December 15, 2017

Photo by Alisdare Hickson (CC BY-SA 2.0)

This was originally published in the Iowa City Press-Citizen on December 15, 2017.

Americans are once again horrified by series of extreme violent attacks against innocent civilians including children. On Nov. 14, a shooter killed five and wounded 10 in California. On Nov. 12, a shooter in Florida killed at least two and injured others. On Nov. 5, a shooter killed 26 in a rural Texas Church and wounded 20, the worst mass murder in a church in the U.S. There was no response from the Trump administration or Congress.

On Oct. 31, a 29-year-old radicalized Uzbekistan native killed eight and injured 12 in Ney York City, hijacking Islam. Requesting to display a Daesh/ISIS flag in his hospital room demonstrated his delusion, derangement and utter madness! Threats against Muslims and mosques followed in New Jersey, where he lived, and nationwide. Blaming all Muslims and Islam became the ready response, feeding the narrative of extremist groups. The president responded by stepping up our already extreme vetting program and called for an immigration overhaul. 

On Oct. 1, Stephen Paddock opened fire from the 32nd floor of Mandalay Bay Hotel on a crowd of concertgoers on the Las Vegas Strip, leaving 58 people dead and 546 injured. The worst mass murder in U.S. history. "If only Stephen Paddock had been a Muslim ..." Thomas Freedman wrote in a column in the New York Times.

The conflicting response when violence is perpetrated by non-Muslim and Muslim became an unfortunate reoccurrence perpetuating more religious hate, division and suspicion.

We as a nation are miserably failing to address the roots of violence, to de-escalate disputes and practice peaceful conflict-resolution.

“Evolutionary Basis for Violence functioned to further survival and adaptation. It served to: (1) provide safety and security for the group, (2) protect the young, (3) assure resources and defend territory, and (4) maintain social structure and a dominance hierarch.” ("Violence and the Struggle for Existence," by By David Daniels, M.D., Marshall F. Gilula, and Frank M. Ochberg)

For centuries religions have been violently used, misused and abused for the sake of vengeance, power, control and oppression.

• Between 1096 and 1291, eight major crusades were intended to secure control of holy sites considered sacred by Muslims, Christians and Jews. These bloody and ruthless religious wars propelled the status of European Christians, making them major players in the fight for land in the Middle East. The widespread massacre of Muslims, Jews and other non-Christians resulted in bitter resentment persisting for years.
• From 1914-1918, World War I and colonialism profoundly devastated the world, including North Africa and the Middle East. They carved regions into mandates, protectorates, colonies and spheres of influence, without following any ethnic, religious or geographic lines.
• From 1933-1945 the Holocaust and World War II scarred Europe and the world. During the Holocaust, 11 million were murdered, including 6 Million Jews and 5 million non-Jews.
• From 1992-1995 In Bosnia, Orthodox Christian Serb forces targeted Bosnian Muslims and Catholic Croatian civilians, killing some 100,000 (80 percent Bosnian Muslims). It was the worst genocide in Europe since the Holocaust. On Sept. 11, 2001, 19 Muslim militants financed by the al-Qaida terrorist organization of Saudi fugitive Osama bin Laden hijacked four airplanes and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the U.S., killing 2,977. Since then, civil wars, U.S. and allies ongoing military involvement in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Somalia and Niger with the spread of violent groups, Al-Qaida, Taliban’s, AlShabab, Boko Haram, and ISIS collectively killed and displaced millions of civilians.
• Since 2011 in Myanmar, an upsurge in extreme Buddhist nationalism, anti-Muslim hate speech, and deadly communal violence spread. In 2016, Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi switched from prisoner to de facto leader. By August 2017, genocide and ethnic cleansing of Rohingya ethnic Muslims under the watch of this disgraced leader ended any hope for democracy. Hundreds were killed, thousands terrorized, and entire communities forced to leave their country. Some 400,000 Rohingya Muslims fled to impoverished Bangladesh. The United States — and the world are sitting on the sidelines watching it happen. 

David Daniels wrote: “Collective violence, e.g., war, usually explodes the peace it promises to bring and often brings destruction, further dehumanization and despair. Those replacing violent oppressors usually assume the oppressors’ violent practices. Collective violence is, at its root, a survival strategy turned maladaptive and anachronistic. Everything accomplished through violence has also been accomplished through peaceful means." Daniels reminded us that Sept. 11, 2001, demonstrated that we can no longer polarize the world of humankind into “us” and “them." And nonjudgmental acceptance does not condone, capitulate or agree with our own or others’ behavior. 

Homegrown violence, wars, threats of nuclear weapons and violent conflicts permeate our lives and world. We must end this vicious cycle of hate, mayhem, destruction and wanton murder before it destroys us and our planet.

“Every moment, a voice, out of this world, calls on our soul, to wake up and rise.” — Rumi