Dr. Khaled M. Batarfi

“It is all his fault!” Children start their defense system by blaming their shortcomings, wrongdoings and troubles on the others. As they get “wiser” their tactics become more educated and sophisticated. They also start believing their lies.



Now, they explain why the “others” are “always” wrong, “always” to blame: (It is their culture, ethnicity or religion. It is their color, kind or class. It is the wrong neighborhood, associations, or politics).



And then come the details and explanations: (In their culture they are brought up as aggressors, cheaters, lazy, stupid. In their countries, they are backward, poor, uneducated. Or it could be their societies are liberal, decadent and “kafir.”)



So one way or another: (We are morally and genetically better than them, our god is better than theirs or, if we belong to the same religion, sect, tribe, family, then our religious leaders are more religious than theirs!)



It is human nature to feel superior, righteous and blame-free. It is our consciousness, be it religious, educational, cultural, and/or the upbringing that control the natural tendencies.



That is why the hate preachers and war merchants use the same channels to control our consciousness. They make it right to despise other humans, and wrong to be kind to them. They play on our worst weaknesses, such as fear, anxiety, selfishness and vanity to bring out the worst in us: Hate.



Then they use this nuclear weapon to start wars that destroy all, except their fiefdoms, improvise all, except their coffers. Those are wars that they never risk their own lives and fortunes in, and they never send their sons and beloved to war.



Terrorism and terrorists are the products of such schemes. It starts in homes, schools and places of worship, where young consciousness are formulated. After filling them with (I am right, they are wrong!, I am good they are bad!) convictions, the fear and hate is pushed to boiling degrees. (Look what they are doing to us! What they are planning to do! If we don’t hit back, now, they will win! We will be overtaken, humiliated and forever enslaved.)



Next comes training—To fight back, to kill and destroy without any feeling of guilt. After all, (you are defending your religion, culture, people, self … and way of life!)



Sound familiar? That is because it is!



So, what do we do to short-circuit this vicious circle? How do we cease this madness? We should start where all had started: Home, school, places of worship, and media. We should undo what has been done in the same space where it is being done.



Are we ready for the “just” fight? The “bad guys” are entrenched, armed with experience, determination and “hate”. We need an action plan. We need to support the initiatives of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah — his call for global anti-terrorism alliance; his call for interreligious and intercultural dialogue; and his call for Islamic intersect dialogue. And we need to do it right away.



What are your thoughts, dear readers? How do we fight “fitnah” (hate) speech and the death industry? How do we protect our hearts from the virus of hate and intolerance? What can we, the ordinary people, do to help the global drive to fight terrorism?



Here are your comments on my last article “Judging the ‘different others.”



Equality



“Some religions do not advocate judging other people at all. I do find the sincerity in your article, but it fell short in advocating equality, a prerequisite for universal peace.” Lorenzo



Prejudice



“It is more difficult to continue our prejudice beliefs, when we are exposed to good people from those 'other groups'. The more we travel and meet others, the more we learn that most people are very much like us. If we remind ourselves of this, the world will become a better place for all.” John



Generation



“In Europe, we had religious wars for hundreds of years just because ‘My God is better than yours.’ In the end, people realize this is not an option.



It is up to you — as a generation financed by the government to study abroad not to make the mistakes we did for centuries. It is up to you what you want to do with your country. Nobody can set the path (either good or bad) if you don’t agree. Good luck!” Commentator



Love!



“God has sent us to the Earth not to fight in His name but to live in peace and harmony with His creations. The cardinal rule is: If we cannot do good to others then we better not harm them.” Faiz Al-Najdi



Civilization



“The clash of civilizations was inevitable whether we had the fanatics among us or not. It was something predicted by Huntington in the 90s, and has now been made into reality. This, however, has nothing to do with Sunni or shiite killing. Regardless of whether Sunnis think Shiites are wrong or vice versa, no one has the right to take life. It is as simple as that!” OI



– Dr. Khaled M. Batarfi is a Saudi writer based in Jeddah. He can be reached at kbatarfi@gmail.com. Follow him at Twitter:@kbatarfi