Prayer. If you Google the definition, you’ll see something along the lines of “a solemn request for help or expression of thanks addressed to God or an object of worship.” As of late, “praying” has become something of an issue, mainly because of the recent rise in terrorist attacks abroad. By their definition, terrorist attacks leave us feeling helpless.
In their aftermath, people wonder what could drive someone to commit such a horrendous act, harming people for no known reason, a random atrocity that leaves only the broken in its wake. In order to cope with this feeling of hopelessness, people turn to their religion, often making solemn requests for help to a deity in order to make some sense of what happened. Praying for a deity to help someone in need is not necessarily a bad thing: the problem lies that instead of actually helping, people instead #PrayForParis or #PrayForBrussels.
And that’s where others take issue with the act, complaining that these people, instead of helping, are standing on the sidelines and acting as if there is nothing they can do. And in some ways, that complaint is completely justified. These people see praying as a sort of moral “cop-out:” these people are praying for the right thing to happen instead of taking an active role in helping those in need.
In some cases, that could be true. There is an old African proverb (and I heard this secondhand and am doing nothing to follow up on the veracity of the claim so don’t quote me) that goes something along the lines of “When you pray, move your feet.” In other words, praying is fine but don’t allow your act of praying to replace the act of actually acting to change the thing you are playing about.
As Ghandi would say, “If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him... we need not wait to see what others do.” (This is commonly misquoted as “Be the change you want to see in the world.” The internet is a wonderful thing.)
What this writer—and, by that, I mean me—takes issue with is the claim that we should not pray because these terrorist attacks are conducted by religious zealots. Some claim that they don’t “need any more religion” because events like these are the fault of that religion. And to that I say: no. To say that Islam is responsible for the acts of ISIS (henceforth to be known as the “Daesh”) is the equivalent of holding Christianity accountable for the beliefs and actions of the Ku Klux Klan. Islam did not create these people.
What created these individuals is a frustrating series of circumstances and a fear that progress will obliterate their way of life. They are afraid of change. And that fear transforms into anger, hell, it is transformed into rage at the people that they see as responsible—those western cultures that, for the longest time, treated them as uncivilized and tried to change them instead of trying to understand them. This coupled with the various injustices performed by puppet governments set up by the United States in order to stop the spread of communism.
Yes, good old Uncle Sam set up and supported tyrants who oppressed people to the point where they believe that extreme violence in the name of a religion that would in no way actually support such actions.
There is nothing wrong with sending your prayers to the people of Paris, Brussels, Kandahar, Baghdad, or wherever there is terror being sowed in the world. But don’t let that be the extent of your actions. Donate to the Red Cross or other organizations that are working to get the victims of these attacks the help that they need. Don’t boil this down to something as simple as “Ew, religions are evil,” because that sort of intolerance and unacceptance is what brought us here in the first place.
Instead, work to create a dialogue. Work to make a change for the better. This ending might feel all sorts of “kumbaya, holding-hands-around-the-campfire” kind of thing but damnit, let me have some hope in/for the world. The Daesh have never been doing things in the name of any religion.
They are selfish and uncouth, people taking advantage of those who feel they have no other option. So don’t blame the many for the actions of the few. Hold those accountable accountable. And when you pray, Goddamnit, move your feet.
