Violence or Education?

In my blog of January 13 I spoke of the tragic

events in Paris and the global response to them.
In the safety of the UAE, it is easy sometimes to
ignore what is going on in the wider world. But the
last week has seen the following headlines:
Twenty-two Pakistani worshippers killed at a
mosque in Peshawar, apparently for not being
Islamic enough for the Pakistani Taliban;
Three Americans shot by an atheist, apparently
for their Islamic faith;
Twenty-one Egyptians beheaded by ISIS in Libya, for their Christian faith;
Two Danes shot, one attending a debate on free speech, one for their Jewish faith;
Ten Nigerians (both Moslems and Christians) killed by a female suicide bomber of the Islamist group
Boko Hara , appare tly part of a a paig to disrupt Nigeria s ele tio as u -Isla i .
I wonder how many other killings, in the name of religion or of hatred for religion, did not get reported
deaths in places like the parts of Syria and Iraq controlled by the Islamic State where no reporters can
go. Each person needlessly slaughtered is a unique individual, capable of great love and creativity, loved
and now mourned by others: a child of God.
The world has a problem. Much blood and ink is being spilled debating what the problem is. I am certain
that the pro le is ot Isla , it is ot religio , it is ot e e fu da e talis , e ause the
fundamentals of every religion worthy of the name oppose violence.
The problem is that in a world changing as fast as ours is, many people in many places are clinging to
ideas and fears that should have been left behind hundreds of years ago. The more that change fuels
insecurity and fear, the more appealing it is to stop thinking and cling to some absolute certainty,
regardless of who preaches it. In the great upheavals of the Great Depression of the 1930s, people
sought o fort i the li d ertai ties of follo i g a Great Leader su h as Hitler or tali . Today the
same kind of fears, especially on the part of young men without the emotional and educational skills
needed in a fast-changing, technological society, fuel faith in ideologies of hatred whether they claim
to be Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Islamic, Jewish, or secular. The answer to such fears lies in education.
In the West, the period known as the Renaissance, beginning in the 14th century C.E., saw the
rediscovery there of much of the philosophy and science that the Islamic societies of the Middle East
and the Mahgreb had preserved and developed from the learning of classical times. It took the West

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three hu dred years or ore to fi ally shed the lega y of the Dark Ages, the ti es of rusades, the
Inquisition and wars of religion; but by the 18th century the ideas of the Enlightenment, based on
recognizing the value of every individual, took hold. It has taken men another three hundred years to
recognize that women are also human and have equal value and rights, and our societies continue to
debate and move forward on expanding rights and protections. Throughout these past centuries,
conflict has seemed inevitable between those who seek a brighter the future and those who cling to the
perceived certainties of the past. It is important to remember that in the long run, human progress has
always won.
For e, the orld s t o largest religio s, Christia ity a d Isla , eatly su
o e s fello hu a ei gs, i the Golde ule.

arize ho o e should treat

This is repeated time and again in the Koran and the hadiths; for example,
No e of you ha e faith u til you lo e for your eigh or hat you lo e for yourself. ahih Musli
In Christianity, the equivalent is:
o hate er you ish that others
Prophets. Matthew 7:12)

ould do to you, do also to the , for this is the La

a d the

As lo g as people of faith re e er this fu da e tal, religio ill ot threate a y ody. It is a good

rule for people without religious faith to follow, too.) It is time for educators from the secular tradition,
as well as those from the religious traditions of the world, to engage in greater dialogue about how we
can work together to overcome fears of change, and make the world a more just and free place in which
all faiths are respected.

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