Editorial: Reaffirm the Bonds Between Different Faiths

July 10, 2003

Source: The Journal

http://www.dcmilitary.com/navy/journal/8_27/commentary/24079-1.html

On July 10, 2003 The Journal published an editorial by Imam Yahya Hendi stating that "'we fear what we do not know.' This statement is attributed to Ali bin Abi Talib, the fourth caliph of Islam... Unfortunately, after 1,400 years, it still applies in far too many places. Even though modern technology and communication means contacts between the inhabitants of the world have never been so close as they are today, ancient suspicions still live on... This ignorance is also threatening religious ethnic minorities in many places by extremist groups and by politicians who use religion and ideologies for their own selfish purposes, all of which lead us to anxiety and wars. Even when wars end, people have the tendency to create new enemies to replace the former enemy as if life cannot go on without wars... In the midst of this unrest, God calls on us to reaffirm the bond between all people of different faiths, nationalities, and ethnicities across the globe. We need to recapture a spiritual sense of history to overcome narrow-minded concepts of us vs. them. This could become the work of all those who yearn to peace and justice around the world."