November 2, 2001
Sowing the Seeds of Love
by Barbara Fisher
Everywhere I look, I see declarations such as "United We Stand."
Unity is a desirable and necessary goal in this time of war and terrorism. When we face a faceless enemy, the citizens of the United States must learn to do something that we have not done in years. We must learn to trust each other. We must remember how to work together for a common goal. We must learn to respect each other again.
Unity does not mean that we all must be alike, or think alike. It simply means we must stand as one, and lend each other our love and support. I would like to think that the unity we build in America is one in which diversity is not only tolerated, but encouraged and celebrated.
Without community support, love and trust for each other, our war is already lost.
Terrorism is meant to foster fear, mistrust and hatred among a population, not only against the terrorists, but against each other as well. These attacks were meant to make us fearful, not only of Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, but fearful of each other. They are meant to make us mistrust our government, mistrust our postal service and hate Islam. And in some cases, I think that these attacks have been successful. How do we create a sense of unity in the face of such divisive forces? How do we respond with love instead of hatred?
How do we create peace where there is strife? How do we support diversity, while still being unified?
One way I believe we can best accomplish these goals is by learning to reach out to each other with our spirituality.
When we do what is natural to all human beings in a time of crisis, which is, go to our temples, mosques, churches, groves, circles and fellowship halls, we need to reach out, not only to our brethren within those holy places, but reach out to others. Not with the intent of conversion; that would simply be taking advantage of the current crisis in order to "win" people's souls. We should reach out instead, with the intention of building bridges.
When we speak of diversity, one naturally thinks of differences. Because of our belief in freedom of religion, there are countless religions represented in the United States of America. We have every denomination of Christianity imaginable, every version of Judaism, various sects of Islam, various Hindu traditions, Buddhists of all kinds, Sikhs, Earth Religions of various kinds, Yorubans and other African diaspora religions, Wiccans, other modern Neo-Pagans, and Jains. We may even have some Parsis in the United States.
Looking at the sheer number of belief systems that are represented in this incomplete list, it is natural for our minds to contemplate the differences that separate these religions from each other. However, I believe that while seeing differences is a natural human behavior, I think that if we are to create unity in partnership with diversity, we must go beyond looking at our differences. Seeing differences between religious belief systems is simple; of course focusing on religious differences has often led to religious persecution and war. If we wish to be unified, we must look beyond the differences in doctrine and see what it is that unites all religions in the world.
If we observe the teachings of the religions of the world, both the major ones and the minor ones, the monotheistic and the polytheistic, a few basic beliefs tend to stand out that appear to be common to all of them. The belief in Deity, whether as one or many, is common to most of the religions I have listed. The belief in some sort of ability for the human soul to communicate with that Deity is also present in all of the religions I have listed. One could surmise from this finding that the main purpose of all religions is for humans to commune with Divinity. That is a rather simple, yet, often overlooked commonality between religions. It is easier to say, "My God is the -only- God, and your God is wrong," than perhaps it is to think, "What if your God is my God called by a different name?"
Another common link between religions is the concept of love. Most religions talk about love. Love between the Divine and humanity seems to be a thread woven through all religions. Most religions have a code of moral behavior, that when distilled down to its basic theories, tells us, "Love your neighbor. Be peaceful. Be good to one another."
The wordings of these injunctions are different in every religion, of course, but the ideas are the same. We are told to love the Divine and love humanity, and to work toward peace.
Well, that is a great deal that the world religions have in common with each other. I certainly believe it is a starting place.
And it seems that I am not the only one who understands these issues.
A few weeks ago, I was invited to a women's interfaith symposium at a local mosque by a friend of mine. The topic was "Peace and Tolerance: Looking Toward the Future." A local Christian minister was there to speak, as was a woman representing the Sikh faith, a Jewish woman, and several Islamic women. Two other friends of mine came with me, and we saw that a number of other non-Islamic women were there as well: members of a local church and a few Jewish women. As far as I know, we were the only Pagans, though we weren't loud about what we were. If we had been asked, we would have said that we believe that Divinity was in everything in and out of the world, and that all of the religions in the world are leading us to the same end: union with the Divine. We figured that was a good enough definition of what we believe without bringing up the "Witch" word or the "Pagan" word.
