Liturgies

Monday, November 23rd 2015

Love can conquer separateness

By Terry Fitzpatrick
My friends, like all of you I was horrified and sickened by the recent events in Paris last weekend. Like many, we wondered why the world is such a violent brutal place, seemingly devoid of love and compassion.  Mankind, it appears, has not learned much over the past 2 millennia. The world is broken. Only a couple of weeks ago, I had the honour of addressing this community before these events took place and spoke about the myth of Separateness and how it keeps us blind to the oneness of life. The terrorists whom carried out these attacks bear witness to the futility of separateness.  Seeing themselves as messengers of a clearly impotent god, they sought to create as much horror and fear as possible. The first 2 readings we heard today were a chilling account from a young South African tourist caught up in the midst of all this horror.  The first part of the reading described the horror.  It is difficult to listen to without imagining yourself in the same predicament.  No person should have to experience such horror.  The world is broken and these atrocities continue every single minute of every single day not just in Paris, but in many parts of the world. If we can take some comfort out of these events, the second part of Isabelle’s graphic account is in fact filled with hope.  In the midst of her despair and sheer terror, she felt a sense of gratitude and peace with recalling the memories of those whom she loved.  Those whom helped her.  Those whom she saw die. I can’t help but align this revelation with the mystical message of the resurrection.  Love can conquer fear.  Love can conquer hate.  Love can conquer separateness.   Jesus is a symbol of the separate body, broken and vulnerable.  Yet the true essence of the Christian story is not about a dead body rising but about the revelation of the real self.  If we are truly walking in this path with authenticity we surely cannot join the chorus of those seeking retribution.  Justice yes.  But retribution will simply lead to reciprocity of violence. Media outlets were quick to place a microphone under the nose of Pauline Hanson as if she would have anything useful to add to the current debate.  Of course the media know exactly what she would say and her predicable diatribe which conflated the plight Syrian refugees with terrorists was as predictable as it was wrong. Did it ever occur to her that these refugees were fleeing the very people that masterminded the Paris attacks?   Why let such an obvious fact get in the way of a good bigoted outrage. And whilst I am on the subject of outrage, I was stunned on Monday night after 1 hour of news that not one word was mentioned of the Kenyan terrorist attack which occurred only 2 days after Paris with a similar loss of life. Innocent students were gunned down in a brutal attack. Beirut had also been hit in a massive suicide attack only several days before Paris and I only heard about this after the Paris attacks. FB did not suggest that I change my FB pic to support with the Lebanese or Kenyan flags.  It does appear that western horrors are more important than horrors and deaths in other countries. I had the privilege to meet a wonderful Anglican Priest many years ago.  Father Lyell was one of the first people I spoke to after 9/11.  What he said to me that day was profound and I have never forgotten it.  Where most were calling for an immediate response to this attack Father Lyell simply said.  “David – it’s all horror.  The attack, the response, the hatred.  It’s all horror.  They are all on the same side.  They just don’t know it”. It is natural to see beheadings as more horrible than say, a drone strike on an Islamic terrorist undertaken away from camera in a remote part of Afghanistan.  But it’s all terror.  It’s all horror.  Every time we kill another we separate ourselves from our common humanity. Shortly after 9/11, one of America’s worst leaders G W Bush led the world into a brutal, expensive and completely unjustified attack on Saddam Hussein’s regime.  This war which was dubbed “Shock and Awe” was to become the catalyst for the birth of Islamic State.   It was predicted in 2003 by the satirical news outlet “The Onion” which said: “This war will not put an end to anti-Americanism; it will fan the flames of hatred even higher. It will not end the threat of weapons of mass destruction; it will make possible their further proliferation. And it will not lay the groundwork for the flourishing of democracy throughout the Mideast; it will harden the resolve of Arab states to drive out all Western (i.e. U.S.) influence.” The Onion’s predictions were spot on. The Iraq War left the entire region in shambles, creating a power vacuum that resulted in the rise of the Islamic State, or ISIS, who has established a totalitarian “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria over the last few years.  The 10 year long military campaign was a disaster and has given terrorists more oxygen, more motivation and more determination. So will we learn?  