Who Is The Enemy?
Margaret A. Hart
February 26, 2006
First Universalist Society of Central Square

Since the tragic events of September 11, 2001, there has been much focus on terrorism and on the on-going struggle to defeat “the enemy”. But who is “the enemy”? And are our strategies and tactics those which are necessary for the eventual defeat of “the enemy”, whoever that might be? I do not intend this to be a political sermon, but perhaps it will be seen as such by some. If so, I apologize in advance, and encourage you to take from it whatever will be most helpful to your own lives.
I had a communication recently from the InterReligious Council of Central New York. In conjunction with the Syracuse Peace Council and the Central New York chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, they have formed the Central New York Bill of Rights Campaign, (BORDC), which has organized an annual Muslim Solidarity Day on February 26th. They expain:
This is the anniversary of the day in 2003 when federal and local law enforcement agents aggressively interrogated 150 Muslim and Arab families in Central New York during the course of an investigation into a local charity. The agents were intimidating, intrusive, and insensitive, as if every Muslim family was under suspicion. This local experience was especially frightening, but is part of a larger experience of people who are often viewed as potential enemies since 9/11/01.
The message I received from the Bill of Rights Defense Campaign invited houses of worship in Central New York to participate in marking this anniversary, and to speak out in solidarity with people of the Muslim faith. I felt that our church would want to participate, and consulted with Janie, our Board President, and she agreed. I put copies of a variety of handouts from the Bill of Rights Defense Campaign near the bulletins this morning- please be sure you received at least one of them; they will also be available in the entryway after the service. The handouts contain stories of the prejudice and hate to which Muslims in America have been subjected since September 11, 2001. At the top of each of the handouts it says “Islam is not our enemy”. While I am in agreement with this statement, seeing it got me to thinking: who is the enemy?
When I read the various materials on the persecution of Muslim and Arab people, I was troubled by the way in which suspicion of people which is based purely on racial, ethnic, or religious stereotypes, can lead to mistreatment and even torture. We might hope that we would have learned the lessons of Civil Rights from our experiences of the tensions between whites and blacks over the years. But the struggle is on-going in lots of different ways... racially, ethnically, nationally, religiously.... in whatever ways people identify themselves with different groups. And prejudice, identification with differences, becomes oppression when it is coupled with power.
Sometimes oppression comes from people who are very close to us. I recall seeing a movie called “Sleeping with the Enemy”, in which Julia Roberts played a woman who became abused by her husband shortly after their marriage. Domestic violence is one of the more insidious and powerful forms of oppression... one of the most difficult to deal with, as often there have previously been close relationships of trust and affection between the abused and the abuser. But there is a discrepancy in power which gets played out, and it is truly a form of oppression. My understanding is that police officers find that cases of domestic violence are some of the most volatile and difficult to deal with.
It is obvious that those who are oppressed are hurt in many different ways. Injury may come in the concrete forms of poorer living conditions, poorer opportunities for education, employment, health care, and so on. It may come in the form of hopelessness, anger, fear, depression and any of a variety of feelings associated with the lack of power, opportunity, and justice. It may take the form of a lack of voice... not being heard or considered in decisions which affect one’s life, and the lives of those one loves....
Oppression not only hurts those who are persecuted. It also hurts those who surround it, even those who are silent witnesses. In a case of domestic abuse, it may be children. In a case of ethnic, religious, or other oppression, it can be any of us who see it and let it happen, as it tears the fabric of our society. Oppression can also create enemies out of those who were previously friends, thus literally hurting the persecutors. This hurt can also take more subtle forms, those of guilt and fear- the need to always watch one’s back for the injury which has been invited; the fear of losing that which has been unjustly taken from others.... even when taken unknowingly, blindly, generations ago... whether through ancestral ownership of slaves, occupation of land which belonged to Native peoples, or other forms of so-called “white privilege”.
In my own experience, it takes a really generous person, or community, to forgive persecution. I recently saw a movie in which two sisters had been really good friends growing up, but they were quite different from each other. The younger sister seemed quite irresponsible in contrast to her elder sister; she slept around, including with her elder sister’s boyfriend. At one point the younger sister said to her older sister: “I don’t expect you to forgive me, but I want you to know I am sorry.” This was a turning point in the movie, and opened up space for the relationship to grow and blossom. I suggest that each of us can think about how we may have hurt others, express our sorrow, and ask for their forgiveness, without expectation. This can open up new possibilites for us internally, as well as in relationship to others.
