Awareness Foundation Blog

Differences matter

2009-02-25T05:50:00.000-08:00

Differences matter as much as similarities, if not more. The more our world shrinks in ways of transportation and communication, the more urgent it becomes that we have the time to be aware of our differences. For centuries people in the East and the West alike did not see the necessity to get to know each other properly. Countries in the Middle East or the Far East have felt for a very long time that the West is interested in them only in as much as they can bring their culture and or religion with them. The technological revolution on every level forced everybody in the world to rethink the way they view this planet. It is not anymore a matter of luxury to travel or to know about other cultures and religions. It has become almost an inevitable step of development to get out of our comfort zone and face the fact that we live in a diverse world which needs our attention and examination whether in business, pleasure or education.

It is definitely not enough to look only at the similarities between cultures and / or religions. Given that these are often very complex relationship, that sort of assessment is just not enough. When people live in communities which include different cultures and religions, it becomes absolutely essential that they become aware of the things that distinguish them from the others. Living together means facing the political, social, economical and religious challenges together. And that means we need to know each other beyond simply being polite with each other, and also beyond jumping to quick conclusions about each other. Getting to know someone is a long, hard process which involves dealing with some real differences in the most fundamental aspects of life. Walking away is not an option let alone ignoring those differences. The only way forward is to present ourselves as honestly and as genuinely as we can, and let the other do the same.

In order to do this we need to raise the awareness of people about their own faith in order to combat fear which is the result of ignorance. Education is the cornerstone to equip people to be secure in their cultural and religious identities so that they can move to learn about others without prejudices. It is dangerous to judge other people without knowing them and it is even more dangerous to live with someone you do not know or you do not see the need to know.

God has created an extremely diverse world beginning with the structure of life through to the content of the universe. Therefore it is imperative for us to respect the creativity of God and embrace His creation by widening our horizons and getting excited about God’s work in all its forms. Unfortunately there are still people who are threatened by difference and afraid of diversity and that makes a fertile ground for extremism and violence. Hard-line fanatics can only recruit those who are naive, less educated and needy. Education here does not mean necessarily having a degree from a university but rather having the appreciation of diversity and believing that differences do enrich our lives in every possible way. I am definitely richer when I learn a different language and appreciate different styles of food or clothing or fine arts. I am richer when I know different religions without feeling threatened or having to compromise mine. I am richer when I can live side by side with different people who do not look like me or live like I do. The secret of understanding God’s love lies in the ability of loving different people with the excitement of a child opening a big gift.

Islam and Identity Crises

2008-06-05T08:07:00.000-07:00

Islam, at the moment, is going through a difficult time because it suffers from internal identity crises. It is, like any other religion in the world, divided into denominations and schools of thought. After more than fourteen centuries of history, Islam goes into what I call ‘religious puberty’. This period carries with it all the turmoil of moving from childhood to enter the age of maturity. Christianity passed through the same period of religious puberty in the Middle Ages and had its share of dilemmas and identity crises for centuries. Today, however, the situation is different because war is not anymore horses, swords, spears and castles. In war today, individual people and entire counties use the most sophisticated and complicated technology ever known to humanity. Such technology controls weapons of mass destruction - even the ability to destroy the entire planet, or at least the human race.

In this situation humanity cannot afford waiting for centuries to see how Islam would emerge from this critical period in its history. It might be too late. I hope I am not painting too dark a picture of our situation. The solution to the identity crises in Islam does not come from the American style of war against terrorism or the American style of democracy imposed on the countries of the Middle East. The American and the British invasion of Iraq has not helped the region to move on to a more peaceful time. On the contrary, it inflamed the whole area and proved to be an ignorant, foolish and childish decision taken by superpowers. The bloodshed, poverty, health crises, hunger and many other problems have increased and the country has entered into a maelstrom of violence and death. The only solution is education, dialogue and listening. Before we try to impose a certain way of resolving political conflicts on any part in the world, we need to understand the cultural – including language, art, philosophy, history and religion.

Islam is an evolving religion. It is searching for its proper foundation so that it can build its existence alongside other religions in the world without trying to eliminate them or exist in continuous hostility and conflict with them. It has to face the most problematic issue – which is the relationship between state and religion. The West has an important role to play, not by military and cultural invasion, but rather by listening, understanding and respecting the context of every country.

The Heavy Yoke

2008-05-23T05:29:00.000-07:00

Politicians think that if they produce more and more laws, rules and regulations, they can control crime, fanaticism, antisocial behaviour and excessive use of alcohol or drugs. They remind me of the religious leaders in the time of Christ who built thousands of rules and regulations on the basis of the laws of the Torah in order to keep the people under their control. Today, we need a different approach and strategy to combat all these problems. It is time to shift our focus. We need to start digging behind the social diseases to tackle the issues that cause problems instead of turning Parliament into a factory of laws.

