Venezuelen President Hugo Chavez recently had the opportunity to meet President Barack Obama. Perhaps the most interesting part of the encounter was a gift Mr Chavez gave: It was a book entitled 'The Open Veins of Latin America,' by Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano. It was not written in our native language, and it was followed by Chavez calling President Obama "ignorant." So much for diplomacy in the form of a book...
I received a myspacian bulletin concerning American troops spreading the word of God to the Afghani people (see "Change.org" ). The site emphasized the danger associated with handing out Bibles to non-believers, which would "increase the dangerous possibility of mass Holy War in the Middle East." They also mentioned war and religion, like Church and State, should behave like oil and water. History tells us the enlightenment of a new religion on a religious individual of another faith can have an effect similar to mixing magnesium and water. Unlike America, there is no separation of Church and State anywhere in the Arab Peninsula.
Think: What is a Christian-American soldier gaining by giving a Bible to an Afghani Muslim? What are we risking? And where lies the ignorance?
When the Taliban and Bin Laden destroyed the Twin Towers our government decided to invade Afghanistan. I guess one could say they asked for it. Our mission at the moment is one of reformation and conformity of a religious state at odds with our nation, which governs without religious influence.
Advice is always best received when asked for. That's why grabbing a broom touches someone's heart more deeply than giving instructions how to use one. I'd be more apt to ask for the cookbook after enjoying a delicious meal made by the person who applied the recipe.
Then there's the issue of the messenger, i.e., the Bible, itself. Most would agree the messages in the Bible are positive ones, but not everyone believes the most important entity in our universe assumed the form of a humble man who washed feet, travelled by mule and worn-out sandals, and possessed magical gifts such as making blind men see and parting seas. People of different faiths might take great offense if handed such a messenger, especially if they didn't ask for a copy. The military chaplains would have been more effective in spreading good-will and interest in their faith if instead, they had "grabbed a broom," i.e., apply the message, and not hand out the messenger.
When I was a child my mother often told interesting stories which applied to my life's trials and tribulations. They would soothe the soul, and resolve my crisis at hand. She went to Catholic school during her childhood, but almost never went to Church while raising me. When she told one of her interesting parables, it never included the words "God," "Jesus," or "the Holy Spirit." Perhaps such absense made her words more digestible. When my self-motivated curiosity of Christianity surfaced in my early teens, I realized my mother's stories were often derived from the Bible, and thus began my interest in learning more about life's lessons from a source familiar to and quoted by my mother, sans reference.
I'm not so sure it's a religious and spiritual imperative to flip one's religion over to another. I do think it's important to inspire curiosity, free-will and an open mind to learn about other religions and beliefs, which strengthens one's own. Furthermore, handing out messengers is not as effective as witnessing the application of the message itself.
"All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree." - Albert Einstein
When an individual reaches complete understading of all religions, such wisdom leads to realization the messages in these ancient books are almost one and the same, with slight variations of the metaphors of each parable. As long as each religion has a "my way or the highway" attitude, the world will never live as one, nor see eye-to-eye, unless, of course, we somehow get everyone to follow one religion, and one religion only.
I applaud President Barack Obama for opening dialog with America's traditional adversaries such as Mr Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Mr Hugo Chavez. It makes sense to spread one's word to those who lack understanding and to achieve understanding of the word of others. Such openness will not weaken but strengthen one's foundation of wisdom.
We all want peace, harmony and tranquility (PHT) for all (don't we ???). Part of the collective soul of the American Soldier obviously wants it as well. Paul McCartney's "Pipes of Peace" video sends a nice message about this, where British and German soldiers exchange pictures of their wives during a brief peaceful pause on a WWI battlefield. Waiving the bible at our adversaries or any ignorant non-believer will be as effective as proudly waiving the American flag at the gates of Bin Laden's training camp. So to the soldiers who defiantly tried to spread the word in Afghanistan, well, I applaud your bravery, but please adjust your methods to something a bit more covert, i.e., maybe it's not that important to mention the source of your message. Focus on the message itself, as it's likely to be universal, and more digestible to others. As mentioned above, it worked for my mom. My prayers are with you as our legal system accuses you of betraying our country and inciting violence... (???) As long as our money maintains the slogan "In God We Trust," I think those brave soldiers will successfully triumph the ensuing courtmarshalls.
An interesting statistic is the number of Arab Peninsula Muslims converting to Christianity. Perhaps it is due to increasingly open-minded Muslims, or more black-market Bibles... Nonetheless, the Taliban still believes dissemination of Christianity should be punishable by death, and that's a price too high to pay for spreading the word.
How much is a broom?
Mother Theresa said it best:
"There should be less talk; a preaching point is not a meeting point. What do you do then? Take a broom and clean someone's house. That says enough."
"Help me to learn the songs of joy instead of "burn, baby burn"'... "Help them to see that the people here are like you and me." ~ Paul McCartney
.
