People Power

Spathiphyllum wallisii - Peace Lily

Like many in blogland, recent events have left me feeling rather speechless. What does one say after such atrocities? How can anything we say make any difference anyway?

I wasn't surprised by the attacks themselves, but I was surprised by how long it has taken to happen, and let us not fool ourselves into thinking that this will be an end to it. It is just the start, and ALL people of all nations must make some serious decisions as individuals.

I have seen sweeping generalisations of how ALL muslims must be kicked out of the US. I have witnessed a friends Facebook post in which the author mocks the European countries for enabling it to happen by letting in refugees from Syria etc, and those of us who support countries for doing so (a common reaction it would appear). There have been so many knee jerk reactions as a result of anger and fear, and this must stop!

Let us get one thing clear.......NOT ALL MUSLIMS ARE TERRORISTS!!

The only way forward is for all of us, in every nation, to engage with each other regardless of faith or belief, and not leave space for the extremists to do the 'engaging' and as such the radicalising.

Islam is not a faith of war and hate. Of course there will always be those who read what they want to read in any book of scripture, and adapt the words to suit their own objective, but what we must ALL start to understand is that pretty much all faiths are peaceful at heart.

I have followed a blog for some time now, written by a devout Muslim, and the most recent post is very interesting, and very relevant to recent events.

You can take a look here if you are interested.

There will be many more atrocities, of that I am certain, but in all of this we must also continue to live our lives in such a way as to make the plight of the terrorist weaker and weaker. As individuals we must engage more, learn more, and also continue with our day to day 'stuff'. We must be cautious of course, but not let the terrorist change any of our lives through fear.

I am going to see 'The Messiah' performed at the Royal Albert Hall in a few weeks, and we have discussed with each other the potential risks involved in going to a major UK building, slightly away from the tourist centre, densely packed with people going to see such a message as this. There are two things we can do. Enjoy the event, and more importantly pray. What we must not do is not go.