In the last month, we have been bombarded with constant news about more than 200 young girls being kidnapped in Nigeria by Boko Haram. As of today, we have heard reports of the Nigerian military "knowing" where the girls are, but reluctant to make a move because of possible wider repercussions. We become indignant and nauseated with this news, especially because this kidnapping supposedly took place in the name of religion. And as it happened with the events of 9/11/2001, we are almost tempted to demonize the Islamic faith because the kidnappers are allegedly affiliated with a radical group that professes Islam.
As a Christian minister, educator, and activist, I pose the following questions for your consideration:
1. Is our view of the group Boko Haram and their alleged criminal activity based exclusively on what we hear in the Western press, or do we have another objective basis on which to evaluate this group?
2. Do we take what we hear and read through the Western press as absolutely true?
3. If we look at reality through the prism of a non-Western group that supposedly says
that Western education "is a sin," can we better understand and appreciate why they do
what they do without necessarily agreeing with them?
4. How should the community of faith, respond to this situation in Nigeria?
5. How do you as a Christian think that Jesus would respond?
Please share with us your perspectives on this very pressing issue.
Grace and peace,
Dr. Juan A. Ayala-Carmona
1. I am appalled that you state "alleged criminal activity". Try saying that to those parents who must go to bed each night without knowing I'd their daughter is okay.
ReplyDelete2. We do not take what the western world states as all truth. HOWEVER, once again ask those parents were are their girls.
3. I cannot and NEVER will "appreciate" anyone's position who takes children as shields toward their cause.
4. The community of faith needs to unite worldwide against this atrocity,joining in voices with one accord to "let our daughters go".
5. Jesus would say " it would have been better to have tied a noose around a stone and your neck and throw yourself into the ocean than to have messed with innocent children.
When it comes to children, there should be zero tolerance.
Good morning Ruth:
DeleteThank you for your response on Boko Haram. Please allow me to respond to your input by saying the following:
1. You say that you are "appalled" when I refer to this incident as "alleged criminal activity." I used the term "alleged" because as I'm sure you noticed in the questions I posed, I alluded to our impressions of Boko Haram and this incident as being based on what the Western press chooses to tell us. You say that I should try saying that to the parents of those young girls. It is very true that the parents are basically concerned with the return of their children and not with all this other political "razzle dazzle" about the truths or untruths of what the Western press tells us. Nevertheless, it is an issue that we in the West have to deal with if we are to make a realistic evaluation of this crisis. For instance, the victims of the 9/11/2001 tragedy at the Twin Towers are not interested (nor should they necessarily be) about whether or not our nation sowed the seeds of hatred and desire for retaliation on the part of the perpetrators. Nevertheless, it is important to raise that question if we are to have an appropriate response.
2. I am glad to see that you admit that we cannot take everything that the Western press feeds to us as "gospel truth." I acknowledge the validity of your point that the question of the parents are "Where are our daughters?"
3. When I used the word "appreciate," I did not mean applaud or approve of these actions on the part of Boko Haram, but rather understand their position in the light of their demands for the release of their political prisoners, who they believe were incarcerated for their religious beliefs. I will concede that from a Western standpoint, that Boko Haram and their incarcerated comrades practice a radical form of Islam, and not Islam itself. While we may disagree with their expression of the Islamic faith, and even consider it distorted and warped, the fact remains that they consider themselves to be struggling for their religious freedom, albeit as fanatical as it may be.
4. You say that the community of faith needs to unite worldwide against this atrocity, joining voices with one accord to "let our daughters go." Your point is very valid in a restricted sense. When we consider the community of faith on a more global scale, we have to deal with additional issues of injustice, imperialism, value systems, ethics, etc. We may consider these issues as "sidebars," and even irrelevant to what we consider the major issue (let our daughters go). But once again, our perspectives are based not only on what the Western press feeds us, but also on our being detached from the situation and our failure to understand it from the standpoint of those entrenched in what they consider the struggle for justice, especially from a religious standpoint. If oppressed communities respond in ways that we do not deem "appropriate," it raises the question as to whether the oppressors are in a position to determine what is or isn't the "appropriate response." One of course, may argue that the members of Boko Haram are oppressors themselves.
5. Your comment on what you think Jesus would have said merits discussion. By this I mean that we have to ask if in your quoting of what Jesus said about the children reflected a "quick to verse" approach on your part, and also, if what Jesus was talking about in this passage, is relevant to our this discussion. Are you quoting what Jesus said without examining the context? Are you making a qualitative leap from the meaning of what Jesus said in one context and giving it a totally different meaning in another context? Are you decontextualizing and then recontextualizing?
Thank you for your contribution and insight. Your response is "food for thought" and very valuable.
Juan