People everywhere – in schools, streets and workplaces – reflect how they grew up and the situation in their homes. When homes in our society are broken then no law can stop the damage which can be inflicted on the young generation and the hurt they may cause to themselves and to their environment. Christ challenged the leaders in his time about this specific point. He accused them of burdening the people with extra unnecessary rules and laws in order to keep their heavy hand on their lives and minds.

We desperately need to put more resources, effort and time into looking after families instead of putting them under a painful siege of more rules and more restrictions. All these rules are supposedly made to keep the peace in society and to reduce violence, resentment and fear. Families are facing extremely serious situations, financially, culturally and religiously. Our communities are becoming increasingly diverse. Leaders think that the more they have a grip on other people’s lives and relationships, the more harmony they can create. This is completely false because harmony comes as a result of a high sense of responsibility and a mature understanding of citizenship. Civil law has its very important role to play but we must not use it as a ‘quick fix’ for problems which should be addressed on a human and social level. Obviously the more love we bring to our homes the less stealing, killing, raping, and knifing etc.. No-one who loves would do all of these horrible things. Laws, nevertheless, would never stop these things happening because the defect is in the mind and in the heart and what flows out of that can never be stopped by law.

Christ went beyond the letter of the law and challenged the leaders in their ways of applying it. He put the emphasis on building healthy and strong human relationships based on respect, understanding and most importantly love which, for Christ, was the ultimate value and the highest motivation. Before we jump into generating endless chains of laws, we’d better create some support systems which enable relationships in the communities to flourish and grow by laying the right foundation of healthy and strong families. The real debates in this country should be about how we can all do our bit to find more creative and effective solutions for the deep and complicated problems that hit families and homes and cause them to break. As Christians, we look to Christ to access God’s way of dealing with this subject. Jesus revealed to us the very heart of God when he kept bringing love to the heart of human relationships. Christ never understood love as a sentimental feeling but rather a power for change and a force for good. He lived what he preached and because of that his teachings are authentic. It is for us now to learn and to apply what he taught and to understand how he lived the values he preached and believed in.

Pride and Prejudice

2008-04-10T03:11:00.000-07:00

I would like to explore with you the changes we are going through in this country which could change the very foundation of this culture. When I gave a seminar about the Awareness Course and the importance of the relationship between religion and culture for a group of military officers, one of them asked me the following question: why should I be proud of my culture? I was delighted to hear this question because I simply believe, in this country, that people are more concerned with apologising for their culture than either understanding or being proud of it. It is sad to see so many people here who cannot find enough reasons to celebrate their culture and who don’t find it important to be proud of it. My answer to this officer was surprising to him because it was based on the fact that we are all the products of the fruits of our cultures. He did not see that his culture formed who he is. When we say culture we mean history, language, climate, customs, religion and many other aspects. If the history of my country plays a role in forming my personality, how could I be ashamed of it? I could be critical of it and this is very healthy but after all I should embrace it and learn from it but not be imprisoned by it. The problem today especially with young people is that they are prejudiced against and ignorant of their own culture. Eradicating our prejudice against our own culture is vital step on the way to combating prejudices against other cultures.

Many people in this country go too far in apologising for who they are and what they do as a result of trying ‘not to offend others’ in the name of politeness. As much as I respect this attempt to make other cultures feel welcome and accepted, I believe this is political correctness is going too far. It is like eating ten bars of chocolate at the same time. Isn’t it time for the people in this country to stand up for their culture, tradition, history and religion?

Extreme secularism is the foundation of this pressure on people to be ashamed of their culture in order to identify themselves with the prevailing culture of consumerism which could be easily the dominant colour for everybody and in this way we avoid offending anyone and we all become slaves to the market.

We still need a lot of awareness to get to a stage where we feel secure in who we are without compromising our religion or any aspect of our culture.

Religion in puberty

2008-01-04T01:52:00.000-08:00

Religion passes through childhood and puberty before reaching maturity. Christianity went through its puberty in the Middle Ages with much bloodshed, cruelty and hostility. At that time Christianity was used for political ends, to gain power and to suppress dissent. We must understand that Christianity does not have in its core a political agenda although it becomes involved in politics through Christians who work in this field. Islam now passes through its own age of puberty. This period, naturally, is critical and includes hostility and rejection of The Other. Islam has its own unique circumstances and background that make it essentially different from Christianity when it comes to the understanding of politics. Islam has had from the very beginning ambitious political dreams starting with the Prophet himself. So it is wrong to approach Islam in a sentimental or hostile way. The wise and proper way to approach Islam is to understand its cultural, religious and sociological stories. It is to have the courage to face the difficult issues concerning the hard verses in the Quran and to try to put them first in their cultural context and then apply them to our contemporary culture. Islam defines itself by two programmes which go together and are inseparable. The first one is the spiritual one and the other one is the political one. These work in conjunction and combination with each other. It is imperative for us not to treat Islam as if it is Christianity written in a different way; to do that would be extremely unfair for both faiths. Although these two monotheistic faiths have much common ground, their differences should not be underestimated or ignored. Paying attention to both the similarities and differences is the only way to begin to grasp the situation through which many parts of the world are passing.

