Silence of the good people

"The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people."- M.L. King

As I look around me- in media, in conversations- violence is the leading topic. The only thing that defeats violence in this crazy world is ignorance and human stupidity tempered by greed. My Facebook feed pains me- so many of otherwise sensible people being absolutely blinded by biases. Who in their right mind can say what is going on in Gaza is NOT Israel offence, heavily targeting the civilians at the pretext of it fighting Hamas? While I understand that the conflict for the said piece of land is complicated with thousands of years of history, human movement, settlements and power play- I cannot close my eyes to the heavy casualty suffered by Palestinian children, women and other innocent civilians. It surprises me that a group of people who themselves suffered in the hand of Nazis in recent history, could be the perpetrators of such cold blooded murders. 

I also see a set of so called Hindu nationalists supporting Israel with the argument that Muslims do/have done such atrocities and terrorism elsewhere that the Muslims in Palestine does not deserve mercy, since they are reaping what their brethren sowed. It amazes me that people can be so blinded by hatred. It breaks my heart that we value life so little. Why are we not living for our faiths, instead of killing and dying for it? What kind of God will reside in the temple of Zion built on the bones and blood of innocent children? Would the merciful God have no mercy to his other children who are also built in His image?

The abduction of Kenyan girls, the ruthless killing by ISIS, the shooting down of Malaysian airlines 17 killing about 80 children and 100 AIDS workers, the brutal bombing of civilian areas by Israel, the conflicts in Indo- Pak border, in Sri Lanka, in Egypt, in Thailand, occupation of Tibet by China- numerous examples of current situations that cannot be neglected by the rest of the world. We cannot be complicit.  If each of us do something, say something, our leaders cannot be quiet either. We chose them to represent our will, our needs and our voice. The blind support of U.S.A to Israel makes each American almost as responsible as an Israeli for the blood of innocent civilians- toddlers, children and teenagers who never got a fair chance to happiness or even life. When we have the internet and access to various sources for information- we cannot hide behind the curtain of ignorance brought by the sold-out American mainstream media.  I write this blog for myself- perhaps nobody else will read it- but I cannot die being a silent spectator to such heinous crimes.

One thing I have learnt- every doctrine, every ideology that proclaims itself as the sole path, as the only way is fundamentally questionable. By its very own basis, it will condemn the rest of the world to be of less value, cultivate feelings of supremacy and decide to lord over the non believers, diminishing their worth as fellow humans.  To say one's path is the best path is a better option, as it acknowledges other paths as alternate options, albeit of lesser excellence. Perhaps the ideal situation will be if we respected each one's path as their own journey to their destiny, their faith, their God and we cleaned our hearts and habits for a higher purpose.  If only we focused on the teachings of the Scriptures that instill in us values such as love, forgiveness, mercy, kindness, humility, gratitude, knowledge and all embracing compassion- we would have a world where each of us are indeed made in likeness of God and there will be heaven on earth.