There was a story on the BBC news website this morning which shows both the worst and best of human nature. It was the story of the owner of a shop in Southport whose business was looted and almost destroyed by anti-immigrant rioters. From his home he watched the scene via the shop’s CCTV camera linked to his phone. He saw rioters hurling bricks at the windows, setting a bin alight near the shop’s entrance and emptying shelves of cigarettes and alcohol. He thought he had lost his business and his livelihood. But the story continues “The following morning Mr Balasuriya found a crowd of neighbours, some of whom he’d never spoken to, making repairs and clearing up broken glass. Support flooded in. The owner of a nearby beauty salon set up a crowdfunding campaign raising more than £11,000 towards repairs. A local builder replaced his windows for free. One of his suppliers turned up with a cabinet of ice cream. A few days later he re-opened the shop.
This unrest has taken place in several cities in England this last week after the stabbing of three young girls in Southport as they attended a summer holiday dance class. The stabbings rocked the nation but a report on social media suggested wrongly that the perpetrator was a Muslim and recent immigrant. Right wing groups responded and took to the streets, targeting mosques, refugee and asylum centres and denouncing immigration. The riots seem to spread like wildfire and police had to work hard to make sure they didn’t get out of hand. Some people interviewed on the news suggested it had all happened because people were so dissatisfied with the state of the nation but with or without dissatisfaction it was encouraged and orchestrated by right wing thugs with no concern for the grief of the family of the young girls who had been murdered. It was the kind of situation that can lead us to despair of the human race. But as can happen in these kinds of situations the good in people also comes out. The story of Mr Balasuriya is not the only heartening one. At one mosque which had been a focus for demonstrations, the imam and some members of the mosque committee waited until things had died down a bit before taking out and sharing food with the rioters, even inviting them into the mosque. And there have been many counterdemonstrations supporting refugees and immigrants, decrying racism as well as meetings of and statements from religious and community leaders stressing their commitment to social cohesion and harmony. I wonder if Michael Gove, the former Home Secretary, now doubts his wisdom in failing to give funding to the UK Interfaith Network which was so committed to good interfaith relations.
As an interfaith practitioner I know that there is a whole body of people open and welcoming to those who are different from them. They are aware of the wisdom and strength that can be gained from friendships across religious and ethnic boundaries and see the value in diversity. But interreligious dialogue and interfaith engagement is still a minority sport and it would seem that some people are more energised by the negative than by the positive. I remember once hearing someone say at an interfaith conference that there is enough religion in the world for hate and not enough for love. And yet all religions would claim that love, compassion, neighbourliness is core to their faith. All of them have some rendering of the Golden Rule to do to our neighbour as we would have them do to us. It’s a message that those who took part in the lootings are closed to. I don’t know if any of them had any kind of religious affiliation but know it is possible, just as I know that many of those taking part in counterdemonstrations will not necessarily have any religious affiliation. This is a moment when it is more important to be human than it is to be religious, and my belief is that a good religion is one that brings us more into touch with our humanity which includes the recognition that our humanity is a shared one and that all those who share it are our sisters and brothers. Can the love we have for one another overcome and drive out the fear and distrust we have of one another? There is an indigenous story when an elder tells the younger members of the community that there sits a good and bad eagle on each shoulder, often struggling with one another. In reply to a question as to which one will win the elder responded whichever one we feed. Again, religion at its best will help us do this but we won’t do it perfectly. We are on a journey, we are incomplete and imperfect, we are stumbling towards a future not our own. But we can try and witness that there are signs of this future and I certainly see that in the work of interfaith relations and engagement.
This unrest has taken place in several cities in England this last week after the stabbing of three young girls in Southport as they attended a summer holiday dance class. The stabbings rocked the nation but a report on social media suggested wrongly that the perpetrator was a Muslim and recent immigrant. Right wing groups responded and took to the streets, targeting mosques, refugee and asylum centres and denouncing immigration. The riots seem to spread like wildfire and police had to work hard to make sure they didn’t get out of hand. Some people interviewed on the news suggested it had all happened because people were so dissatisfied with the state of the nation but with or without dissatisfaction it was encouraged and orchestrated by right wing thugs with no concern for the grief of the family of the young girls who had been murdered. It was the kind of situation that can lead us to despair of the human race. But as can happen in these kinds of situations the good in people also comes out. The story of Mr Balasuriya is not the only heartening one. At one mosque which had been a focus for demonstrations, the imam and some members of the mosque committee waited until things had died down a bit before taking out and sharing food with the rioters, even inviting them into the mosque. And there have been many counterdemonstrations supporting refugees and immigrants, decrying racism as well as meetings of and statements from religious and community leaders stressing their commitment to social cohesion and harmony. I wonder if Michael Gove, the former Home Secretary, now doubts his wisdom in failing to give funding to the UK Interfaith Network which was so committed to good interfaith relations.
As an interfaith practitioner I know that there is a whole body of people open and welcoming to those who are different from them. They are aware of the wisdom and strength that can be gained from friendships across religious and ethnic boundaries and see the value in diversity. But interreligious dialogue and interfaith engagement is still a minority sport and it would seem that some people are more energised by the negative than by the positive. I remember once hearing someone say at an interfaith conference that there is enough religion in the world for hate and not enough for love. And yet all religions would claim that love, compassion, neighbourliness is core to their faith. All of them have some rendering of the Golden Rule to do to our neighbour as we would have them do to us. It’s a message that those who took part in the lootings are closed to. I don’t know if any of them had any kind of religious affiliation but know it is possible, just as I know that many of those taking part in counterdemonstrations will not necessarily have any religious affiliation. This is a moment when it is more important to be human than it is to be religious, and my belief is that a good religion is one that brings us more into touch with our humanity which includes the recognition that our humanity is a shared one and that all those who share it are our sisters and brothers. Can the love we have for one another overcome and drive out the fear and distrust we have of one another? There is an indigenous story when an elder tells the younger members of the community that there sits a good and bad eagle on each shoulder, often struggling with one another. In reply to a question as to which one will win the elder responded whichever one we feed. Again, religion at its best will help us do this but we won’t do it perfectly. We are on a journey, we are incomplete and imperfect, we are stumbling towards a future not our own. But we can try and witness that there are signs of this future and I certainly see that in the work of interfaith relations and engagement.
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