Terrorism: Empathy and the Religion of Bigotry

Read Time:4 Minute, 43 Second

“All I meant was that he doesn’t understand what living in the ghetto can do to a man.”

“And you do?”

“Well-l-l … I’m studying it in my sociology class.”

From All in the Family. Season 2 Episode 4, October 9, 1971

Circa 1650, Blaise Pascal (1623 - 1662), French mathematician and religious philosopher. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Circa 1650, Blaise Pascal (1623 – 1662), French mathematician and religious philosopher. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The isolation every human experiences at times, the distance from other humans, is bridged by commonalities, large and small. But when distances are so great that every bridge becomes suspect, how do we find and trust any common experience?

As the death toll in France went from a few to multiples of ten, then over a hundred, and continued upward, I could see and feel the parallels with the nightmarish past.

On September 11, 2001, my young daughter was attending school in the Washington, DC area. She and I wept together by phone, wondering how such cruelty could exist.

She mourned a double tragedy with friends who had lost loved ones at the Pentagon, and who then worried for their own safety from fellow Americans. They were Muslim, and they found themselves targets yet again. Those whose instincts go to hatred had seized the moment, and at any moment could seize the streets.

Today, grim news and terrible imagery have come to us from Europe. Increases in hostility can be measured in America through the science of polling data. And we see visual evidence in occasional assaults and property damage.

In France, threats against Muslims and vandalism against their places of worship are on a predictable rise. But there is a counter-weight of sorts. Muslims are invited to join marches and vigils against terrorists. Islamic Imams gather in public to lead La Marseillaise, the French National Anthem. Interfaith gatherings condemn terrorist violence. Muslim leaders from around the world join in speaking out.

And yet. There is an undercurrent that is faintly familiar. It is collective blame, collective attacks, and even collective contrition.

A few months after the 9/11 attacks, Wall Street reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped by terrorists in Pakistan. As a captive, he was murdered on camera.

At a memorial service, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf spoke about his own unity with people of faith and those outside of any professed faith. He then directed his remarks directly to Daniel Pearl’s father. We have the words in transcript, and they are profound.

If to be a Jew meant devotion in heart, mind, and soul, to the God of all, then, said the Imam, “not only today I am a Jew, I have always been one, Mr. Pearl.” If being a Christian meant to love God and to love fellow human beings, he said, “then not only am I a Christian, but I have always been one, Mr. Pearl.” He stated, simply, that to be a Muslim is, in that respect, no different.

It was a sensitive and moving moment. Then came something remarkable.

We are here especially to seek your forgiveness and of your family for what has been done in the name of Islam.

The Imam was expressing contrition on behalf of a faith he believed to have been betrayed by terrorism.

In a similar position, perhaps I would find within myself the ability to respond with defenseless grace. Or perhaps I would not feel the need for forgiveness for the way I worship God. There are limits to my imagination. I cannot know, I cannot truly envision what it is to be considered guilty by association of something so hideous. I understand only that true understanding escapes me.

I do seek my own slight measure of empathy. But the portrayal of Christians on radio and television do not match up. Rabid hatemongers are presented as spokespeople for Jesus, for Christianity, for Christians, for me. But the presentation of hate is not terrorism, as I understand the word. Intolerant speech is not murder.

Association with the narrow-minded because of a common faith is not personally threatening to me or my family or to those of like mind. I have nothing to fear because I worship in ways similar to those whose idea of persecution is a greeting by a department store holiday employee. I do not feel contrition on behalf of my faith when I hear of Christian warriors marching bravely as to war on their holy crusade against coffee cups at Starbucks.

When Phil Robertson, Pat Robertson, Franklin Graham, James Dobson speak foolishness or bigotry, when they are presented by unknowing television hosts as representing “the Christian point of view,” I react only as I would to a drunken bigot at a family gathering. It is not because televised Christian personalities are an affront for sharing my faith. Their words represent a minor disappointment simply because they are fellow humans.

I don’t know that I can understand what burden some of our brothers and sisters may carry because they are Muslims. I hope they look into their hearts and discover the freedom to reject that burden. I hope they are secure from violence or ridicule while walking neighborhood streets.

While I cannot know what it is like to be a target, I do understand some of what is in me. I know I need to reject openly the notion of collective guilt and to defend the targets of bigotry.

It is not because the attackers, like me, believe they are Christian.

It is because we; the targets, the attackers, and I, have the common experience of being human.

Published with permission of FairandUNbalanced.com.

Graphics by MadMikesAmerica.com.

About Post Author

Burr Deming

Burr is a husband, father, and computer programmer, who writes and records from St. Louis. On Sundays, he sings in a praise band at the local Methodist Church. On Saturdays, weather permitting, he mows the lawn under the supervision of his wife. He can be found at FairAndUNbalanced.com
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8 years ago

A marvelous article indeed, although I had to read it twice. I’m a bit slow you know 🙂

Reply to  David Peal
8 years ago

Ditto 🙂

Reply to  Neil Bamforth
8 years ago

Ditto twice, at least the older I get 🙂

8 years ago

Excellent article old bean.

However.

Islam is a theocracy – not my opinion. As such it is extremely difficult for Muslims to integrate into a western democracy purely because the very act of doing so goes against The Koran.

That isn’t to say they can’t. I have Muslim friends who have but – there’s always a but eh? – they tell me – and I can but believe them – that they are often shunned by many Muslims for ‘compromising their faith’.

I agree with what you have written but the fact of the matter is Islam is the greatest danger to western democracy we have faced since the Nazi’s.

That certainly doesn’t make Muslims guilty of anything but it does mean that Muslims who cannot compromise their faith in order to integrate into western democracies are, at least potentially, our enemies.

It is and always will be wrong to target people for their faith but is it wrong to advise them that their faith needs to change as part of the proces of not targeting them?

It’s a complicated issue old bean and I certainly don’t have an answer.

Glenn Geist
8 years ago

Brilliant article. Bravo!

Reply to  Glenn Geist
8 years ago

I couldn’t agree more. Brilliant piece Burr, and thank you.

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