We were talking about the space between us all
And the people who hide themselves behind a wall of illusion
Never glimpse the truth, then it's far too late, when they pass away
We were talking about the love we all could share
When we find it, to try our best to hold it there with our love
With our love, we could save the world, if they only knew
Have you been reading the newspapers recently, watching TV, or following the digital media only to hear a grisly story of mass killing on American shores?
Perhaps it was the recent San Bernardino massacre, or one of countless others. You may have cried out, “If it weren’t for Muslims, we could finally have peace in this world!”
You may have given scant attention to the deaths of thousands and hundreds of thousands of civilians, women and children, in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, by U.S. forces, fighter jets, stealth bombers, even drones. You may have not even thought of calling up the White House as a U.S. citizen to protest unconstitutional, undeclared wars half a world away.
This is not by accident. The media have a hidden agenda. They want to sell more newspapers, more airtime and more lucrative commercials. Sensation sells.
Most Terrorism Is Neither Religiously Inspired Nor Sanctioned
Should you do a little research online and offline, you will be shocked and dismayed that most terrorism is NOT done in the name of God. Most terrorism has to do with people who are mentally ill, or politically motivated to counter appropriation of their land or get revenge for the loss of family and friends.
This is in line with the statistics that most murders are actually domestic, which is totally counterintuitive to most people.
Even casual research on Palestine would reveal plenty of reasons why its occupants might be upset at being treated like second-class citizens. There, you will find fences everywhere, much like a maximum-security prison.
Most Terrorists Are Not Muslim
In the past five years, there have been over a thousand terrorist attacks in Europe. Contrary to nearly everyone’s expectations, only two-percent were waged by Muslims.
The vast majority of Muslims on the planet are law-abiding, peace-loving citizens. We are talking 99.9999%. Only a small minority will even countenance, let alone condone, violence against civilian populations.
The Qur’an largely prohibits violence apart from defensive purposes. Muhammad spoke of the greater jihad, or struggle, being WITHIN. All military action was considered a lesser jihad. He knew as do all great spiritual masters, that people can often be their own worst enemy.
Hence, much of Islamic fundamentalism justifies aggression by twisting the meaning of the ancient texts.
It is sobering to think that five out of the past 12 Nobel Peace Prizewinners have been Muslim. I had the privilege of shaking the hands of one laureate, Mohammad Yunus of Bangladesh, a saint if I have ever met one.
High-Profile Acts of Terrorism, Such as 9 / 11, Is Paramilitary
All of us reflectively recall the Twin Towers episode, where a couple thousand of us tragically lost our lives, and New York City lost her most beautiful landmark.
We tend to forget that Al Qaeda recruits receive the equivalent of elite military training, inspired in some cases by ex-CIA! The execution of that event was superbly planned, not the work of a bunch of amateurs.
It is important to consider that New York City is one of the media capitals of the world, and the World Trade Center was highly symbolic of capitalism, and the Western way of doing things. The perpetrators used the lives of thousands of New Yorker to make their point.
They wanted to grab world attention in a way no one would forget. Have you ever asked… what’s the real message they are trying to send?
It must be remembered that all those 9 / 11 perpetrators chose to die, themselves, along with their victims.
What then motivated them to so recklessly give up everything they cherished?
What the Terrorists Are Telling America
If we put together all these disparate facts, we begin to get the big picture.
I have no first-hand knowledge of any actual terrorist. However, I am acquainted with a great number of immigrants from all over the world, as I have the privilege of living in a very diverse metropolis.
In the wake of 9 / 11, I went to a close Persian friend who decried the terrorism involved, but who gave me an extraordinary perspective on what may have motivated the actual killers.
- Stop invading our countries.
Since the Korean War and the War in Vietnam, the U.S. has actually invaded dozens of countries throughout the Middle East and Asia, mostly in undeclared wars, considered military “actions.” Rarely has the U.S. relied on UN sanctions.
- Stop killing our family and friends.
No missiles or bombs are all that “smart.” Civilian “collateral” is all but inevitable, including weddings and hospitals. This is compounded with mass injury and other forms of abuse.
- Stop putting down our culture and our God.
Stop saying, “A hundred of them is equal to one of us.” Stop denigrating the Qur’an or Allah. For nearly 1,000 years, Islamic civilization was one of the most legally, philosophically and scientifically advanced civilizations on the planet. It was only with the advent of steam power and the industrial revolution in the 19th century that Western Europe and America altered the equation.
- Step pretending to know what is best for us.
Democracy can be a very beautiful thing. However, it has its flaws. One American TV show a few years back started out each episode with a simple reminder, “Democracy is a very poor form of government. Yet all the others are so much worse!” One need only think of countries like Singapore to see alternative systems that really work.
- Stop using high-tech as a weapon and start using it to build bridges.
While terrorism by any means is never cool, it is appalling that Western governments train the men and women in service to kill with computer games and flight simulators. With drone technology, you can now kill whole groups of people without ever meeting them. Zero accountability. By the same token, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube offer the potential for people of every nation to form meaningful and enlightening friendships.
We Covered Our Eyes and Stopped Listening
As a country we became such a force that we no longer pay attention to what’s really happening around us. Why things are the way they are? Maybe this group of people is trying to be heard and that’s their only medium? Maybe it is time we start listening?
Deep listening is the answer.
The alternative is to begin listening, both in person, as well as online. We can readily interview people on the street with our smartphone and built-in camera. We can chat, Skype and email people all around the world through contacts on the social networks.
Deep listening, which flows from such transformational organizations as Landmark Education, allows you to really listen without reacting to what someone shares. You learn to stop interrupting sentences and stop anticipating what he or she is going to say.
You start being a lot more interested to find out about the other person than to express yourself. Paired sharing is one such exercise, where each person has five minutes to say anything to the other, who just “gets” it without comment.
Werner Erhard, the founder of both the est training and the Landmark Forum put it this way:
When you’ve said all the good things you have been saying, and all the bad things you haven’t been saying, you will find that what you have really be withholding is, “I love You." You don’t have to go looking for love, when it is where you come from.
Related article: Why Are You So Damn Unconscious?
How Can You and I Create Peace On Earth
I have practiced a prayer of blessing every morning for well over a decade, directed especially towards those people and countries I find challenging, including various military dictators. Sometimes I have been challenged with standing U.S. Presidents.
Yet, when I practice this simple prayer of blessing, I find over time that profound feelings of love for them emerge that I cannot possibly explain.
This reminds me of Pentagon officers singing on television during Memorial Day the modern hymn:
Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me.
Let there be peace on earth
The peace that was meant to be.
With God as our father
Brothers all are we.
Let me walk with my brother
In perfect harmony.
You might wonder, isn’t it hypocritical for professional soldiers to sing a hymn of peace? Absolutely not!
Soldiers of all stripes have much to lose, including their very lives, in actual combat. They are happiest when they are keeping the peace in a defensive posture, rather than trying to invade some hapless developing country.
The Defense Department is not labeled as such by accident. It is just that some of politicians lose sight of its actual mission: Global security.
Let us never forget the hymn that the Beatles gave us all when they sang over satellite in real-time, a message of peace for all the world to hear:
All you need is love
All you need is love
All you need is love, love
Love is all you need
Love, love, love
Love, love, love
Love, love, love
All you need is love
All you need is love
All you need is love, love
Love is all you need
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