam. In that, I suspect that I am not too different from many others of my class, race and generation. And even after working with Rasiq for two years on issues having to do with racial violence and Muslim store owners in Cleveland, I really didn't know much about Islam.

Truth be told, I still didn't until after September 11, 2001. My hunch is that I am not all that different from the majority of other Americans. But after the attacks, I began to read and study and learn. I began to seek out Muslim scholars and listen to their take on real life. By a strange quirk of fate, we wound up staying in the Muslim section of London for a month four years ago -where I read and talked some more - and for the past three years have been working with my church community to foster greater peace and inter-faith cooperation. For example, we raised over $5,000 in support of Greg Mortenson's "stones to schools" project of building schools for girls in Afghanistan. We have spent time studying and discussing the key beliefs and practices of Islam. And we will soon explore a mission of cultural friendship and music with an Islamic "sister city."

To be sure, there is a lot more that I need to do to broaden my appreciation for Islam - such is always the reality for someone as thoroughly American as myself - and I know that this quest will always be incomplete. At the same time, I also know that it is both ignorance as well as fear that is fueling the current anti-Muslim rage and such ignorance and fear must be challenged. The lies must be corrected lest they take deeper root. The misinformation needs to be clarified because the current crop of fear-mongers are shrewd, bright and well financed. And the fear needs to be engaged both intellectually and personally so that new relationships might be brought to birth.

I have been writing for the past 6 months about the similarities between Sarah Palin et al and the rise of Nazi ideology during the 1930s and 40s in Germany. Now that Newt Gingrich and his religious right buddies have joined the fray with their "Islam was born in the heart of hell" rants, the parallels are even more ominous. Remember, in the rise of Hitler:

+ The Nazis scape-goated the Jews during a time of economic collapse and anxiety...

+ They used some Christian words and theology to justify their hatred...

+ They physically bullied and beat those who challenged them...

+ And after they intimidated all but a handful of opponents, they implemented their hatred through legislation and propaganda....

The time has come for people of goodwill - Christian Americans as well as others who understand what is emerging from the "birthers," tea-baggers and fear mongers against Islam - to challenge the lies. And they are lies. Not mistakes - they are intentional lies grounded in the careful work of propaganda - that are potentially just as wicked and destructive as anything created by their Nazi fore bearers.

+ If you don't know the facts, now is the time to get up to speed. (Try this for starters: http://www.forbes.com/2010/08/12/america-mosque-controversy-politics-opinions-columnists-shikha-dalmia.html)

+ If you prefer a visual update, check this out: www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZpT2Muxoo0

But let's be clear: those who are fomenting this hatred - and exploiting the economic pain and anxiety of ordinary Americans - are not merely misguided. They are dangerous. They are mean-spirited. And it could get a lot worse before it gets better. Please also understand that we are no different from those advancing fear and hatred - we are all wounded and broken at some level - and we're all capable of living into our worst and most evil selves. Which is why we need one another for accountability and encouragement.

The late Martin Luther King, Jr. continues to help guide and shape my heart in these dark times: "In the end, we will not remember the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends... therefore when evil men plot, good men must plan; when evil men burn and bomb, good men must build and bind; and when evil men shout ugly words of hatred, good men must commit themselves to the glories of love... because hatred paralyzes life while love releases it; hatred confuses life and love

harmonizes it; and hatred darkens life while love illumines it."

As we heard over and over in Canada: this is not a time for bullies - American, Christian, Islamic or Jewish - this is a time for listening. This is a time for challenging lies and injustice. And this is a time to stand up for compassion and cooperation.