peace - a choice and a responsibility

recently i recieved this email

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Subject: Taken off most Internet sites because of threats

about muslims -- very scary be sure to watch (in capitals)

This is the film that has the EU and the Muslim world in a tizzy right now. Most web sites have removed it, including You Tube. All bowing to threats. Google still has it posted as of today but, will probably bow to pressure soon. Can be tough to watch in spots. But this is really what we are up against.

http://video.Google.com/videoplay?docid=3369102968312745410 <~~~Click here for the video

Video: Fitna the Movie: Geert Wilders' film about the Quran (English)

Send this to your home computer to watch---it's 16 min...but is very scary about what is going on around the world with Islam & the Muslims. The credits are at the end. We must be aware of what's going on, to protect democracy for our kids, AND ourselves. More people need to see this.................

Have heard about this film & now understand what the uproar is about. Stick with it to hear the imams preaching and the Iranian president.

If you are not aware of it, this is the film by Geert Wilders. He's a Dutch writer who is now under protection from the Islamists in the Netherlands.
"

and this was my response

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hello XYZ

What can I say? This is a complex problem and the film is just presenting one aspect of it and generating more fear. Some statements in the film are taken out of context and put in another context to sound threatening, example the statements by Iranian president. Most iranians i know are gentle, warm and loving people. The worst part is that Islam is made out to be the enemy.

I think that the Bush regime did a lot of harm to tarnish Islam and generate fear among Americans. It made all followers of Islam into ‘the bad guys’, ‘the hateful other’. America has done unspeakable damage in Afghanistan and Iraq. And it seems Iran is being made the next target of American wrath. Thousands, nay millions, nay many more innocents have suffered because of American bombings and other attacks. And what was the justification in Afghanistan? To weed out one Osama-bin-laden, and a few followers, hundreds of entire villages were wiped out. See the film “earth and ashes” if you ever get the chance. It does not make America into an enemy, but you get some idea of the damage that was done there.

In Iraq mythical weapons of mass destruction were chased only to come up with nothing, but causing widespread havoc and destruction in the process. The Americans who are fighting there and losing their lives are suffering too, aren’t they? and over what? If I believe Michael Moore and in part I do, it is over the oil interests of a few powerfully rich Americans and their millions. I do not deny that there are many Muslims out there, who are reacting in a violent and gruesome manner. In part it is a reaction of indignation, in part it is stubbornness and an unwillingness to change. But where and when does it stop? Where and when does it end? To brand the entire community as terrorists, to look on a part of the picture and consider it the whole is unfair, to say the least.

I have several Muslim friends and many have been victims in the hindu-muslim divide and that too is unfortunate. Anytime we set up someone else as ‘the other’ and become intolerant we are heading for trouble. I am also concerned about what is happening in Netherlands. I recently read Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s book “Infidel” and got some insight into the problem they are facing. It is a very complex problem, if you take in thousands of muslims and do you allow them to practise their faith even when it goes against the cultural values of your own country, in a spirit of tolerance; or do you impose your own cultural values on them and make it a condition of their stay in the country. where does one draw the line? where are the boundaries that are healthy and respectful?

I repeat it is a complex problem, but I believe there is a solution and it can be found, if we all stay calm and focused on finding the solution. If we buy into the fear psychology often the reaction is ‘shoot first and talk later’. So let us refrain from activating one’s fears, look at all the facts out there, not just the fear-generating ones but all our expereinces of these 'other' communities and use our heads and hearts to find a way.

Deeply concerned,

meenal
"

terrorism cannot win if we do not give into terror. a trifle trite no doubt, but i go on. aggression is the mask over fear. do not succumb to terror and fear nor resort to aggresion. think out of the box and find a way that transcends the problem.

easier said than done? sure, but then we have to evolve to a higher consciousness, don't we? or do we want to fight and indulge in war-mongering for the rest of our lives? inner peace leads to outer peace. it is a choice. make it now and know that you are responsible for whatever choice you make. and you can hold on to that choice of inner peace even when you face the so-called "enemy". the next choice then is to take up arms (a la bhagavad gita) or to practise gandhian non-violence. either way if you are unattached within, unafraid, if you are at peace inside yourself, then you are evolving to the newer, higher consciousness.