I would like to start this post with a short excerpt from a book not in this week's readings. It's from It's Up To You, Chapter1, Looking In the Mirror, by Dzigar Kontrul; "We like to see ourselves as strong and in control but we are more like a fragile eggshell that is easily broken. This makes us feel deeply vulnerable-and not in a good way. This vulnerable self requires protection, armoring, the gathering of forces, and the construction of walls. As a result, we become painfully trapped. We are increasingly fearful of relaxing with things as they are and increasingly uncertain that anything will work out the way we would like"(4).
I read this shortly after reading Ali Gomaa's piece on the meaning of jihad. What really struck me was that jihad has many more meanings than just the political use of it as an evil Darth Vaderish enemy trying to squash America. He educates us to it's internal meaning, that of a personal struggle with armament surrounding the ego, or the struggle to drop the armament that separates Muslim's from God. He explains that jihad is "a spiritual exercise of opposing the lower self."(236). This journey is the greater jihad because it is the journey of a lifetime.
He mentions another meaning, that of "just cause", which in this case is about self- defense and to prevent aggression. He quotes from the Quran, "Fight in the way of God against those who wage war against you, but so not commit aggression". Islam is a path toward understanding oneself and others. It's only when the tenets of the religion are taken to an extreme, that it morphs into something different from it's original meaning.
Fundamentalism is a solidification of beliefs. This happens in every religion. If we look at ourselves, the US, we have fundamentalism taking over our political system rampantly. Look at Bachman, Perry, Romney, Bush, Palin.
We have taken jihad and turned it into the world family scapegoat. We are looking at the symptoms of aggression, and singling out a group and creating the "we'll fix you and then everything will be alright" system.
Gomass teaches us that Muslim extremism is not the fundamental meaning of Islam. As I read each piece, my mind (and heart), kept searching for answers. How can terrorism, the fear of annihilation, be resolved? What I kept coming back to was that it can't, within the same dynamic from which it arose. Einstein said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Haven't you done this in your life? I know I struggle with that dynamic daily. Thich Nhat Hanh , says "Reconciliation is to understand both sides"(227), understanding the suffering of both sides This is the practice of being able to accommodate contradiction and can and does create a space for a larger geography, and effectively a new dynamic.
Terrorism targets people, human lives to send a message to the leaders and to create fear. I think it is democracy turned inside out, it is not for and of the people. We are still in a cold war, compassionless and
inhumane. So I hope these acts of fear will wake us all up and help us to find better ways to attend to conflict. I think that ultimately there is no "just war", however, because the reality is that it exists, we have to take full responsibility for our part.
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