NANCY HAUGHT
  • Sacred Strangers
  • My blog
  • About/Contact
  • My book
  • Archives

We cannot become fertile ground where evil thrives

7/16/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
Image by Studiolarsen from Pixabay
I have been remiss in writing for this blog. A new grandchild, a book project and a knee injury have kept this personal writing low on my "to do" list. But I attended a remembrance of the Srebrenica genocide this past Saturday night and I can't stop thinking about it.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, here is a link describing how Bosnian Serb soldiers killed more than 8,000 Muslims in a Bosnian village that the United Nations had declared a safe haven 24 years ago. Here in Portland, we have a large community of Bosniaks who have created their own mosque and community center. Determined not to forget, they sponsor a commemoration of this tragedy every year. This was the second time I have attended, asked to speak because of my work with the Institute for Christian Muslim Understanding,

It was a difficult evening. The two hour program was conducted mostly in languages that I don't speak, so I sat and thought about how it feels to be the one who doesn't understand the readings, prayers and songs that surrounded me. The brief videos were hard to watch -- because of the horror they portrayed and the weeping of the women seated behind me, whose ties to the massacre were so much closer than my own. I spent a lot of time thinking about my two sons and their late father and how impossible it would be to live without the people I love most in this world.

Since that somber evening, I'm left with three things I simply can't absorb:

The men who conceived and carried out this massacre represented the victor in the Bosnian war and the village where the evil unfolded is their village now. A survivor observed that students do not learn about the genocide  in the village schools.

In this world, where we pour out prayers and promises on bloody ground as we vow to  never forget, voices are proclaiming that the genocide never happened. 

And, finally, I read this morning that some religious leaders here in the United States are arguing that Islam is not a religion and so it's believers are not entitled to the same protections as Christians and Jews and other people of faith. 

In my talk Saturday, I touched on the need to examine ourselves for the fear and loathing that can so easily be stirred up by politicians lusting after more power. I fear for all of us, especially those who imagine a world where anyone who disagrees with them is dead and forgotten. We cannot become fertile ground where evil thrives. 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture


    ​My book

    Sometimes our fear of strangers keeps us from becoming the people we want to be. "Sacred Strangers" is a guide to six Bible stories about outsiders who are holy examples for the rest of us. Published in October 2017.

    Order "Sacred Strangers" on Amazon or at Liturgical Press.

    Archives

    July 2022
    May 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    December 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

  • Sacred Strangers
  • My blog
  • About/Contact
  • My book
  • Archives