Hope you all are well as you read this newsletter – our fifth since we launched in July. This issue has been tough to prepare and make ready given the enormity of lives already lost in Israeli-Palestinian conflict that has been hemorrhaging since 1948 and with no end in sight. The potential for a major catastrophe looms high if we take sides based on existing relationships and power-based affiliation rather than the moral imperative of seeking the truth and establishing/sustaining justice in our world, a theme that is the inspiration and foundation of this newsletter.
As the Qur’an says and repeats what is in the Torah and is integral to the Ten Commandment – a life lost due to an unjust cause is as if we lost our humanity and a life saved is as if we have saved our humanity (Q5:32) – is of the essence in this conflict. There is another cautionary guidance in the Qur’an in this moment of crisis – O People of Faith: Be constant in your devotion to God, and bear witness with justice and truth; Do not let hatred of a people incite you to acts of injustice and inequity. Be just…Remain God Conscious and be true to your sense of duty—surely God is fully Aware of all that you do (5:8) – such is the moral imperative for all people of faith – especially the People of Abrahamic faith who have a covenant with God for follow their respective scriptures and uphold the ethical and moral principle that all life is sacred and should be preserved as priority number ONE.
Yet the rhetoric, false narratives, and the sound of an impending war where more than a million people are being denied food, water, electricity as well as safe dwelling and safe passage is an affront to humanity. We as Americans should be doubly concerned since our own history suggests that unless we are cognizant of our failures and past mistakes, we will commit another mistake and our very foundation – In God We Trust – will sound hypocritical!
We are encouraged as we see Christians, Jews and Muslims are coming together to challenge the policy of our country and our lack of moral and ethical leadership which in the long run will undermine our global leadership just as the Vietnam War and more recently the War on Terror post 9/11 have amply demonstrated.
We see a ray of light as more and more of the younger generation are deliberately tuned to the moral dilemma of our conducts and demands a more just position as in other issues that face our country and the world – the environment degradation, the economic injustice to average employee citizens by corporations, the rise of autocratic rulers, emergence of far-right nationalists and persecution of religious and ethnic minorities around the world. Not to mention the unprecedented number of people who have been displaced from their own homes and communities around the world as the 21st century migration crisis dwarfs other migrations in the history of the world.
We ask you as a reader to do what you need to do – we are not going to pretend that we have the answer for you nor are we going to assume that you do not know what the answer is but remain optimistic that when each of our soul is troubled enough that we will want to find remedy and identify our call for action, perhaps then we will find our calling and join others in advancing those actions.
May God bless us and keep us steadfast in seeking the truth and ensuring justice around the world as well as at home!
