Wandering Along the Path: Right Speech

Well, the black blanket may be gone, but I wonder if it forecast the terrible tragedy in New Zealand.  I have relatives there, though not in Christchurch, and since I married a Muslim in 1965, and though we are long divorced and he died decades ago, I keep connected with my Muslim relatives, especially the ones where I live, and I feel devastated for them.  When I married my first husband, no one blinked twice at his Muslim heritage, including my parents.  They never once spoke to me about it, and when they visited us in Fiji they also saw many of our family there, without prejudice or any mark of judgment.  But after 9/11 and other events, people have confused terrorists with ordinary Muslims from all nations, who have no agenda and no quarrel with others.  My Fiji relatives immigrated here to escape persecution there, and now, ironically, they are nervous here as well.  Because they are labeled with a cause they do not represent, and because they practice their religion.  When I married the first time, I loved the generosity of spirit and concern for the poor that Muslims practiced.  Some of their cultural customs were uncomfortable for me, but not their attention to kind behavior.  Their ban on drinking and other bad behavior was appealing to me.  I often joked I was a better Muslim than my husband.  And I've respected those who are religious ever since, whatever their faith.  And an overwhelming majority of Muslims do as well.  Terrorism is not religion.  Killing is not a precept of Islam.  These terrorists in New Zealand are violent, cruel anti-Muslims.  But they'd find a target in any time and place, in order to spread their hatred and nilism.