In
Amina's Voice, the Islamic Center where Amina's family worships is vandalized. Hateful language is written onto the walls, and important religious objects (including copies of the Quran) are destroyed. Amina, her family, her friends, and many members of the community are shaken by this episode of violence.
During class this week, we've used Amina's Voice to discuss persecution: the way that it has occurred throughout history and -- unfortunately -- the way that it continues to occur today. The students are thinking about some very hard and important questions, and they are sharing their ideas and reflections.
What are the reasons that a person might decide to persecute another person (or a group of people)?
- They might believe that their God wants them to do this. In other words, they might think that persecuting others is a way of following their God.
- They might have bad memories about being harmed/bullied by someone who claimed to follow the religion that is being persecuted. Or one of their loved ones could have been harmed.
- The person might want to get revenge for being hurt in the past.
- A person could have read on the internet that a certain group/religion is bad or dangerous, and this causes the person to think that the group needs to be treated badly.
- A person may have been taught, as a child, to hate the members of a certain group.
- Hurting other people, or mistreating other people, might make you feel strong or superior.
- You might think that persecuting others will help convince people to follow your own religion.
- You might be scared about the lifestyle or choices of the group you are persecuting. Or you might not actually be scared, but being around people who are different might cause you to feel uncomfortable.
- They might not understand the beliefs of people who follow other religions, and this might cause them to view the other religion as "weird" or "wrong."
- Your religion may have been persecuted in the past, so you've decided that persecution is appropriate and ok.
What are the reasons that persecution is wrong?
- If you judge other people, you should judge them based on how they act, not on what they believe.
- The people who are being persecuted haven't done anything wrong. They are usually completely innocent. They are just being themselves.
- It is scary to think that you could be harmed just for being yourself.
- Persecution can cause the persecuted people to feel bad, which could lead them to persecute people too.
- People are being hurt for parts of their identity that they may not even control.
- You should not judge a person based on things that someone else did.
- People should have the right to believe whatever they want and not have to worry about being treated badly for their beliefs.
- People should be happy that there are lots of differences in the world (religious beliefs, races, opinions, etc.). If you made everybody the same, nobody would ever have new ideas.
What are specific ways that a person (or group of people) can decrease the amount of persecution in the world?
- When you meet someone who is different than you, you should assume that they are a good person and keep that assumption unless they actually behave in a bad way.
- If you see a friend that is involved in persecution, tell them to stop and explain why it's wrong.
- We can make sure that people who persecute innocent people are sent to prison or face other consequences for their behavior.
- Have dinner with people of different races or religions than yourself.
- Write posts on social media. Share the posts with your friends who have lots of followers.
- If people in your religion are involved with persecution, make a speech or write a letter that explains the persecutors are wrong.
- Be more present by using tools such as yoga, meditation, and the outside world.
- If you see misinformation on the internet, try to stop it or have it removed.
- Ask the persecutor why they want to hurt others. This might help them to reconsider their actions.
- Organize a protest of your friends, to try to change people's minds.
- Read books about religions, races, and opinions different than your own religion/race/opinion.
- Teach people about the ways that many religions have similarities to each other. [Mila reminded us to also teach and learn about the ways in which religions are different; she pointed out that focusing only on similarities could be viewed as disrespecting the specific beliefs and ideas of each religion.]
- Write letters to leaders in the government asking them to make stronger laws to prevent persecution.
