Friday, July 22, 2016

Multicultural diversity has a dark side too





The United States is a melting pot – a wealth of diversity and that will always be as free people come to seek the light. To indict a group who want to emigrate to our country is wrong. To draw up accusations and biased comments to spew hate is not what this country is about. There are many who feel Muslims have no place in our society. They can’t be further from being wrong on that. These men, women and children have every right as free people to come here.

Growing Islamic Terrorism is a problem and a threat to our way of life. I am the first to speak out and say, the faith of the masses who practice Islam are misunderstood. There are people who want to live in peace. There are families who want the best for their children and do so with choices they are denied in many parts of the world today. Out of 49 Islamic populated countries, they seek America because it is the land of the free- religiously, democratically and with justice for all.

There are some assertions out there they are the ‘evil ones’ and should be denied into our country. That is wrong and that is a false perception that we must address. We should welcome every person, regardless of their religious preferences to come to America. Now, today we must assure that can still happen but it must happen with a degree of certainty that we acknowledge that Islamic Terrorism is a growing evil in this world. That it’s militancy, its intolerance to Western civilization cultures is often the spark of conflict, hate and violence. Other religions should not be proselytizing this process of banning immigration but support it.

Don’t let the fear rule your hearts. Don’t let the political rhetoric change your minds and project evil to all and not just those who actually engage and preach the hate of the Islamic Terrorist way of life under a law that I man-made and 1400 years old.

Accept the process with tolerance BUT ensure the government exercises its main responsibility to keep you safe. Demand the government conduct thorough background checks and keep the process legal and non-discriminatory. Do not treat Muslims different from other refugees or immigrants coming here legally. Do not exercise what we have done in the past and look the other way. We need to hold the government to the fire to ensure our safety while allowing others to come here and be free. Do not engage in the hype or fear mongering of our politicians. They have their own motives and agendas for others they represent.

Do not buy into the fear mongering of Muslims bringing violence into our community and crossing our laws with bloody intentions. A thorough screening will eliminate the risks involved to the same level as we eliminate current risks in our society today. We are a nation of peace and we would expect others to be the same and most will come here with peace in their hearts. Others will manipulate and find a means to come her to do harm – we should reject the fact that all Muslims are evil or no-good. There is no such truth.

There are four realities here; peace and war and love and hate. Within the Muslim world, there is conflict as well. There are clashes of cultures among themselves for centuries and it is all about power and control. Not just a caliphate or country but the minds and hearts as well. They too are dealing with these same realities.

Jihadists or Islamic Terrorists are by no means a majority in the Islamic world. They are feared and hated in those areas where they rule and deny humans the basic human rights they are entitled to as people. In our country, there are those non-Muslims who preach fear and hate just like the Jihadists do. The difference is they have a different name but do the same hate.

What we need to do as people is to come together and show the Muslim world we can love them when they love us back. What we can say is come into my home and eat besides me and talk to me as I talk to you and explain how I feel about my God. Do not insult the prophet and do not insult my Jesus Christ.

Make the word known that if they are to act on the truth that there is but one God and His son Jesus Christ but do not force them into believing what we believe in; that it is the only way to live in harmony. Respect and dignify their beliefs as they do yours. If they choose to worship Allah, then respect them and live your life for God, not with resentment or hate.

How do we deal with this irreconcilable conflict between a secular West and a resurgent Islam is based on how we love and respect each other? Do not sympathize but empathize; do not resent or hate but try to understand them better. Do not fear someone who has done you no harm, for fear is the evil that grows the demons inside us and changes the way we feel and see thing around us when in all reality, there is nothing to fear.

There is a dark side to diversity. It causes fear. There is a dark side to different cultures and theologies – it makes us scared to think we are going to lose our own faith. That is the darkness of diversity, as it invades our hearts and minds and makes up an impression of losing our freedom of practicing our own religion and give up hope that what we believe in was not strong enough to overcome the hate around us and diminish our ability to love one another. The dark side of diversity is you, me and anyone who doesn’t have the faith, the perseverance and the love in God to belief that all men, women, and children were created equal and deserve the best of what the world can offer.

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