REFLECTION
SOMEONE LIKE ME by Lieut-Colonel Eirwen Pallant
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RECENTLY had the joy of sharing in the commissioning of the Messengers of Light Session in USA Eastern Territory and the retirement of Commissioners Barry and Sue Swanson celebrating their years of faithful service. As happens at big Army events, it was great to watch old friends meeting up and new friendships being born. Even though I am a UK officer, I immediately felt at home and part of the family because we are ‘One Army’. I had the same feeling a few years ago stepping off a plane in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, and being heralded by shouts of ‘Hallelujah!’ and being given the Army salute by Salvationists working at the airport. They recognised the Army uniform and immediately identified ‘one of us’. And yet I write this article from a place of grief. Early on the Sunday morning of that commissioning, an attack in a nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killed 49 people and injured more than 50 others. It was the worst shooting incident in American history. The attacker claimed to be acting in the name of Islam and so committed a grievous injury to not one but two minority, and often alienated, communities – Muslims and LGBTIQ. The wound to the LGBTIQ community is obvious and raw. Driven by hate, a gunman murdered and wounded their loved ones. More subtle, but similarly wounding to the Muslim community, is the claim that he was acting in the name of Islam. The cry that Muslims abhor what has been done and it was ‘not in my name’ is hardly heard in the uproar. As a Christian, I also want to shout to the world that those in the Church who claim this was a ‘judgment from God’ do not represent me or the God I know. Experiences of the past few weeks 10
Salvationist 2 July 2016
have prompted me to write this article. First, I had the privilege of representing The Salvation Army at the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, Turkey. The faith communities had a strong presence at the summit. People are inspired by faith to serve suffering humanity without discrimination. Many nations were represented and a young British woman came up to me and asked: ‘Excuse me, are you from the UK? I heard your accent.’ ‘Yes,’ I replied, ‘and hearing you, I guess you are too.’ We immediately connected. She grew up in Ireland; I grew up in Wales. She was born in Iraq; I was born in India. She is working, inspired by faith to serve others, in a small town in Turkey just over the border from Syria looking after refugees who have been forced from their homes by violence; I am also working in a foreign land inspired by faith to serve others. We both seek to serve without discrimination. The colour, race, creed or sexual orientation of people does not matter to us – we both simply see people in need. Here was ‘someone like me’. It was not instantly obvious. We looked different. My extremely fair skin goes along with red hair and blue eyes and I was wearing my working uniform of
navy trousers and Salvation Army blouse. Her dark skin was accompanied by beautiful dark brown eyes and she was wearing a colourful salwar kameez and a headscarf. I’m a Christian, she is a Muslim. But we share similar values and are inspired by a similar vision of a better world where all people are treated with respect, dignity and – dare I say it? – love. We both offer our faith as a gift, not to be forced on others but as something that adds to life. Yes, we differ in how we see that faith and each of us believes that ours is true but that does not mean that I see her as ‘other’. She is very much ‘someone like me’. The second experience came watching the funeral of Muhammad Ali. Brought up in a Christian home, he returned from the Olympics a gold medal winner for the USA. He thought he could now go anywhere he liked in his hometown but was told he could not eat in a local diner because he was not white. Cassius Clay converted to Islam at the age of 22 and changed his name. He wanted nothing to do with a society
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We share similar values and are inspired by a similar vision of a better world where all people are treated with respect, dignity and – dare I say it? – love of churchgoing people who excluded him. At his funeral, people of many races and more than one religion gathered to celebrate his life. A Jewish friend told the story of Ali inviting him to play golf at his club. When Ali learnt that this was not possible because Jews were not allowed in the club, even as guests of members, he immediately resigned his membership and never went there again. Sadly, racial tension is still evident in many parts of the USA. Only a year ago a white supremacist entered a church in Charleston, South Carolina, and opened fire on the black congregation, indiscriminately killing men, women and children. The third experience was when I
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attended an all-day meeting at the UN devoted to addressing the issue of Children And Youth Affected By Extremism. The roots of extremism are multiple and complex, but the evidence shows that alienation often plays a key role. The call of the presenters was: ‘Let’s stop pointing fingers and let’s start protecting our youth.’ Constant exposure to violence, hate speech, inequality and rejection is a nurturing ground for extremism. Research has shown that before any co-ordinated violence against a specific group occurs, there is an increase of hate speech. For example, there were sharp increases in hate speech before the Holocaust and, years later, the Rwandan genocide.
Hate speech is therefore closely monitored. Sadly, at present, the amount of hate speech around the world, particularly in Europe and the USA, is increasing. This will not be a surprise to anyone who follows the media. It cannot be ignored, nor excused and needs to be challenged for this shapes minds, especially those of the young. I link all these stories and experiences together because they all involve the recognition that other people are ‘someone like me’. When we see another person as ‘other’, someone different to ourselves, it can lead us to treat them differently, often without considering what we are doing. We may ignore them, exclude them from our social groups, feel threatened by their difference and fear them, try to change them, blame them as the cause of our misfortunes or judge them as unworthy. Prejudice and discrimination are at the root of inequality and injustice. Unfortunately, the Church has acquired a reputation for acting in all these ways, sometimes a reputation that has been well earned. Yet one of the central pillars of our Christian faith is that all people are made in the image of God, and as such are of equal value and equally loved by God. When Jesus told the story of the good Samaritan he deliberately chose the ‘other’ as the person who ministered grace and compassion. The Samaritans had a corrupted faith and were excluded by the Jews, but Jesus presented him as a person to be praised and blessed. My prayer for myself and my church is that we may recognise the ‘someone like me’ in every person. Let us not view anyone as ‘other’, different or alien. It is easier to love your neighbour as yourself when you see them as ‘someone like me’. When we do, the image of God will shine more brightly in us, revealing the true God who is gracious, loving, merciful and welcoming to everyone.
LIEUT-COLONEL PALLANT IS DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL JUSTICE COMMISSION (IHQ) Salvationist 2 July 2016
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