Thoughts on Norway and “Terrorism”
Dear friends,
The world has just witnessed another terrible large-scale attack on innocent people in Norway, and our hearts grieve with them. On a per capita basis, Norway lost twice as many people as the U.S. did on 9/11. We grieve for the loss of life but also for one more chip in the armor of our humanity. As the reports of this tragedy came out, the media rushed to report that Muslims must be responsible. Now that we know they were not, the word terrorism is suddenly no longer spoken as sited so well by Glenn Greenwald in his piece on “the Omnipotence of Al Qaeda and meaninglessness of “Terrorism” [http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2011/07/23/nyt/index.html] Is it only terrorism when it is committed by our enemies? Hardly, but when terrorists look like us, it touches a place inside that is not comfortable and we react by looking for someone or some idea to blame – for something to separate us from “them”.
Thich Nhat Hanh and many others teach us that to find peace in the world, we must find peace in ourselves. It seems likely that Anders Behring Breivik was not at peace with himself. However, he was not that different from many of us who continue to see the world in terms of the enemies we must fight and overcome. Ask yourself, what stereotypes do you hold? What assumptions have you made about others? Who or what do you define as “enemy”? Then join with me in voicing an apology to the Muslims of the world and all those we rush to blame and condemn. Let us grieve for the people of Norway and everywhere there is terrorism by looking inside at our own tendencies to see enemies to fight, and at all the times we too rush to judgment without all the facts. Let us be willing to forgive, to admit our mistakes, to keep an open mind and to be willing to learn from those we see as “enemies”. When we can do that, we stand a chance at living in peace with each other….Betsy
