We recently received notice from Oak Park Temple about a fall gathering with the local Muslim community to be held at Pilgrim Congregational Church. It sounded like a wonderful evening, inclusive of our diverse community.
On the same day we learned of this upcoming event, we learned that Israel was being bombed. Fifty people were reported killed in the initial incursion, which we know is only the beginning of a disastrous slaughter of victims of hate.
We are yet again horrified by the power hate has to engender such tragedy. There has been an uneasy peace between Israel and the Palestinians for 50 years, often interrupted by smaller, but also lethal skirmishes.
Both parties shoulder blame for this friction.
Instead of cooperating with each other as neighbors, resentment, jealousy, greed, and power-mongering contagiously foment into hateful interactions.
Like a disease, hate infects. Violent rhetoric is a pathogen through which whole groups of people become infected. Hateful words all too easily mutate into vicious actions by individuals and then to groups of people. This contagious virus can further spread from communities to cities and countries, putting all of humanity at risk.
You may think framing hate as a disease is an exaggeration. However, even at a distance from direct hate, we also get sick, evidenced by the pain we feel and tears flowing for lives lost, now and over the years. We are deeply concerned about children everywhere, and selfishly for our own grandchildren. What will their future be? Will hate and power-mongering always be so rampant?
For the most part, our Oak Park and River Forest communities celebrate diversity and the integral role it plays in a thriving democracy. How do we transfer this mindset/heartset to the larger scale of communities around the world? Is there anything we can do to foster respect between human beings?
Our hope and prayer for the world are that we focus more on our similarities and less on our differences. Is it too pollyannish to ask that we accept, and hopefully even love, one another?
Harriet’s daughter, Barbara, contributed to this column.
