Spirituality of Activism: The Path of Morality, Justice, and Peace

In a world that begs of attention to injustice, affliction, and suffering, one has to wonder about the role of the humanity collective in alleviating those conditions. Aside from a limited number of natural disasters and certain health conditions, the history of the human species is rampant with manmade afflictions. Violence on different levels, spiritual hunger, emotional need, obsession with anger and vengeance, punitive approaches to non-conformity, disrespect for the environment and its inhabitants, and the need to emphasize our differences and, therefore, superiority, contribute directly to such afflictions.

Many engage in soul-searching exploration to answer the question. Along the way, some become disenchanted and resign themselves to the belief that nothing will change. They feel that their efforts will not impact the larger part of human suffering. Some will take the violent approach to avenge wrongdoing and to correct an injustice. Some will engage in charitable and community work to help those less fortunate. They will do it out of personal, religious, or spiritual conviction. Others yet will choose to remain completely passive and withdraw into the solitude of their inner selves to pray and contemplate believing that the best way to help humanity is by detaching from the negativity that plagues our political, social, and spiritual existence.

Is there really one true approach to help and is it worth the effort?

Everything anyone does is worth the effort, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem. What may appear important to one person may not be important to another. Sometimes difficult choices need to be made. The usual moral questions come up: In a life and death situation where only a few can be helped, what criteria should be used to determine who is helped first? How is human worth measured? Is it based on gender, age, mental status, social status, criminal behavior, etc.? Some may remember the agonizing decision one Australian mother had to make during the 2004 Southeast Asia tsunami. She could only hold on to one of her two boys because she knew that trying to hold on to both would mean losing both of them. She made a conscious decision to let go of the older one.

Whatever the outcome of that mother’s decision, her decision was made from a deeply visceral, existential, and spiritual perspective. Luckily, most of us do not have to engage in such agonizing choices, but many people around the world do on a regular basis. It is from this perspective that spirituality and activism will be addressed.

Activism is meaningless without the effort. Spirituality and activism are not “comfortable” acts to be exercised in our spare time and away from the concerns of the world. Western spirituality sometimes lacks a grasp of the human condition and its relationship to the divine. If humans are a reflection of that which is divine, it follows that whatever manifests in our reality is part of the divine, including violence and negativity. The divine is neither male nor female; it is neither good nor bad. It just is. At the same time, injustices can be committed due to inaction. Witnessing violence and abuse and not intervening to try stopping them is morally reprehensible. Most prophets and spiritual leaders encourage active participation to alleviate suffering and wrongdoing. Ghandi encouraged people to be the change they would like to see happen. Islam is specific about social justice and the role of the Muslim community: those who witness injustice should do everything within their power to stop it. If they cannot, they should speak out against it. If they are unable to speak out against it, they should abhor it in their hearts. Jesus preached and practiced compassion and charity, acts only accomplished with political and social activism in all spheres of life.

Spirituality and morality become empty in the absence of mindful physical, mental, and verbal efforts. Praying can be part of activism but, alone, it is not good enough and only satisfies the egos of those engaged in it and creates a class of “spiritual” seekers who set themselves apart from the rest of humanity to become elitists.

Spirituality is an ever-evolving way of being. It is a process designed to cause change for the better. It is most effective when practiced within the whole framework of our existence. It permeates every aspect of our lives, from the most mundane to the most sublime. It is practiced by pacifists and killers and by criminals and saints. It is evident in the way we talk to and treat our children, spouses, friends, and enemies. It is used consciously every minute of the day. Spirituality and activism are mutually inclusive. Both are a learning process in humanity’s effort to get close to balance and harmony, to the ideal. They are based in action intended for the benefit of all.

The best spiritual teachers and activists are those who set an example by their thoughts, words, and deeds, not just their faith, prayer, and meditation. Thinking and meditating about love are meaningless if that love is not expressed in action towards others. People “feel” love when love is expressed openly and honestly and when given respectfully.

God is Beautiful and Loves Beauty

Words uttered by the Prophet Muhammad: "God is Beautiful and Loves Beauty."

