Let me paint a picture for you, okay? You own a small variety store somewhere in the downtown core. Your little local store has served the surrounding multicultural community for many years. Each day you see a multitude of faces and exchange greetings with your customers. Their patronage puts food on the table for your family, and your selection of goods and produce puts food on their tables, as well. Perhaps you’ve even taken the time to learn how to greet those in your community in their own tongue, as a way to show your appreciation for their business. You with me so far? Now imagine a young woman in a hijab comes in with her two little girls. You’ve known her and her husband for years. They are good, hardworking Muslim Canadians. When they enter your store you greet them with a warm welcome, “Salam wa aleikum.” They reply with the customary Wa aleikum ah salam.” Simply, Peace be upon you. But today is different, isn’t it. Today she comes through your doors and her head is not held high. Like you, she has seen the news out of Paris. Like you, she is disgusted and outraged. She knows you are a good and fair man, and that you must realize this attack has nothing to do with the religion she follows, but still she enters your store uncertain of where she stands. Your eyes meet. You smile and open with “Salam wa aleikum.” She lifts her head and begins to smile, thankful for your apparent understanding, when... She sees a stand filled with the daily newspapers. On the cover of each newspaper is an insulting caricature of the Prophet Mohamed, mocking her religion and beliefs. Imagine the hurt this would cause. And perhaps her little children are with her. Imagine her trying to explain this to them. We live in a free world, where freedom of speech and freedom of expression are protected, guaranteed in fact. For that we should be thankful, considering the alternative. Just think about places like North Korea. However, the power of the pen is defined not by the freedom to wantonly wield it like a blunt weapon, but by the empathetic and compassionate hand and mind that uses it with respect and discretion to enlighten and illuminate. What happened in Paris is obviously very sad and tragic, there’s no denying that. The perpetrators need to be caught and held to account. But this call to republish the insulting caricatures of the Prophet Mohamed does nothing but cause more pain to the 1.6 billion innocent Muslims around the globe. What we need to do is work at finding common ground with them, not alienating them. Muslims are not our enemy. The terrorists are. They are the enemy of all good men and women, Muslims and westerners alike.
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 01:52:16 +0000
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