if i to add my thoughts: and i am not comfortable with a certain behaviour which puts "us" or "them" or "anybody" in a box...i am not comfortable with boxes at all and those who see each other through boxes. funda
Filiz Telek <fi...@bugday.org> wrote: It is obvious to those who have some common sense that the violent reaction of "some" muslims is an irony with what is protested. But I would also have to say I do not feel comfortable with any text that condemns a whole group (muslims in this case) with a certain behavior and puts everyone in the same box... Filiz -----Özgün Ýleti----- Kimden: Harrison Owen [mailto:hho...@verizon.net] Tarih: Monday, February 20, 2006 15:33 Kime: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Konu: Opening Space in some different ways A Muslim friend of mine from India sent me the following. Those of you who were in Goa for OSONOS will remember him - Mirza Yawar Baig. I think he has opened some space in a very contentious and conflicted conversation. What do we want to show and what do we actually show? "How did the bandh go?" asked a friend, referring to the protest against the cartoons published by the Danish newspaper. What should I say in response? "Well, you see, before the protest, we had people who were at least sympathetic to the Muslim's cause. Even if they did not protest in public, many of my Hindu and Christian friends wrote to me and voted in various newspaper surveys against the cartoons. But then the protest happened. And what did our people do? They burnt buses, vandalized shops and cars and threw stones at the police." "You mean burnt buses of Denmark and threw stones at Danish police?" "No, they burnt their own (Indian) buses and threw stones at their own police which was there to try to prevent them from breaking the law." "But doesn't Islam prohibit breaking the law? And wasn't this whole thing about protesting against the Danish cartoons which depicted the Prophet (SAS) as a terrorist? Does not the Qur'an say: 5:8: 'Let not your enmity against anyone lead you into the sin of deviating from justice. Always be just. That is the closest to taqwa.' "Yes of course it is. The protest was to show the world that the Prophet (SAS) never allowed injustice. That the Qur'an prohibits injustice. That Islam means peace. That Muslims are peaceful people." "But you just said that during the protest Muslims burnt buses and vandalized shops and cars and threw stones at the police who were trying to prevent injustice?" "Well, you see, that is because in the crowd there were agents of America and the Israel. They are the ones who did these things and our poor innocent Muslims get blamed for them. It is all a Zionist conspiracy you see." "No, I don't see. The only conspiracy seems to be your own suicidal tendency for self destruction. What I see is that the Muslims say something and do something else. That they are champions at shooting themselves in the foot. That they are great at converting their friends into enemies. That they have no discipline or social responsibility and that their leaders are at the head of this infamous list. People who can't even control their own emotions are condemned to be the slaves of those who play with them through their emotions." He continues, "What I see is that to protest was the right thing to do as the Danish newspaper had no right to do what it did. But in that protest there was the opportunity to gain the support of all those who were neutral in the issue. And that opportunity was not only lost but you Muslims actually created enemies." "However there is still an opportunity to right this wrong and to act according to what your own Qur'an tells you to do. Re-establish justice." "What do you mean?" "Let your leaders publicly apologize for all the damage caused by those who participated in the protest. And then let them then put their money where their mouth is and pay full compensation to those whose property was damaged." "Come on....you are not serious!!!" "Yes, I am. Come to think of it, didn't you tell me that you guys believe in the Day of Judgment? And did you not tell me that you will answer for every little thing you do even unto the weight of an atom? Well you know, looks to me like a bus is a little bigger than an atom, eh!" And he concluded, "So I ask you, do you Muslims really respect your Qur'an and your Prophet?" Mirza Yawar Baig Harrison Owen 7808 River Falls Drive Potomac, Maryland 20854 Phone 301-365-2093 Skype hhowen Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org Personal website www.ho-image.com OSLIST: To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives Visit: www.listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist --------------------------------- Yahoo! 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