Nuance

One of the most difficult things to remember in times of trial, is that there are no simple answers.  It seems to be another part of the human condition that we look for the "silver bullet"; the one thing we can do that will make everything better.

Unfortunately, it is never that simple.  There has been another terrorist attack perpetrated by radical fundamentalists.  I refuse to attach more to the criminals than that.  

Why?  Is it because I am frightened to offend someone?  No.   It is because radical fundamentalists, no matter what they profess allegiance to, are frightening, and dangerous, and do great harm in the name of the ideals they profess allegiance to.

The knee jerk reaction is always to grab a broad brush, and paint a large group of people as "bad" or "the enemy".  Often, the knee jerk reactions simply escalate the violence and hatred, and inspire yet another generation of radical fundamentalists to do more harm.

So, what is the correct response?  Those who know me know that I believe great change is possible by individuals taking action.

We must all reject radical fundamentalism, while embracing diversity.  We must as individuals, seek first to understand.  We must all learn to agree to disagree, and to accept that ideological differences do not need to lead to violence and hate.  We can accept that we will always have a spectrum of ideologies, and instead of focusing on our differences, we can instead choose to find common ground.

It is incredibly easy to be indifferent to those we don't know.  We all need to invest in relationships with people who are not like us.  Who are a different gender identity, who have different skin color, who live in different parts of the world, who speak different languages, who have different faith or religious traditions.  When we start to have such a diverse group of friends and loved ones that every face looks like the face of someone we care about, it is much harder to demonize an entire population.

Many people feel that accepting everyone is somehow weak, or a rejection of some fundamental tenet of some ideological affiliation.  Did you notice my use of the word fundamental?  When you refuse to accept someone because of an ideological tenet, then you are on the road to radical fundamentalism.

I am not advocating embracing people who would try to do you harm.  Choosing not to associate with someone because they participate in behaviors that are harmful to themselves or others is different that choosing not to associate with someone because of what they look like or believe.  And the least you owe to people who would harm you or others is the heartfelt desire that their hearts and minds are healed so that they no longer wish to do harm.

It saddens me that there is so much violence and hate in the world.  That will never change until more of us refuse to fuel the violence and hatred with our words and actions.

If you feel strongly that you need to do something in response to the latest terrorist acts, do something kind.  Kindness to a friend, kindness to a stranger.  Pray if that fits your faith tradition.  Meditate if it fits your ideology.  Breathe positive karma into the universe.

Broad statements and hate speak travel us down the road to violence.   We must all care enough about each other and the world to choose to turn away from violence and turn towards understanding.

There will always be those whose devotion to an ideology begats radical fundamentalism.  That radical fundamentalism begets the desire to eliminate everyone who does not share the ideology.  That violence makes most humans want to align against everyone who looks like or sounds like or is from the same place as the radical fundamentalists.

It is not that easy.  Seek the nuance.   Notice the individual.  Don't feed the hate. 

We can break the cycles of violence - but first we must discipline ourselves to respond not with anger - but with greater devotion to being peaceful people who seek to understand, not escalate.