The bombs may have been fake, but the hatred is real.
Robert Frost once said, “good fences make good neighbors.” Of course, good neighbors do not necessarily make a good community. The rise of the individual over the community means that whatever peace we achieve is always uneasy, as we await someone to break the peace in their own self-interest.
The Riverdale Synagogue tries to tear down the fences by offering its worship space to a young Muslimah. Unfortunately, too many others are still behind their fences. Four Muslim men stand accused of attempting to destroy this religious sanctuary. They do so because they are ignorant. They are ignorant of the hospitality the Center has shown to Muslims. They are ignorant of the Muslim tradition that houses of worship are sacrosanct and never to be molested. They are ignorant of the idea of community. They are ignorant of the pain and sorrow the events of 9/11 caused to this city, to this nation, to the world. They speak of looking to strike out and of hitting things. It is a nihilistic vision that does not seek to build community. Unfortunately, because it is so easy to destroy, we may already be paying a price for this plot.
The Riverside Synagogue bombs may not have exploded, but there are still casualties. There are Jewish casualties – Jews who have another reason to say that Muslims hate them so much they want to murder them while they are praying. There are Muslim casualties – American Muslims who love being Muslim and American and have another reason to fear that they will not be welcome or may be targeted in retaliation.
Reports say that the four suspects in the plot are angry about America’s actions in Afghanistan. They decided to bomb two synagogues in New York, since, according to one suspect, “the best target” — the World Trade Center — “was hit already.” The disturbing calculus of these men can only be understood in the context of hatred, ignorance, stereotypes, and bad theology.
The best antidote to this plot – and future plots like it – is more interfaith activity. We are not naïve enough to think that simply knowing folks across lines of faith will prevent violence. However, we have seen over and over again the transformative power of relationships across faith lines. The Riverdale Center opened their doors; Hassan Askari went to fight for what is right; Salman Hamdani ran towards what many of us would run from. They all build community.
Our generation has learned much about waging holy war. The way to wage holy war is to be religiously intolerant – to claim that my path to God is the only right path to God. When we claim that our path to God is the only path, we commit the sin of creating God in our own image rather than remembering that we were created in the image of God.
What we haven’t learned enough about from our religious traditions is waging holy peace. If some people of faith create problems by carrying out violence in the name of God, then other people of faith need to create solutions by patiently learning about each other, reducing ignorance and stereotypes, and working together on issues of common concern. That’s the path to holy peace. This holy peace is not the uneasy peace of neighbors, but the peace of the heart, that comes from knowing we are responsible for more than ourselves. In both Hebrew and Arabic, the word is shekinah/sakinah.
Hussein Rashid
Rabbi Justus Baird
Thank you both for this eloquent response. I'm most struck by
When we claim that our path to God is the only path, we commit the sin of creating God in our own image rather than remembering that we were created in the image of God.
It's such a distressing inversion, and yet so obviously easy a trap to fall into.
In surrounding myself with folks who believe, as I do, in the value of pluralism -- who strive to adhere to a post-triumphalist vision which says that no one tradition has a monopoly on the path to God -- I run the risk of forgetting that not everyone shares the aspirations that are central to my religious community. This attack is a sharp reminder, and I'm glad to have your words to take in alongside the difficult news. Yasher koach to both of you -- may you derive strength from the words you're putting out here in the world.
that this and other "terroristic acts" that have been aborted have been largely plotted and encouraged by the FBI and/or the CIA. The young men in question are of questionable intelligence, and, no doubt ignorant, as well.
What does it say that our own government is spending large sums of money to set up terroristic plots to foil? Does it mean they can't find any real ones? If not, why not? Because there aren't any, or because they are incompetent?
I think this "plot" also says something about religious fundamentalists (any of them) who encourage new converts to have more zeal than maturity, a problem not exclusive to Islam.
I realize that there are people out there who hate Jews. There are also people out there who hate Muslims, Catholics, Unitarians, etc. These people are all operating out of some mix of ignorance and cultural conditioning.
One thing I find very interesting, if you closely examine the prejudices of the extreme right wing in America, is that they hate Jews and Muslims with equal passion! All the old Illuminati/Bilderberg conspiracy theories are alive and well among them, as well as a desire for revenge against all Muslims, as opposed to the individual perps in the 9-11 events.
I admire what the synagogue is trying to do, to create dialogue between groups with different views of God. But unfortunately, there are too many "one way" groups out there who will always try to cut out dialogue - one way or another.
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