Will world leaders confronted by the abject failure of the past decade of conflict stop, take a deep breath and look for a more workable solution for the sake of humanity?  The answer will most likely be no.  Separateness, which pits human against human, each seeing each other as the problem, separate from ones self is a powerful force which it appears mankind cannot escape. I recall the powerful gospel message of Jesus’ last words on the cross “Forgive them Father, they know not what they do”.  How relevant this still is today.    The Jesus figure, brutally bashed, tortured and mocked refused to give in to anger and violence spawned by separateness.  He saw his attackers not as separate, but as part of the one human consciousness. Imagine what goes through the minds of Muslims across the world, especially those living in Western countries every time these attacks are perpetrated in their name.   We do not seek to blame all Christians for actions of those that bomb abortion clinics yet everyday Muslims appear to have to justify and re-justify their innocence.  I will however say that their plight is not helped by Australian’s Grand Mufti’s comments after the Paris attacks.  His rather bad attempt to blame western governments for this atrocity does little to help every day Muslims in this country and adds further fuel for bigotry and hatred by the likes of Andrew Bolt. Religions have survived this long by embracing and institutionalising separateness.  Only through fundamental change in dogma could some semblance of peace emerge.   Rules about what food to eat, what women should wear, whom one should marry etc are all powerful forces that keep people separate and in fear.  There is no starker example of the futility of separateness is when a fanatic yells our Allah Akbar before he detonates an explosive vest with the result of killing himself and other around.     Equally, separateness becomes terror when Western forces send in war machines with ruthless efficiency, launching missile attacks in which countless civilians are killed. As Father Lyell said, It’s all horror. Perhaps the best response I can find came from none other than the Dalai Lama. “We cannot solve this problem only through prayer.  I am a Buddhist and I believe in praying.  But humans have created this problem, and now we want our God to solve it.  It is illogical.  God would say, solve it yourself because you created it in the first place.” A few days ago, the front page of Charlie Hebro showed a defiant Frenchman with the caption “You may have the guns but we have the Champaign”.  The image showed the figure consuming the wine with great pleasure, but the wine was pouring out of bullet holes in his body. But perhaps the best response came from Waleed Aly when he beautifully summed up how we can move forward.  He eloquently explained that by turning on each other, vilifying Muslims and generally acting like bigots is exactly what ISIL want.   His video has been seen over 2 million times.  I think Australian Muslims wold be better served if he was their Grand Mufti.   But Catholics had Pope Benedict for over 8 long years so we can feel their pain. So how do we all move forward in a world that is clearly broken? We need to understand that hysterical fundamentalism is not the way into the future, it is the last gasp of the past.  We must be vocal in actively opposing all forms of bigotry and hatred.  This community in particular has been consistently at the forefront of standing with the marginalised.  There is even more need for this community to continue to be a light and a beacon of hope. We recognise that we are all one humanity and that the illusion of separateness is keeping us blind, fearful and violent.  We can immerse ourselves in prayer.  Not the prayer of piety.  Not the prayer of exclusion.   But a prayerfulness that brings us closer to ourselves, opens and minds and guides us to gentle action. I will leave you today with the words of Antoine Leiris, shop owner in Paris. On Friday night you stole away the life of an exceptional human being, the love of my life, the mother of my son, but you will not have my hatred.  If the God for whom you kill so blindly made us in his image, each bullet in my wife’s body would have been a wound in His heart.  We are only two, my son and I, but we are more powerful than all the world’s armies.   Therefore I will not give you the gift of hating you.  You have obviously sought it but responding to hatred with anger would be to give in to the same ignorance that has made you what you are.  You want me to be afraid, to cast a mistrustful eye on my fellow citizens and to sacrifice my freedom for security.   Every day of his life my little boy will insult you with his happiness and freedom.  Because you don’t have his hatred either.  As we gather around the table today let us feel the words of our Eucharistic prayer and ask ourselves how we can make a difference and how we can foster peace.