This past Friday evening I went running, checking to see if I was getting better from an on-going injury I have.    I thought I could get back into running my normal distances, but I’d not given my leg enough time to heal yet.  So in the middle of the run, that injury acted up again, and I had to stop running and walk the rest of the way home.    It really is a drag, but what can you do?    Anyway, I was on one of the paths going through the woods, and saw a couple that looked to be at the age of retirement perhaps, walking along with their dog – off leash.   Now this dog was a lovely, furry, friendly Lab.   They wanted to put the dog back on the leash when they saw me coming, but I told them there was no need – I’d stretched out my hand, and the dog just came over, and wanted me to pet him.   

So we started talking about life and stuff, and as part of the conversation, the man shared that he’d just heard on TV before they’d left the house that that the Chattanooga shooter was part of a longer term assault on the US.  He heard that the shooter was definitely related to ISIS or some group like that, and that this was the first of many attacks in the US on Americans.

Then later that evening, my wife and I watched a movie called “Woman in Gold”, based on the true story of a Jewish woman Immigrant who came to the US with her husband from Austria right before WWII started.   They left Austria after the Nazi’s took control of her country back in the late 1930’s.    They came from a pretty well-to-do home with a lot of art.    When the Nazi’s came to control Vienna, they came to the homes of Jews and took what they wanted.    The Nazi art collection was huge!    Her home was one of many the Nazi’s looted.    And one of the pieces they stole was a painting that later came to be known as “Woman in Gold”.  

The “Woman in Gold” was painted by the celebrated Austrian painter Gustav Klimt in 1907.   He actually was commissioned by the family to paint a portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer, Maria Altman’s Aunt.   The movie “The Woman in Gold” is  based on the story of how Maria Altman fought to get her family art work back – more specifically, this painting of her aunt Adele.     An aside – the movie isn’t bad, but it’s nowhere near as fascinating as the real story of Maria and the art work finally returned to her.          

Anyway, during the movie, there are a number of flash-backs where Maria remembers her time before she leaves her home in Austria.   And we see the pretty terrible ways the Nazi’s treated the Jews there.   But it wasn’t just the Nazi’s that did terrible things, it was also the average normal person.    I thought, how could so many people have believed what they did about the Jews?   And be so involved in their persecution, humiliation, and subjugation?

At the time I suppose it worked for the government to have an “enemy of the State” (it still does BTW – governments still use this)… they could focus on the enemies outside and inside the country… they could focus on blaming someone else, some other group, for the nation’s problems and issues.

To the Nazi’s the Jews were subhuman, they were enemies, they were violent animals.  The Jews had a different culture, they had a different language, different customs, understandings, not to mention a different religion!     They were very different… too different from the rest of them.    Nazi’s got a whole lot of people to believe this.   Many.   Most, I think.    And if they didn’t actually believe this Nazi propaganda about Jews, they at least accepted it at best, or tolerated it at worst.    Only a very small percentage spoke out and worked against this prevailing notion of the Jews.    And they usually paid for it – if not officially with prison time, then with social ostracism.

A question came to mind – from our perspective after WWII, we can clearly see that Jews were NOT the enemy!  In fact we see they were innocent victims.  This is obviously true for us… 70 years after the fact.     Granted that it’s easier to see more clearly in hind-sight, still we have to ask… how could they, the average German and/or Austrian have bought into this idea that the Jews were the cause of all the country’s ills, that they were subhuman, etc.   

Then I thought – who might be OUR “Jews”?    Who might be those we most easily identify as the “enemy of the State” in our time?    Who are they that we – as a collective society – not all, but many… see as our societal enemy?   And I think the answer is the Muslims.  

It’s true, the comparison is not identical for sure – The Jews didn’t conduct any terrorist attacks – I get it.    But they were accused of it.   Historical side bar – in 1933, the German version of our National Capital Building, the Reichstag, in Berin, was burned down.   The Nazi’s, Hitler, accused the Jews and the Communists  (“Jewish /Communist terrorists”).   This brought Hitler to complete power.  Prior to this, he’d shared power with President Hindenberg, but just a few days and weeks after this, Hitler got Hindenberg to suspend the constitution and make him Fuhrer.   He cemented power in Germany, and the rest is history.    Fear first, turned to anger, which turned to open aggression, and the doors opened for officially sanctioned anti-semitism.  

It’s true, the comparison is not identical – The Jews in pre WWII did not have control of a region of the world, in which there were decades of war.

It’s true the comparison is not identical – 1933 is not the same as 2001.    Pre WWII Germany and Austria are not the same as post September 11^th USA.   They are different times, different societies, different peoples.     I get all that.     But it’s still true how a people, a religion, a group can be very easily and quickly identified as “the enemy” and marginalized, legally or otherwise.

Prior to September 11^th, 2001, Islam was not really on the average American’s radar.  Then the attacks changed everything.  Many reacted in fear first; fear and suspicion, distrust.   Then the fear turned to anger; a visceral, deep reaction that came right from the reptilian brain. 