The Sudan Saga

2007-12-04T02:07:00.000-08:00

The story of Mrs. Gibbons reflects clearly the huge confusion we face in understanding the relationship between culture and religion in Islam on two levels. The first one is the confusion in interpreting the story within Islam and that is shown through the immense difference of opinions within the Muslims inside the Islamic countries. Such issues like Mrs. Gibbons’ will keep popping up due to the serious division inside Muslim communities around the world concerning the way to link religion and culture and how to respond to any transgressions or criticism.
The other level is the low awareness in this country about the danger of living in a Muslim fundamentalist regime such as Sudan where religion is never just a private matter.
We must keep asking the Muslims here to talk about the relationship between Islam and culture because only through such dialogue will deeper clarity emerge about how much of the Muslims' practices are religious and how much are cultural. Problems of relating religion and culture become much more complicated when they happen in a religion which is based on a divine law like Islam.
As Christians, the time has come to prepare ourselves to live in an open world which demands a great deal of awareness and readiness to face a reality which is different than twenty years ago. It is time to prepare ourselves to live in an ever changing society by revisiting our roots and identity in order to know our role in this difficult time.

Fanaticism targeting children

2007-11-19T10:46:00.000-08:00

The British intelligence announced lately that Islamic fundamentalism is targeting children. This announcement made headline news in the country. The whole statement and the media reaction towards it sounded really funny and sad at the same time. It is funny because such a discovery came as if the British Intelligence reinvented the wheel. What did they think religious fundamentalists would target? Did they think they would go to elderly homes and recruit them and indoctrinate them? Any dictatorial regime would start indoctrinating and brainwashing children and young people in order to secure control over the coming generations. This statement is also sad because it reflects the ignorance and slow action of our security systems.

Islamic fundamentalism has been spreading in the mosques and faith schools for years. I wonder where the British Intelligence was all this time. Hard-line fanatics in every religion search diligently for vulnerable children and young people in order to plant in them their ideas and beliefs. To fight such a phenomenon, we should develop as intelligent and as effective strategies. Education is the best and most powerful way to face this evil phenomenon which is growing inside every religion around the world. I still believe we are not fully aware of the tremendous impact of this extreme religious movement and the consequences of delaying serious actions to stop it. We are still too slow and we are only reacting more than acting which is not enough at all. Fanaticism is like any evil which is always quick and clever in its ways to trap people. Our responsibility is to be alert and act wisely in this critical and sensitive time we live in.

The brave monks

2007-10-04T07:13:00.000-07:00

Every day we discover the power of the spirit of people who believe that one faith unites them. This power can go in any direction and may be a blessing for some and an ugly curse for others. As we welcomed the new era, it was obvious that religion is back stronger than ever and more dangerous than ever. It was true that religion lost its role by the end of the last century, but its flame was rekindled in the beginning of the new Millennium. Religion is back centre-stage and it came back as one of the strongest motivating forces in the lives of many nations around the world. The spirit is alive, yes, but its reputation has been shaken and sometimes lost or destroyed especially in the Western world. Many people in the West believe that religion is the cause of most of the conflicts and bloodshed in the world at the moment and in history and therefore it plays an evil role in our human existence.

This belief comes from the fact that religious fanatics are the loudest, most dangerous and most outrageous groups. This noise they make is music to the ear of the media which welcomes sensational events as it looks hungrily for more disturbing reality shows. What can be a more exciting and riveting program than a real war live on TV?

Now, after years of religion’s bad reputation, come the monks in Burma to teach us that religion can still be a force of truth, liberation and justice. The Buddhist monks in Burma as they face jail, torture, and death, give the world a glorious example of leadership and resisting evil. Those monks are teaching us that religion is not fanaticism, hostility, polarisation and bloodshed, but rather bravery, deep faith and humility. They are a cry of awakening in the face of violence in the name of religion. They are writing with their blood, suffering and patience the new history of their nation.

We need to kneel down to raise our prayers for those courageous monks in Burma who are resisting evil in order to make prosperity bloom in the hands of their people.

Seeing Is Believing

2007-07-23T06:36:00.000-07:00

As every single day passed in the first TFCC pilgrimage to Syria, people realized how ignorant they were concerning all aspects of life in this country. They felt the hospitality, generosity and the warmth of the people which contradicted in the essence the media reports on Syria which reflect blindly the political tension and controversial situation of the whole Middle East.

It was amazing for me as Syrian to see the elements of shame and embarrassment which the pilgrims expressed after they experienced first hand the depth of the diversity in the Syrian society. Whatever we might think and evaluate the political regime of Syria and regardless if we agree or disagree with it, the people still live and share a profound heritage of coexistence between different religions for more than fourteen centuries.

The pilgrims had the opportunity to see and touch the real life of the Syrian people without any pressure or orchestration. They were part of direct communication with normal Syrian people in their normal circumstances and natural context and could indeed build bridges of friendship and respect. The journey evoked, and rightly so, a huge number of questions which sprang out of serious contradiction between what they hear in the media in their own countries and what they have experienced in Syria.

I am not trying to idealize the situation in Syria in any way. On the contrary, I am trying to convey the sincere engagement of the guests to this country as well as acknowledging that the general situation in the Middle East, especially the invasion of Iraq, has affected the whole region. It created unbalanced political, social, economical and religious relationships between people. Syria, like other country in the Middle East, fights against fundamentalism and terrorism although it has been seen by the Administration of the United States as part of the axis of evil.

We desperately need in the East and the West to realize that looking at each other in the eyes of politicians could be the biggest mistake we make. Civilizations are, thank God, far more than political or ideological agendas although such agendas can change sometimes the course of history. There is nothing which can replace a firsthand experience of a culture or a country.

Liberating God

2007-06-20T08:33:00.000-07:00

Many scholars and intellectuals thought that by the end of the Twentieth Century religious wars would be part of the human history. Very early on, the new century/Millennium proved everybody was wrong and religious motivated war showed its ugly face again. Fanatics from different religions around the world started claiming to be the guardians of God and fighting in His name in every way. Fanaticism exploded like a time bomb which had been hidden in the world, unnoticeable and invisible. This hard-line fundamentalism grew rapidly when the global culture invaded every part of our lives and especially when it put on the mask of free market and democracy. Economic demands gave the impression that the developed world sought domination and manipulation. The West has become the villain for the people in the East and especially the Middle East, has become the Muslim's terrorist. New stereotypical ideas swept our societies and we have gone far into categorising people and squeezing them into small boxes. Even God could not escape from this process. Every religion has tailored a box for God and anyone who does not accept it is considered an enemy. When can we liberate God from the chains of our narrow-mindedness, ignorance and cruelty?

Multicultural Society

2007-04-30T04:23:00.000-07:00

Living in a multicultural and multi-faith society is like holding a burning coal in the hand. Diversity has become the most difficult and controversial issue in the modern world, and the tension between religions has swept our world like a virus. We are blinded with a flood of literal interpretations of all the Holy Scriptures in every religion and culture.
Differences still threaten our relationships not only between cultures and religions but even between groups within the one culture and the one religion. How can we face today these dangerous eruptions which have been occurring in different parts of the world? Education is the most effective way to face the radical, dramatic and rapid changes that take place around us all the time.

Islam facing challenge of time

2007-04-20T02:15:00.000-07:00

The TFCC Awareness Course is not an Interfaith course nor a Comparative Religion one. It is a Christian programme which aims to go deeper in the Christian faith; in order to do that, we must have a wider perspective, opening our eyes to other faiths and the world around us so that we can learn what is special about Christianity. From this departure point we explore our faith in reference to other faiths and especially the Monotheistic ones.

Fear

2007-04-18T07:57:00.000-07:00

“Fear is like God, everywhere” Mohammed Al-Maghout, a Syrian writer, says. Fear is a culture which can spread and dominate the mind of the masses. We live today in the so-called Global Village in the culture of fear. Fear of the future, of the present, of the past, of governments, of technology, of economy, of our neighbour, of each other, of ourselves and even of God. Fear is and does exactly the same as cancer which is one kind of cell which tries to dominate by reproducing itself and spreading. In the culture of fear trust diminishes and loses its power to bring people close to each other and faith becomes a cocoon to limit our horizons or a weapon to use against the other. In the East and the West, people live constantly in fear. It has become the daily bread we break, the pollution in the air that we breathe and the water we drink.

Ignorance fuels and sustains fear which breeds hostility and violence. Our small world lacks education for peace and forgiveness. We have a responsibility to create a culture of trust, respect and love so that we can form a counter-culture to fear and hatred.

Fear is the antithesis of God because God is love who casts fear away. He sends us out as ambassadors of peace walking in the path of reconciliation.