The symposium began with a young woman chanting a passage from the Koran in a hauntingly beautiful voice; later a translation was read. It was calling to us to make peace with each other, for peace pleases God the most. Then, the speakers each spoke in turn, each giving a view of how their faith viewed peace and love and fellowship with people of other faiths. After the speakers were finished, the microphone was opened to others to come speak or ask questions, if they wished.
Many questions were asked, some about how women were viewed in Islamic society, some about the Islamic view of heaven and hell. The answers were fascinating and we learned a great deal about one of the three "Religions of the Book."
Others came forth to give their words and their experiences and how they related to the topics at hand. One woman brought up the fact that hatred was caused by fear of that which is different, and that it is human nature to mistrust what is not understood. It was at that moment, that something clicked in my mind, and I understood something that I had felt my entire life, but suddenly wanted to speak out and say in front of a room full of strangers, most of whom were monotheists.
So, I stood and spoke.
Starting with a joke, and with laughter, I eventually came to my point. That we are all born, as humans, with the ability to reach for God. And that we can choose to do so or not, as we wish, for we have free will. And that God speaks to each person in a way that that person can understand, which is why we have so many different religions. But that God loves us, and even if we don't belong to any one religion, we can still be part of God, if we choose to be. And that if we stop looking at the differences between our religions and cultures, and seek instead that which is universal, we will be more successful in achieving lasting peace and unity.
I was very afraid to say these things. In the Middle Ages, such words said in a house of worship by a woman would have led to me being burned for heresy. But, those words were bubbling up in my throat, demanding to be let out, and I was amazed to see many nodding heads as I spoke them, so I kept speaking.
And I am speaking now. That is what we need to do: reach out to those who are different and find the similarities. Clasp our hands together in friendship, and build bridges of trust and love. Before it is too late.
One woman's words touched me beyond imagining when she spoke. She was actually the first to take the microphone after it was opened to all comments. She was a small woman, an American citizen, though she was not native born. She was nervous and was obviously not used to speaking in front of many people; she had her thoughts neatly written out on a sheet of paper, but only referred to it now and again. She had to be prompted at first to speak up, but as she gained courage, she looked at us with eyes filled with tears, and spoke with a voice strengthened by love.
Several days after the attacks of September 11th, she said her next door neighbor came to her door. The neighbor said she had been worried, because she hadn't seen the children out playing, and wanted to know if everyone was alright in their home. Our speaker answered that the children hadn't felt like playing, that everyone was very upset.
The neighbor said, "I want you to know that we love you very much. You are our neighbors and our friends, and I want you to know that has not changed, and if you need anything, you must come to us." And then, she hugged her, and went back to her house.
Our speaker started to cry, remembering this, and many of us, listening, cried with her. She said that she was astounded at what this woman said, and after explaining to her husband, she said, "How can I repay such love? Her country is attacked, and she comes to us, and gives us love? I can never repay it."
Her husband was a very wise man. He told her that she -can- repay it, by teaching their children to be the best Americans they can be. She can repay it by sowing the seeds of love and understanding in their hearts, so that that from the hatred and violence of the terrorist attacks, Americans might harvest love, peace and understanding.
So, I am asking that we all reach out, and see the what binds us together, rather than what drives us apart. All spiritual beings are on the same quest, ultimately. It is time for us to set aside the differences that amount to cultural trappings, and get to the heart of what we are seeking: love. And offer that love to as many people as we can.
Love is not always the answer. Peace is not always the way. We cannot love the terrorists into not attacking us, but we can love and strengthen each other so that if another attack comes, we can stand together, and be strong and brave.
We are standing at a crossroads. We can choose to allow these attacks to drive us into fear, mistrust and hatred.
Or we can choose to stand together in love and compassion.
The choice is ours.
©2001 by Barbara Fisher