Peace In The Middle East Starts At Home
We spend a good part of our lives trying to control our destinies, immediate and long term.
Still, whatever choices we make in the futile attempt into deluding ourselves that we really are in control, there is always one nagging reality: in the back of our minds, we wonder about the roads not taken. There is always that gnawing doubt, about the road not taken, the path not seen, or what might have been.
For most of us, there is one exception, on truth that we know is unshakeable. That truth is the love we have for our children. It is perfect and there is no question about the depth of that love. No parent would return their baby to the hospital nursery in exchange for another.
This love is the most natural. The child born to those parents is completely dependent on those parents. The natural instinct of parents is to respond to those needs, regardless of face or creed, religion or ethnicity. A parent- any parent, cannot look into the eyes of an infant and not feel protective. Of course, that is how it is supposed to be.
A funny thing happens when you become a parent. Thoughts, ideas and definitions we so sure of, change- sometimes, drastically. The who and why of your parents and childhood come into clearer focus and overnight, much is understood.
Maybe most important of all, our own imperfections become clear and less clouded, because with the desire to do things right for our children, our limitations and failings must be dealt with. In being a parent, every single day offer us the chance to better ourselves by being better parents. It is a unique situation.
If these are truths are undeniable, how does it come to pass that societies produce and even celebrate terrorists? It would be easy to say that a communities implosion comes from neglect or indifference. We could feel sorry for people who are overwhelmed with poverty and despotic governments that have social systems stacked against them. It would be easy to say that, but it wouldn't be true.
What serves to undermine a society and thus the natural order of things, is an agenda calculated to do just that. Whether it is political or religious, a shrewdly devised agenda will do just that.
It worked for Mao, as millions of students tore through the Chinese countryside and destroyed the vestiges of thousand year old cultures. It worked for Stalin, as children learned to inform on their parents and it worked for Hitler, as millions of Germans filled stadiums screaming loyalty to the Aryan races and the Fuhrer's plan to clarify and codify God's plan for mankind. The hopes and dreams of parents were destroyed by these unnatural agendas.
One can only imagine the heartbreak of parents that understood that what was their right and priviledge, only to see it taken away- and to understand that the natural order of things, was to be usurped in the name of a government agenda- an agenda, that out of the need to self perpetuate, attempted to obviate nature.
It is no different with the culture and society that produces terrorists, supports terror and apologizes for terror.
The radical Islamists, like the Stalinists, Maoists and Nazis before them, steal children from their parents. They are indoctrinated with hate and indifference to life, in schools and institutions that are designed to amplify the most unnatural of instincts- that the state can replace parents.
The Stalinists, Maoists and Nazis were political ideologues. As such, they could only offer visions of an unknown future- one they would construct . The radical Islamists have religion as their vehicle, and they offer more than conjecture- they offer sanitized and scripted visions of a romanticized, thousand year past. All that is there for the taking, again, if only...as if the glories of a thousand years ago would be meaningful in today's world.
When Muslim parents reclaim their responsibilities and the natural order of things, much will change. It won't be easy- the Islamists have hijacked not only the schools and in many cases, governments but by definition, the religion as well. The truth is that we cannot do it for them- they have to do it for themselves. They are learning that they cannot buy their way out of their malaise- charities purporting to do good works, but in reality, are fronts for killing machines, can in no way cleanse the communal soul.
Islam reclaiming it's future has nothing to do our foreign policy, Israel or anything external. If Muslims truly want to reclaim their faith, they need to start at home and reclaim parenting- real parenting.
The biblical tale of Abraham and Isaac is instructive. Now matter how willing his servant is, God does not allow Abraham to sacrifice his son.
God does not demand from Abraham that he obviate his role as a parent. He insists rather, that Abraham resume his natural role as a parent. God does not need Abraham's son as a sacrifice.
Whether you read the story as literal or allegorical, the message is a powerful one.
Originally published July 23, 2005
Still, whatever choices we make in the futile attempt into deluding ourselves that we really are in control, there is always one nagging reality: in the back of our minds, we wonder about the roads not taken. There is always that gnawing doubt, about the road not taken, the path not seen, or what might have been.
For most of us, there is one exception, on truth that we know is unshakeable. That truth is the love we have for our children. It is perfect and there is no question about the depth of that love. No parent would return their baby to the hospital nursery in exchange for another.
This love is the most natural. The child born to those parents is completely dependent on those parents. The natural instinct of parents is to respond to those needs, regardless of face or creed, religion or ethnicity. A parent- any parent, cannot look into the eyes of an infant and not feel protective. Of course, that is how it is supposed to be.
A funny thing happens when you become a parent. Thoughts, ideas and definitions we so sure of, change- sometimes, drastically. The who and why of your parents and childhood come into clearer focus and overnight, much is understood.
Maybe most important of all, our own imperfections become clear and less clouded, because with the desire to do things right for our children, our limitations and failings must be dealt with. In being a parent, every single day offer us the chance to better ourselves by being better parents. It is a unique situation.
If these are truths are undeniable, how does it come to pass that societies produce and even celebrate terrorists? It would be easy to say that a communities implosion comes from neglect or indifference. We could feel sorry for people who are overwhelmed with poverty and despotic governments that have social systems stacked against them. It would be easy to say that, but it wouldn't be true.
What serves to undermine a society and thus the natural order of things, is an agenda calculated to do just that. Whether it is political or religious, a shrewdly devised agenda will do just that.
It worked for Mao, as millions of students tore through the Chinese countryside and destroyed the vestiges of thousand year old cultures. It worked for Stalin, as children learned to inform on their parents and it worked for Hitler, as millions of Germans filled stadiums screaming loyalty to the Aryan races and the Fuhrer's plan to clarify and codify God's plan for mankind. The hopes and dreams of parents were destroyed by these unnatural agendas.
One can only imagine the heartbreak of parents that understood that what was their right and priviledge, only to see it taken away- and to understand that the natural order of things, was to be usurped in the name of a government agenda- an agenda, that out of the need to self perpetuate, attempted to obviate nature.
It is no different with the culture and society that produces terrorists, supports terror and apologizes for terror.
The radical Islamists, like the Stalinists, Maoists and Nazis before them, steal children from their parents. They are indoctrinated with hate and indifference to life, in schools and institutions that are designed to amplify the most unnatural of instincts- that the state can replace parents.
The Stalinists, Maoists and Nazis were political ideologues. As such, they could only offer visions of an unknown future- one they would construct . The radical Islamists have religion as their vehicle, and they offer more than conjecture- they offer sanitized and scripted visions of a romanticized, thousand year past. All that is there for the taking, again, if only...as if the glories of a thousand years ago would be meaningful in today's world.
When Muslim parents reclaim their responsibilities and the natural order of things, much will change. It won't be easy- the Islamists have hijacked not only the schools and in many cases, governments but by definition, the religion as well. The truth is that we cannot do it for them- they have to do it for themselves. They are learning that they cannot buy their way out of their malaise- charities purporting to do good works, but in reality, are fronts for killing machines, can in no way cleanse the communal soul.
Islam reclaiming it's future has nothing to do our foreign policy, Israel or anything external. If Muslims truly want to reclaim their faith, they need to start at home and reclaim parenting- real parenting.
The biblical tale of Abraham and Isaac is instructive. Now matter how willing his servant is, God does not allow Abraham to sacrifice his son.
God does not demand from Abraham that he obviate his role as a parent. He insists rather, that Abraham resume his natural role as a parent. God does not need Abraham's son as a sacrifice.
Whether you read the story as literal or allegorical, the message is a powerful one.
Originally published July 23, 2005
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