Saturday, October 06, 2007




The Issue which will define the generation that we live in now::

This - it seems to me - is the conflict between Islam and Christianity.

Fantastic article today in the Guardian.
Karen Armstrong being interviewed by Madeleine Bunting.

Karen was a Greenbelt speaker in 2006 and you can download her talk via the GB website.
Can there be anyone who is not interested in this world wide issue?

One thing that hit me this week as I talked to a friend.
That some humans, maybe a majority, live out their lives with humans who are just like them.
Same colour of skin.
Same cultural norms.
Same activities with the same type of humans.
Never mixing with others of different social and cultural activities.
And we get in a stinking groove and don't even see over the edge because the groove is so deep.
When it comes to minorities - the language is 'them and us' ............. not how can we engage in some equally relaxing activity which will draw us together and understand each other.
Click the picture/text on this blog to see and read it better.

I am in the middle of the rich experience because I meet humans all the time who are from minority groups here in the UK.
People of faith. Muslim faith. Hindu. And more.
I mentioned a few days ago about I was with a Muslim human who was gently asking an confessed atheist to consider the existence of God.
It was a wow moment.
God talk or music talk - or food talk ...... it is all beautiful to connect as human persons.


Karen Armstrong writes and, in Greenbelt terms, speaks about the terrible separation of the two major faiths in the world.
She stresses how religious fundamentalism breaks with its own traditions; for example, the way such Christians read the Bible literally is in profound contrast to thousands of years in which the religious scriptures were read, not as a literal text to be argued over, but as a spiritual activity - part of a process of prayer and divine inspiration to help understand their contradictions and conflicting messages.

Ever since 9/11 she has been in demand all over the world as a speaker and writer to explain Islam and religious fundamentalism and why religion is being increasingly invoked as a justification for violence. This year has included visits to Malaysia, Turkey, Jordan, Singapore and Egypt, where she received from President Mubarak an award for services to Islam made by Al-Azhar, arguably the most prestigious university in the Muslim world. A stint at Harvard beckons this autumn with a visit to Pakistan already planned for early next year.

She worries that Islam is in danger of giving up its "unique genius", which is its pluralism; the "Qur'an is quite clear that all prophets are equally valid, and God tells Muhammad that 'we [God] have created diversity, not one ummah [community of Muslims]'". Similarly the "western secular tradition is in danger of betraying its own principle of tolerance".

Read the article here - I think it is great.

More than that - I feel that all of us need to take some initiative.
Next time you are in a room with a collection of humans - look beyond those you know or who are easier to talk with. Spot someone alone on the fringe of the groups and crowds. Awareness comes first. The seeing beyond self and our social norms.
Go and do the uncomfortable thing.
Speak to the isolate.
The human of a different colour - age - even clothing style.
And beyond - in the street ............. when you feel uncomfortable THAT is the place to make decisions rather than following our emotional strings. Stop and talk. Dive into a group who you feel threatened by.
What we do on a day-to-day basis is so vital.
Look out the poorest and stigmatised in YOUR community and design opportunities to bump into each other and say hello.
Just say hello and tell you face to say it too.
"We are all responsible for our own in-actions".

Otherwise we will be responsible members of the generation which separates, not grows and aids us to become a world community of diverse beautiful humans who understand each other and don't want to plant a bomb on my morning London Tube train.




.