A longtime expatriate resident of Jos posted this on her blog. I could not have said it better myself. I am, however, cautious to accept the truth of the massacre in Kuru Karama; Muslim numbers and victimization are sometimes inflated and manipulated. However I have seen with my own eyes destruction wrought in vengeance by those who call themselves Christian, so the message is relevant in any case.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2010
To those who preach hatred in God's name:
I read this passage this morning:
""God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In
this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have
confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like
him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear,
because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made
perfect in love.
We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, 'I love God,' yet
hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his
brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And
he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his
brother."
I John 4:16-21
This afternoon, I read of the details of the massacre of Hausa Muslims
in the village of Kuru Jantar on Al-Jazeera, which I had heard hints
of earlier posted on Naijablog on January 19: first a plea for help
and then an exhausted report of a massacre.
"Reports on Saturday said that about 150 bodies had been recovered
from wells in Kuru Jantar, near the city of Jos, where clashes began
last week before spreading to nearby villages.
Locals in Kuru Jantar, also known as Kuru Karama, told Andrew Simmons,
Al Jazeera's Africa editor, that a massacre had taken place in the
village.
They said armed men had surrounded and attacked the village on Tuesday.
Al Jazeera saw the bodies recovered from wells, as well as the burnt
bodies of children recovered from ransacked houses.
Up to 18,000 people in the area are thought to have been left homeless
by the clashes in Nigeria's Plateau State."
Witnesses seem to indicate it was some sort of outside attack, saying
the "village was surrounded." Whether that is true or not, there
definitely seem to be politics behind this. (For more information on
the indigin/settler politics that seems to be the root of the recent
sectarian violence in Plateau State read these documents: a recently
published article by shari'a-in-Nigeria scholar Philip Ostien on the
events leading up the the 2008 crisis"Jonah Jang and the Jasawa"; a
Human Rights Watch report on the politics of "Settler/indigene" in
Nigeria, with a section on Plateau State, and the Human Rights Watch
report on the Military abuses during the 2008 crisis, which have no
doubt been continued during this crisis.
I've had a few friends recently be vocally critical of "religious"
people who do not speak out loudly against those who commit evil in
the name of religion. Let this be my response:
To those who kill and loot and politic and conspire and corrupt youth
in God's name, may He judge you with the same fire you used to burn
the houses and bodies of innocent people. To those who preach hatred
and prejudice and violence in God's name, listen to the words of
Jesus, who is venerated in both Christianity and Islam:
"Jesus said to his disciples: 'things that cause people to sin are
bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. It would
be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied
around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.
So watch yourselves.
'If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If
he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times come back to
you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him." Luke 17:1-4
"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing,
but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By your fruit you will
recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from
thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree
bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit and a bad tree
cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is
cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will
recognize them.
Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of
heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in
your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many
miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from
me, you evildoers!'" Matthew 7:15-23
And when the men came forward to arrest Jesus and one of Jesus's
disciples cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest,"Put your
sword back in its place," Jesus said to him, "for all who draw the
sword will die by the sword." Matthew 26:52
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You
shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not
enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying.
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites, You
travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes
one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.
[...]
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You
give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cummin. But you have
neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and
faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting
the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a
camel.
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You
clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of
greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of
the cup and dish, and then the outside will be clean.
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are
like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the
inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the
same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the
inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypcrites! You
build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous.
And you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would
not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.;
So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of
those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of the sin
of your forefathers!
You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned
to hell? Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and
teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog
in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. And so upon you will
come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the
blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah,
whom you murdered between the temple and the alter. I tell you the
truth, all this will come upon this generation.
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent
to you, how often i have longed to gather your children together, as a
hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.
Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not
see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of
the Lord.'"
Matthew 23:13-39
"This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved
darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who
does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear
that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes
into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done
has been done through God." John 3:19
For those who excuse attacks on those who are of a different religion
or ethnicity because you think if you don't strike first, they will
persecute you:
"Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, 'Lord, how many times shall I
forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?'
"Jesus answered, 'I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven
times." Matthew 18:18
"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.'
But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you
on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants
to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloack as well. If
someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the
one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to
borrow from you."
You have heard it that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your
enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who
persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in Heaven." Matthew
5:38-45
"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who
hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If
someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give
to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do
not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you."
Luke 6:27
"A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.
It is enough for the student to be like his teacher and the servant
like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebub,
how much more the members of his household!
So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that will not
be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you
in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear,
proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body
but cannot kill the soul. Rather be afraid of the One who can destroy
both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a
penny[assarion]? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart
from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are
all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many
sparrows" Matthew 10:24-31
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so
you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my
disciples, if you love one another." John 13: 34
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as
the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be
afraid" John 14:27
Posted by Talatu-Carmen at 1/23/2010
