Long story ahead!!
I could do a more personal story as partnership judgments are what's up for many ... have you noticed? This story both saves the privacy of my personal relations while showing the power we have of communicating now through social media... one person to another or to a small group of friends. Instead of letting our governments or religions speak for us, of big media, we can communicate directly... wow, think of the possibilities!
WARNING... needs editing and may provoke judgments.
In honor of Non-Judgment Day
After the announcement of Osama's death, I received a facebook message from one of our "LoveTribers" saying she thought my facebook was hacked. I went to see which hacking going around attached itself to me, when I discovered it was a thread by my facebook friend Ali.
I had joined a Kahlil Gibran fan page a year + ago where I met a young Lebanese poet (like Kahlil) and we began conversations with a following. One of the following was a teacher in Pakistan who became my FB friend and then his students began inviting me ... thus Ali.
The thread was who is terrorist (Osama or America)....
It began with some careful thoughts most of us would agree with, yet as it went along the anger started to build (essentially provoked by one guy but all got on the angry/hate band wagon). Beginning with G Bush being the biggest terrorist and eventually on to " Its time for the rest of the Muslims to understand the evil plans of evil Jews and non beleavers .be united and act lik one body against these evil powers ,see how these evils killing muslims ...
and " fuck obama and all non muslims who pose to b cevilize and innocent we hve seen their cevilization and innocency how they celebrate to kill muslims and enjoy, similary we will kill you all and those too who are also pose to be muslim and friendship of muslim but in reality they are not muslims i fuck you all to and spit on your dirty thoughts and evil ideas ...
That's went I got the message. Robert suggested we should de-friend immediately ... And that's when Shaye and I got into the conversation.
Shaye said, " i'm devi's daughter shaye.. for sure g. bush is a big fat ugly terrorist and all those big stupid men in "power". they all must have really small thumbs and scared senseless of women and true power or listening to the women inside. all this "EVIL' talk.. you sound just like bush and all those posers"
And I responded with the short poem War by Kahlil Gibran ... which speaks of the absurdity of justice through war.
Then Ali wrote back (not having seen a personal message from me asking what this sounded like to him coming from another culture, he might misunderstand)
Daughter Shaye@ i know you are also same lik bush and obama , you people like to kill innocent muslims child men and women you all are of same category ,you people pose to be innocent and cevilized but in reality you all are of...See more
AND I wrote back on the thread telling some stories about Shaye and I so that they could know who we are and things we've done for peace. And also said, " I love Muslims. I see the beauty in all cultures. And the great part about America is the diversity. I live in a city that celebrates diversity and all the art, food, dress and points of view those cultures bring. This is a small world you and I live in and it's getting smaller all the time. We now can talk to each other, instead of letting our governments and the media talk for us. What do we want to say to each other ... really? I want to say I love you. I may need to love you from a distance (not be FB friends) if you want to continue hating me for awhile. I have plenty of Muslim friends that love me. We drink the same water, we breathe the same air. It can be a beautiful place if we can tend this garden together ... and as we know, it can be hell if we don't
(I had written this not having seen Ali's personal message to me
hello devi i usually is not rude with people and my religion is also not allowed us to be rude infact islam says to love humen beings even non muslims and i still remember the time wen muslim has been protecting non muslims and dear i m sorry if my words hurt you ,i some time become emotional to see wen muslims are to b killed by these evil powers whole day i hve been thinking abt u and then i though frm my religion point of view and my Prophet says to never hurt any bdy and love evry bdy people dnt know abt the reality of islam ,so i m sorry if my words hurt
I thanked him for being such a strong man that he could apologize and love so readily and asked if he could make that apology publicly on the thread. He didn't hesitate a minute and posted,
Ali Malik well Devi Jacobs @ i m sorry for mispercieving you dear. Islam also says to love humen beings and i too love humens does not matter either they are muslims are non muslim ,and i m glad to read your comments that u r really realistic and i too love u being a sister or being humen i jst get angry some time to see on media how people are celebrating on muslims killing they even do not know about the reality i m sorry if my words hurt you and Islam is the religion of peace ,love ,affection, and respect... We beleave in all prophets, 124,000 prophets, Jesus and including me and u ....
I wrote publicly I was proud to be his friend and another one of his friends who had gotten on the war bandwagon earlier said,
Lisa Bailey Proud of you babe xxxx9 hours ago � Like � 1 person
Ali Malik Thank u so much Lisa so nice of u xxx9 hours ago � Like � 1 person
Ali Malik Devi@thank you so much dear i m really glad to see your realistic and positive attitude May Allah(GOD) Bless u always Amean Live long9 hours ago � Like � 1 person
And then Shaye wrote, Shaye here... @Ali Well, from reading my moms post earlier, you know more about me and where i am coming from but i would like to respond in my own words. you are right! i am like bush and all those murderers killing, muslims, jews, christians, Buddhist monks, whales, elephants, trees, drinking water, the air we breath, our common sense, the truth that lies in all our hearts that we are all family. i am murdering all these things. i wish i was not. i wish i could separate from it all but then i dont because we are family and responsible for each others actions as well as our own. i wish i had more voice in my own government and media but voting never helps because it's all rigged (i still vote anyway). i am doing my best to change the way we are forced to live because it is set up in such a cut throat competition manner. i am doing everything in my power to do this. and all the while, still very grateful for the beauty in the land under my feet (it's a good and sweet land), the smell that is only here with the plants that grow only in this neighborhood i live, my mom, and the sun on my face. we all have these similar emotions, jokes and thoughts as our world becomes, well... my mom says smaller i say the world still stays the same size just a lot less on it. BTW, your kind words and the way you apologize so easily (a trait that is the opposite of bush and men with small thumbs;) ) made me feel blessed for real. that kind of honesty and respect makes me feel a kindred spirit in you and a friend. thank you. sorry if my words can be strong too. haha! i love that dance of fighting and loving (as long as the fighting doesnt last too long) it feels good to express all my emotions and i learn a lot.
And Ali said, Yes Shaye, it's OK :)
This opportunity is a way to peace ... one conversation at a time. The conversation will continue ... things will come up again ... a combo of compassionate listening and authentic expression ... watching, critical thinking without judgment ... keeping in mind Byron Katie's 4 questions ... "
Is it true? ... Do you know that it's true? How do you react, what happens, when you believe that thought? Who would you be without the thought?"
Happy Non-Judgment Day!
xoxo,
Devi Outback ... In the Temple of Venus
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