This happened about about 2 weeks before the cowardly and senseless killing of 6 innocent people in Quebec City. I would like to share my story with your readers and add a few comments on Jim Merriam's editorial in Sun Times on February 8. (Hate speech work of cowards).
I fully agree with Mr. Merriam when he says " I am not an expert on Islam, but its practitioners whom I know are much like the worshipers of other faiths. They are dedicated, hard working, loyal, family oriented individuals who have no harm in their hearts , less alone in their minds." Mr. Merriam acknowledges the violence and intolerance in the religious books, and assures us that very few of the worshipers in the 21 century would commit or even approve hate crimes.
In support of his opinion:
We spent recently a two weeks vacation in the southern Cuba. Among the nicest people we met and spent a lot of time with, were Steve and Sophie, both Muslims, originally from Bosnia. We loved their friendliness, their spontaneity, their energy ,their ever present sense of humor. Talking about energy - Steve, at 84 was the only person in the whole resort who ran 8 kilometers before the breakfast . Not on the beach but 4 times up the hill and back. How many 24 years old could or would do it?
So here we were, in a perfect harmony as human beings- 2 Muslims, one Christian and one atheist. These differences honestly never entered my mind and I am sure the others felt the same. We never discussed religion. There were more important things to do. We are staying in contact and are planning to meet again.
It is sad that fundamentalist religions have created so much intolerance and hatred among normal people, fully capable of love and tolerance. Not only hatred among religions,but also hatred among the members of the same religion. While the wars between Catholics and Protestants are fortunately over, the terrible war mainly between Shiite and Sunni Muslims is still raging right now in Iraq and Syria - with major states of that region directly or indirectly involved.
And there is the promotion of hatred between men and women. We can read even in the Bible such grotesque statements as ' If you find your wife is not a virgin, she should be stoned to death'. Etc. Etc. Disturbing. Even as an atheist, I admit that I do not know for sure if there is an intelligence running the whole energy and complexities of the universe- or not . On a large scale, not concerned with individuals. Einstein formulated this in a similar way. But I can say with conviction that a "god" who would encourage the above murderous and sadistic behavior cannot exist. Most of humanity has learned not to take seriously the hateful staff written at the times when there was no science, no education, no freedom. Many, if not most, believers now take the best and not the worst out of their religious books. Which is positive. Believing in one god for all is also positive.
But even in today's more tolerant world, it would be naive to dismiss the dangers to all of us by the relatively small group of fanatic Muslim fundamentalists - and other intolerant extremists, such as the Quebec City killer. We simply cannot give up trying to convince humanity to use common sense and critical instead of following the hate propaganda based on unproven dogmas or stereotypes. It is not just about the "backward" ISIS etc - look at what a culturally and technologically very advanced country did just 78 years ago in the name of irrational hatred: attacked almost the whole world- from Norway to Greece, from Russia to USA - at the cost of some 50 million lives. Reason did not work - only brutal force finally prevailed. But also look at how much of the humanitarian aid the same,- now peaceful and democratic country - is providing! There must be a better future for Syria as well.
On a small scale, our diverse group of four have proven how easy is to enjoy together simple, positive and happy human values and activities common to all all of us- regardless of the religious or other labels. And we are far from being alone. I am impressed with the amount of support and understanding our Muslim community has received before and after after that tragic event.
Maks Zupan