An Islamic Hadith also states: "God Likes that when you do anything, you do it excellently."

Islamic art certainly manifests such aspirations. The simplicity of its intricacy, the divine sensuality of its curves, its capacity to stretch the soul and mind towards that which is loving and perfect--all create a refuge in the struggles of life, for life is a melding of opposites: of the human and the divine, of the sacred and the profane.

Fifth Anniversary of the Iraq Invasion

March 19th marks the fifth anniversary of the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Since then, an estimated 1.2 million Iraqis, 4,000 U.S. soldiers, hundreds of contractors and foreign workers, and many more civilians across the Middle East have died because of the "War on Terror."

War remembrances are usually occasions where we reflect on our decisions as individuals and as a nation and where we weigh the positive and negative consequences of those decisions. Whatever we come up with, it has to come from the perspective of the people affected by war.

Individual and collective acts of violence create their own life force and the cycle of violence and counter-violence continues across generations. In order to break the cycle, two things have to happen: (1) complete cessation of killing and occupation and (2) the public acknowledgment of injustices where the victims openly confront the victimizers. But it is also a process which involves the public declaration of the victimizer of their crime and their promise to make amends to the victims and their families. Such approaches have helped in the healing of fractured societies in Rwanda and other areas of Africa.

War is a military and male dominated violent act. Victims are civilians and include children and women. 90% of all victims of modern warfare are civilian. They usually have little say in the decisions that impact their well-being. By continuing to advocate on their behalf, we are sending a clear message that war is never an option because war is an assault on innocent people. It is not a strategy to eradicate terrorism or to capture a handful of warlords.

Thousands of American soldiers are returning home with physical and psychological imbalances due to their war experiences. Their ailments are exacerbated when they come home because of the disconnect between their war experiences and the environment at home. They lack an appropriate framework of reference from which to make American civilians understand the real issues facing them. In addition to their physical and psychological difficulties, they face economic hardship, a country and a veteran administration system bogged down by a bureaucracy that demands constant vigilance on the part of veterans who neither have the will nor the energy to wade through the countless rules and regulations that grant them their benefits. They have to battle disinterested or frustrated employees who are anxious to get the day over with as long as the paperwork is in order. National guardsmen and women have to battle unsympathetic employers and sometimes travel two or three hours just to get to a VA physician. That is a very disrespectful way to treat those who were on the verge of paying the ultimate sacrifice while the rest of us continued to carry on with our lives.

Health statistics have shown a sharp rise in survivable spinal cord injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder cases. Due to advances in medicine and the availability of hospitals close to the combat areas, soldiers and civilians are surviving wounds that traditionally have taken the lives of their predecessors. While that is a good thing on the outset, the numbers of individuals with severe and permanent disabilities are rising. When you walk around any town or city in the United States, look closely and see how many limbless or wheelchair-bound veterans you can pick out. That is not including those who are in comas, bed-bound, in mental institutions, and in prison.

Studies conducted by the VA have shown that those affected by PTSD the most are those who have killed in battle. Believe it or not, that is a good sign. It shows that those who have had to kill do have a conscience. It is the struggle between the part of the soldier that committed the act and the moral side of the individual that creates this fractured personality and pushes a soldier into dissociation. It is not normal to kill another human being. Killing once is bad enough. Doing it over and over is blasphemy and destroys the soul. People who have no conscience (psychopaths) usually do not engage in that internal struggle because their capacity for empathy is minimal or non-existent. They do not "feel" for their victims. The "James Bond" type psychopath we so much admire in the movies is very detrimental to society.

Hopedance magazine, in its current issue, hopedance.org, has a couple of good articles about veterans and some of the positive gains made in trying to heal the fractured bodies and souls. Collective healing needs to take place since the agonies of the returning soldiers are seeping into the society through their families, friends, and communities. The lessons of the Vietnam veterans should keep us focused on the importance of those who are struggling, in a humane manner. They should never be discarded because they have outlived their purpose.

The military model is counter-human. It can destroy and win territory. It can defeat strong and weak alike. It can never win the minds or the bodies of people.