“How could they have done this?!?!”  turns into “It’s who they are!”.   “Look what they’re like in their own countries.   Look at their religion… their texts – they’re violent!”    This leads to “Muslims are violent… and they must be stopped!”    And we end up being suspicious of everything they say and do, we’re suspicious if we even see them out in the street.   It turns into – They’re terrorists just because they’re Muslim!   

“Islam has a history of violence!   Have you read the Koran?”

            Have you read Christian history?    You do know Islam does not have a lock on historical (or modern) violence?

Have you read the bible?   My go-to story for biblical violence is the Joshua story where God tells Joshua to circle the walled city of Jericho with his army seven times blowing the trumpets and horns.   On the seventh time the walls –says God – will fall.  When they do – says the Lord – take your army in and kill every living thing; men, women, children, animals, plants, everything!     When I was a kid there was a song about this, something about “the walls come tumbling down.”   Tell them the whole story… it’s not so nice after all, is it.

“Yeah but that’s the Old Testament!   It’s not our primary source!  We have the story of Jesus we lean towards more!”

Yeah but it’s still there!    The Old Testament is still part of our bible.   Just because you like the Jesus story more doesn’t mean the Hebrew texts are no longer a valid part of our bible.    Whether you like them or not… they’re still part of the biblical witness!    They’re still part of the story of God and the people of God.   And probably in some churches kids still sing about the walls of Jericho tumbling down.    

Plus, our “Old Testament” is really the ONLY testament of the Jewish people – this is the entirety of the Jewish bible.   And we don’t generally say the Jews are a violent people because of the violence in their sacred texts!     

It is true that our enemies are Muslim.    But don’t fall for the logical fallacy – but a believable one – that because our enemies are Muslim, therefore it must follow that all Muslims are our enemies.    Just because the first statement is true does not mean the second one is.   

What I’m saying is… What’s your reaction to what I’m saying?   I know people who would react viscerally to what I’m saying.   They would disagree with tremendous emotion.   Another logical fallacy: Just because a person expresses a belief with visceral emotion does not make that belief right.    It just means they believe it very deeply.    A deeply held belief can still be deeply wrong.   

What I’ saying is…  Don’t fall into the trap of fear, that can turn into anger, that can turn into a misplaced hate… that says “All Muslims are our enemies”. 

I’m saying, look at your emotions – think about why you disagree with me.  God gave us emotions for a reason, but not to replace our brains and minds.         

What I’m saying is logically true.   Let’s reword this and look at it in another way:

All cars have engines.  

But it does not logically follow that all things with engines are cars.

What I saying is theologically true.   

We are all God’s children.   Can we distinguish the acts of some from the whole group and still follow God’s call to be faithful followers of Jesus?

But it is not emotionally true.

            Humans have a propensity to react emotionally to trauma.  And unless we watch ourselves, these emotions can really take us for a ride we ought not go on.        

And it is not psychologically true.

            Trauma can cause distortion of perception… and again lead us towards a conclusion or result that is not the healthiest.

“Terrorism” is a loaded word now.   The media use it for viewership/readership/listenership certainly.  But maybe they sometimes use the word to manipulate our feelings, our thoughts our beliefs as well.    The shooter in Charleston SC killed 9 black people.  No one disputes he was a racist.    The media called it a hate crime – and it was!    But although the media never called him a terrorist, he (and this act) fit all the classic definitions of terrorism (the use of violence and intimidation in pursuit of political aims)… in this case, the eradication of black people or something like that.   He was a White Christian (Lutheran).    “Since he was not Middle Eastern, or had a Middle Easter name, and since he did not fit our view or understanding of  what a terrorist looks like…  he must not be one.”     

There is a growing notion in our country that Muslims are violent just because of who they are, that they are evil just because they are Middle Eastern or Muslim.   And there is a belief they are all just waiting to either convert us all or kill us all.    This kind of emotional, visceral reaction pushes out any possibility for logical thinking, it pushes out any room for the idea that not all Muslims want to kill us.  It pushes out the truth that many Muslims abhor and reject this kind of extremist thinking and violence… as a matter of faith!   And it makes us even hesitant to speak out against this broad view of Muslims as the enemy.  

I don’t think our country will turn into Nazi Germany!    But I think unquestioningly buying into the mindset that Islam in general and Muslims in specific are by nature evil and violent and want us converted or dead will hurt us more than help us.     The dominant mindset about the Jews in Germany before and during WWII could have been questioned more deeply.     The dominant mindset about blacks in the South in the 1800’s and early 1900’s could have been questioned more deeply.   In any day, there is a dominant mindset – where we assume things to be true – where we unquestioningly believe something based on visceral feelings to marginalize a group, and they must be questioned as well.   

Remember the words of the prophets – those voices in the Old Testament – that called the people of God back to the path of faith.   We must always keep the light of our faith in front of us… especially when we recognize these kinds of reactions in ourselves.    Sometimes this light will challenge us, convict us, open us up, and guide us.

 It’s in events and times like this we must make more of an effort to let the light of our faith inform our hearts and minds more than what fear and anger and hate can do.