I am also reminded of the Sikh community in Palermo, not far from here, whose temple was burned by teenagers after September 11. The teens somehow translated Gobind Sadan to mean Go bin Laden, and thought that the Sikhs who worshipped there and wore turbans were the enemy. But the Sikhs, who worship in peace and love, extended forgiveness to the teens, and embraced the larger community as they sought to rebuild their temple. I am glad that our church has been supportive of the Sikh community; we continually need to build bridges of understanding across the valleys of difference which seem to separate us.
After September 11, 2001, there was a moment in which there seemed to be a coming together of people. People at the sites of the tragedies were supportive of each other, and first responders were heroic in their efforts to save and protect. In many countries around the world there was a tenderness for Americans... a feeling that this tragedy could have happened in many different places... there but for the grace of God go I.... And then, something happened which put up walls of defensiveness and anger. There was finger pointing, the identification of an “Axis of Evil,” a new policy of pre-emptive strikes, and military attacks.
I can’t claim to understand exactly what happened, but I have tried to understand it from a personal point of view. Even though we may try to distance ourselves from it, it does affect us all. War is personal. Terrorism is personal. Torture is personal. The men, women, and children who die or are maimed, whatever their nationality, are people... they are somebody’s parents, children, siblings, loved ones....They are not anonymous numbers, but are great treasures. This has been brought home to me even more clearly as my son, who is now 16 years old, receives recruitment materials from the armed services. If he chose to serve at some point, or if he were drafted, and found himself in the position of killing or being killed, I feel like part of me would die an agonizing death. And yet, there are thousands of people who are in that position today. May our hearts and prayers go out to them.
The United States is considered to be a democracy, and when our government acts, it acts in our names.... we are responsible. George W. Bush is our President. Love him, or hate him, he is not the enemy. His administration may have done things we disagree with, but they are not the enemy. It is too easy to blame them. But we are Unitarian Universaists. We don’t settle for easy answers. Instead, we pay attention, try to understand, and speak out in support of love and justice.
Recently there has been a lot in the news about the cartoons which depicted the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), and the resulting riots in many countries to protest this depiction. A Muslim cleric put a bounty on the original cartoonist’s head (though by this point there have been multiple cartoonists). There has been much anger stirred up on all sides... Picturing the Prophet is seen as blasphemous and idolatrous in the tradition of Islam. And yet killing innocent people is also not condoned by Islamic tradition. Some people argue for the freedoms of speech and press. And yet, isn’t responsibility and respect part of the exercise of those freedoms? Contemplating the issue, I have tried to put myself in the place of a Muslim who might be offended by both the cartoons and by the rioters. I realize that the rioters don’t represent all Muslims, anymore than the Religious Right represents all Christians. People of faith, whatever their tradition, have a responsibility to reclaim their own traditions, and to speak out boldly, and honestly in support of love and justice. They also have a responsibility to listen to and respect voices which might be different from their own. It is only through open, honest, and fearless sharing that we can hope to come together in peace.
I remember years ago (maybe 30?) seeing a Pogo cartoon in which the scene was one of environmental disaster. The caption read: I have met the enemy, and it is us. Sometimes we think that there are natural disasters, and maybe there are- major floods, ice storms, hurricanes, and so on. But in many cases the effects of storms are made much worse by what humans have done to the environment. For example, Hurricane Katrina is thought to have had a more devastating effect on New Orleans because of the way the buffering wetlands had been compromised by human building. (This doesn’t even consider the human impact of planning for and implementing protection and evacuation of the devastated areas.) The recent mudslides which were so destructive in the Phillipines were probably made worse because so many trees had been cut, destroying the root systems which had previously held the soil in place. And then there is global warming, for which there is much scientific evidence which we ignore at our peril. Environmental concerns could be the subject of a whole service or more, but suffice it to point out here that we are responsible.... collectively and individually.
The great author Alexander Solzhenitsyn once wrote: The line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. When we embrace this awareness, we can no longer point a finger at someone else and call him or her the enemy. If Solzhenitsyn is right, and the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being, we return to our first Unitarian Universalist principle and covenant to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person. It is my belief, and my hope, that when we truly do this we will help to build a Beloved Community, a world with peace, liberty, and justice for all, with respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are just a part. May it be so.