A group of Muslims plan on forming a “peace ring” around a synagogue in Oslo, Norway, following the recent attack on a synagogue in Copenhagen. Hajrad Arshad, the 17-year-old organizing the event, told Norway broadcaster NRK that the group wants to “extinguish the prejudices people have against Jews and against Muslims.”…. “We think that after the terrorist attacks in Copenhagen, it is the perfect time for us Muslims to distance ourselves from the harassment of Jews that is happening,” she said. According to Norwegian website The Local, the group has already recruited 450 people on Facebook to participate in the “peace ring.”…. “What they are communicating is that if anyone wants to do anything against Jews in Norway, they have to go through us first, and I think that is very positive,” [Ervin Kohn, the leader of Oslo’s Jewish community] said about the event.
It’s not a stretch to state that those who engage in violence in the name of their religion don’t know the first thing about their religion…but it is a stretch for some to understand that. Those who truly understand the meaning of their religion know that violence is never the answer, never the way to advance the interests of their faith tradition. Religion, at least definitionally, is about good things like peace, love, understanding, tolerance, and acceptance. It’s about doing the right thing in the right way in the hope of making our world a better place. Whether a true follower of a religion is Christian, Muslim, or Jew, violence and hatred is never part of the equation.
In a(n) (even reasonably close to) perfect world, the idea of Muslims protecting a Jewish synagogue wouldn’t be necessary. The fact that they’re stepping up to protect those whose coreligionists are at loggerheads with them in other parts of the world is as admirable as it laudable. Doing the right thing is always a good thing, even if in this case it’s also rather unexpected.
I don’t believe in God (of any flavor), but I do recognize the meaning that belief in a Higher Power holds for many. What saddens and disturbs me is that so many use their faith as a club with which to bludgeon others not “enlightened” enough to believe as they do. How sad and pathetic is it when people are arguing (and worse) over which Imaginary Friend (my view, my words) is superior to all others?
The Muslim “peace ring” in Oslo is a small step in the right direction. If Muslims can make an effort to protect those who represent a faith tradition not exactly friendly to Islam in other parts of the world, it shows that good people can get along despite their differences. Perhaps that’s exactly what this world needs. If every journey begins with a single step, then perhaps peace and reconciliation can flow from a single act of kindness.
Or we can keep killing each other over religious differences…which as silly as it is anti-religious and counterproductive…but what do I know? I don’t even believe in a God/Higher Power/Imaginary Friend.
