It’s been almost 25 days since armed extremists took 276 schoolgirls from their dormitory at the Chibok State School in Nigeria. The kidnappers were the bloody terrorist organization Boko Haram that shamelessly uses the name of the peaceful religion of Islam. Since then there have been some futile attempts to locate the girls, but the girls are still nowhere to be found.
The world on the other hand, was tellingly silent; neither the media nor the governments of the world seemed all that perturbed by the news. Finally today, the Obama administration announced that they would send a team of experts to help find the girls. This is great news, albeit a little late, but nonetheless, a positive step. We all know how the world took action to find the missing Malaysian Airlines jet, although the odds of finding any survivors in that tragedy were slim to none.
All this showed us one painful truth again. When it comes to people in the Middle East and in Africa, the value of human life seems to be in decline rather dramatically. If for instance 200 girls were seized by armed fanatics from a school in Chicago, how do you think the world would react? Or think about your own daughter. What if she was kidnapped and what if you didn't know what was happening to her at this very moment amidst claims that she will be sold like a piece of furniture?
CNN felt compelled to publish an article entitled ‘Six Reasons We Should Care’1. Its embarrassing to see that they feel the need to convince people that they should care for the well -being of innocent young girls who might be harmed in the most unimaginable ways at this very moment.
The same thing happens with the mass death sentence recently handed down in Egypt: 600 people were sentenced to death in one trial that took no longer than 20 minutes over the killing of one police officer. The world just sat back and watched. There are young girls and elderly people amongst these people and they were put in cages. It would be naïve to assume that the girls in captivity in Egyptian prisons are treated with favorable conditions and are not being sexually abused. Yet the world is once again quiet; apparently when it comes to this part of the world, human life becomes less worthy.
This could - and should - change. This is not how God wants us to live or feel. God created us to love and protect each other, to be selfless and to help each other, to forgive and embrace one another. The differences we have are not, and should not, be obstacles to this love. Different colors, cultures, languages are diversities and blessings that add variety and zest to life. And the mistakes of the past, as the name suggests, should be left in the past to move on and embrace each other. Only then we can find happiness because it is the way God created our nature as human beings. We are tuned to search out and seek love, and without that we will be unhappy. To do that we have to learn to embrace our differences, forgive the mistakes of the past, and love each other.
1 http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/06/world/africa/nigeria-abductions-why-it-matters/index.html
Adnan Oktar's piece on Blitz:
