A Gathering of Solidarity and Peace: Tuesday's Reflection

"I will build this world from love. 
And you must build this world from love.
And if we build this world from love,
then God will build this world from love."

Friday night many of us from our Lutheran congregation attended the evening service at Mt Zion Temple to hear our pastor, Bradley Schmeling preach. Then on Sunday morning Rabbi Adam Spilker from Mt Zion was the guest preacher at Gloria Dei. 

Both times we chanted this prayer.

I thought about those words on Saturday at a gathering to show solidarity for the world's Muslims after the terrorist attack at the mosque in Christ Church, New Zealand. The gathering I attended, along with hundreds of others, was held at Dar Al Farook Mosque in Bloomington, MN. where a bombing had occurred in August, 2017. 

Being there felt like a step in the ongoing process of "building a world from love." Being there felt like a way to be, in the words of textile artist, Sandra Brick, an "upstander, rather than a bystander."

 It was good to be there, to show support for all those who feel under attack for their religious beliefs --all those who feel and are treated as "other," However, along with the words of gratitude for that support were sobering words. 

Iman Asad Zami, executive director of the Muslim American Society of America, shared the Ten Stages of Genocide. How breathtaking it was to hear them. 
1.     Classification--dividing people into "us" and "them" by ethnicity, race, religion, nationality.

2.     Registration and Symbolization. An example is the "yellow star" Jews were required to wear by the Nazis.

3.     Discrimination. Laws are passed to deny rights.

4.     Dehumanization. One group denies the humanity of another group.

5.     Organization --governmental formalized management of discrimination.

6.      Polarization. Extremists drive groups apart, using propaganda, mass media, and laws

7.      Preparation. Plans are made for genocidal killings.

8.      Persecution. Victims are identified and separated. Death lists are created.

9.      Extermination. Mass killings.

10.    Denial. Cover-up after genocide. 

The Iman said that many people feel the United States is in stages 3/4. To read more about these stages, go here. This site not only explains each stage in details, but also offers ways to combat the steps. 

Iman Asad Zami said, "When these steps happen in front of you, you have an affirmative obligation to call it out." Or to repeat Sandra Brick's words, to be "an upstander, rather than a bystander."

I thought about a book I read a couple years ago, Letters to a Young Muslim by Omar Said Ghobash. The book is a series of letters written to an older son in which he tackles questions, such as "What does it mean to be a good Muslim? What is the concept of a good life?"  As I read the book, I found myself substituting the word "Christian" for "Muslim." Try it for yourself in this passage from the book.

            This means that I believe that we have a duty, that
            we are called upon, to bring our highest and best
            qualities to Islam as we practice it. If we do not, the
            deficiency is within us as people who have not thought
            deeply enough, or tried hard enough, to make sense of
            the disparate factors pulling on us.

Did you substitute "Judaism" or "Buddhism" or "Hinduism" or "Christianity" for "Islam"? How did that feel? Doing that helps me think more carefully about the times when I think and act in terms of "us" and "them." I hope this simple exercise can help me act more deliberately and consciously towards combatting the stages of genocide.

An Invitation
What is your response to the Stages of Genocide? What do you think can be done to halt those steps? What are you doing? I would love to know.