when religion breeds intolerance

Religion is an interesting entity, isn’t it?  I’ve been a “religious person” since I can remember, and I would still consider myself one today, though that title makes me a little uncomfortable because of the many negative connotations it conjures up in so many people.  Many people have been hurt by religion, or probably stated more correctly, the “religious establishment.”  Religion can do many amazing things, as can be seen by some of the work religious entities do in times of crisis, but can also conjure up horrors, as we saw in the Crusades.  One could write books about a variety of issues concerning religion (and many people have — just visit any bookstore), but I want to talk about one issue on my mind today that connects with religion: intolerance.

I’ve had a few interesting conversations about religion this past week with someone I’ve met here in my travels, and the connection of religion to tolerance (or a lack there of) has crept into most of those conversations.  Our first conversation talked about how many religions do overlap in some qualities, like love and peace, but somehow the differences are what we tend to emphasize; and then, unfortunately, the values created out of those differences in some way cause us all to forget about the underlying values of love and peace found when one really looks at religion.

(Note: Instead of doing so for each example, I will iterate here that I believe each of the following religions, as a general rule, holds a value of love, peace, and tolerance, though each example shows that this can sometimes be forgotten about when looking at certain issues.)
A few examples:
The sector of Christianity which says God does not love or accept homosexuals.
The sector of Judaism which advocates for the expulsion of Palestinians from certain lands of the Middle East.
The sector of Islam which seeks a “holy war” against Westernism.

There are many great people in religious institutions and organizations working for peace and justice (CPT and LVC are just two examples), but it’s so easy to look at the bad instead of the overwhelming volume of good that is out there (the media certainly does it).  In general, I believe that religion should teach us how to be tolerant of one another and to seek ways to love and support one another in the struggles that exist for all of us in this world.

I certainly don’t want to be caught up in a “religion” which people associate with intolerance, but I haven’t let that be a reason to drop the “religious” adjective when I describe myself.  Hopefully as people experience who I am and what I stand for, they will realize that I, and maybe most of the religious community itself, believe in a life full of love and respect, hope and justice, for all people, and through connecting with others who share those values, we can truly make a difference.

Peace.

while you’re waiting…

Until I have time to write some of my own thoughts, take a look here:

MPT in Palestine

Elephants and The Segregation Wall

Elephants: gray and towering over humans.  The Segregation Wall: gray and towering over humans.
And they both get old fast.

At least that’s the connection I was making in my head as I rode from Bethlehem to Ramallah, only a few days into my trip to the West Bank.

During one of the days my group was in Africa, we were able to take a day-long excursion to a park and go “on safari.”  The morning was spent on a little “water viewer,” and we got to see lots of nice animals, but the elephants were the most exciting — at least when we first saw them.  We had gone past a spot and then turned around to follow two elephants that had entered the water and began to play and head to a small island in the river.  We were all enthralled, watching them for 20 or more minutes, but we had to move on and check things out further down the river — which meant more and more elephants.  In the afternoon we traveled on land, seeking on new creatures, and when we saw elephants, the sentiment was mostly, “been there, done that.”

That “been there, done that” mentality was kind of how I felt about the Segregation Wall (picture) only a few days into my travels.  I had my first morning went through the large “Gilo 300” checkpoint on my way to Bethlehem, which was my first “up close and personal” encounter with the wall.  After we went through, we drove for a bit and I was able to view the Wall’s construction in the distance, and it looked much the same as we drove past it most of the way to Ramallah.

I’m not sure the exact route we took, but as this map suggests, virtually the entire trip included a view of the Wall, which was nice for the video camera but not so nice for the driving time.  But soon it will be much worse!  Since the car drivers must stay east of the Wall — remaining on the “Palestinian side” — if the Segregation Wall is completed, the route of which is indicated at the top of this map, it will require an extra 25 km (15 m) or more to drive around the snakelike wall as it stretches halfway to Jericho!  You may have heard that this Wall is for protection, but in the way it snakes around it acts to separate the Palestinians from their land and from one another more than anything else and pulls West Bank land into “Israel proper.”  For this reason – as well as the fact that it certainly does not follow the Green Line, the border that existed before the 1967 Six-Day War – it is many times also called “The Annexation Wall.”

It was sad for me as I realized how easily  The Segregation Wall had become an accepted reality of this place for me after only a few days.  The fact that it is not my land that is being stolen and it is not my olive trees that are being cut down makes it too easy for me to accept this Wall.  But accepting its presence as present reality doesn’t change in my mind the illegality and ugliness of its presence or my commitment to the work of ending its construction and the establishment of a situation where the current structure will be dismantled.

The falling of the Berlin Wall in 1989 is one of my first vivid memories.  I pray that the falling of the Segregation Wall will not be one of my last — or worse still, a memory I don’t get to have at all.

Africa — wow!

From approximately 27 March – 4 April 2008, I was in Zambia, Africa. My experiences there are far too many to put into one blog post, that’s for sure, but I thought I’d try to write a little something about my time there today and see if I want to write more another time.

I guess what I want to say is that Americans really just don’t realize that it is possible to be happy without very much “stuff.” America is a country built on materialism — don’t you agree? — and that’s pretty easily observed by traveling to (parts of) Africa and recognizing the vast contrasts between the two places. Leaving a land where some families have more cars than people to arrive in one where families have no electric or running water (and are lucky if they have a well/hand pump to obtain clean water from), I saw the stark differences of Zambia and the USA. But who was happier?

I think we could all agree there are certain basic things a person should have and that as probably requirements for finding contentment: enough food and water; a safe and protected living environment; access to sufficient medical care; shoes and clothing. Maybe you’d add some more. The point is, though, that there is no requirement of iPods or Mercedes or even televisions and computers to be happy or content, and I was able to experience that very poignantly while in Zambia. One evening we were able to have dinner and fellowship with members of one of the “villages” on the farm where we stayed. Before dinner, some of us (visitors and hosts alike) played with a soccer ball and sang songs, and we shared in conversation before eating dinner (in the dark because one of the cooks had taken too long in making her food). We were smiling and enjoying one another’s company, and I think we were all pretty happy. Most of us only spoke one language, — English or Tonga — though, so I never really got to ask, but I enjoyed my evening.

If you know me, you know I tend to live a pretty simple life. I indulge in movies and pop culture, to be sure, but I seek to live pretty simply. When I told someone I survived living in DC for only about $650 a month (including rent!), she was pretty shocked. But just because I forego the pricy food or the 64″ TV (though it’s pretty tempting) doesn’t mean I’m not happy. I think I’ve said it before, but once you have those basics covered, I really believe it’s all about the relationships and people in your life that make things worth it.

It’s truly an injustice that there are people in Zambia (and America, to be sure) who live without running water; who live without readily available resources to deal with certain medical problems they might encounter; who live with only one or two pairs of clothing and maybe nothing to wear on their feet; who lack enough food to meet their bodily needs.

What isn’t an injustice is that some people don’t have televisions or 50 shirts or cars that gulp down 10 gallons of gas to drive 150 miles. Perhaps the injustice is not that some people don’t have these things but that so many people do.