On a Common World View

Iran. Iraq. Saudi Arabia. Palestine. What do these four countries have in common? The obvious answer, of course, is that they are all in the Middle East, but there is another answer to that question that most Americans conjure, though they push it to the back of their minds. It’s more than an answer, it’s a mentality, a stereotypical worldview. It is a barrier, a brick wall that hinders many of us Anglo-Saxons when it comes to our global vision. And it’s dangerous, very dangerous.

Terrorism. When most of this nation thinks Middle East they also think terrorist.

Now it’s time to take a closer look, to think a little bit deeper about this perception we have. Reason with me. Let’s start with a good question: Why do we regard them as terrorist? “That’s easy!”, one may say. “It’s because of the destruction they caused in New York, in Washington D.C.!” Well, that is very true, but let’s take it to another level. Yes, they did cause destruction, yes, they took lives, but when people start pointing fingers in that direction I tend to think, “But hey! What about us?” and that is when the conversation gets heavy, because people don’t think about what we, the represented United States of America, have done. And it gets tricky because God-forbid we say anything contrary to the cause of the USA! But put that all aside for now and just think about how much destruction we have caused. Remember with me Vietnam, Korea, the Suez Canal, even our own Civil War. Yes, we go about and say that we dish out only what is deserved, that our cause has only been noble, but that is where we stumble...
Because they are thinking the same exact thing. Their cause is noble. As a Christian one could even argue that their cause may be more noble than ours! We fight for “justice” which is all well and good, but they are still fighting for God. They don’t believe in Him in quite the same way we do, but “Allah” is still translated “God”. Sure, one may think they are only doing it for the virgins promised them in paradise, but you know, we aspire to something similar. Our view of heaven is different, but we all want to end up in paradise, don’t we?
Then one may say, “But listen! Our religions aren’t the same! We are not like them!” and I beg to differ. True, our faiths are not the same, but where in either scripture (meaning the Koran and our Holy Scriptures) does it say that one person is at a more elevated state than another? To put it bluntly, where does it say that white Christians are any better than dark-skinned Muslims? There is no evidence on earth that constitutes the difference. We are all one whether we like it or not. No prejudice can truly come between our races. We all descend from the same line. Though we are not all brought together in the body of Christ Jesus or in the dedication to the prophet Muhammad we are all still brothers and sisters as a human race. We all bleed in the same color.
In conclusion, I would like remark that I, in this argument, am not trying to justify the death of those who suffered on that fatal day in our nation’s history, or on any memorable day similar, but that I am only trying to consider the overarching truth that says “We are all one”. So before the decision is made to go about labeling people groups as “terrorist” or before our religions are pinned up in comparison with theirs, and most definitely before judgement is passed in any way, just remember that that judgement is on your brother, your sister, your friend, your blood, and in the end, yourself.