What's So Funny About Peace Love and Understanding?

oftenreading

I wanted to post this somewhere and this seems to be the most appropriate thread. I could have looked further and found one about racism, I suppose, but it fits here, too.

It's a two part post.

First, for those not following Canadian politics, we have a leadership race for one of our federal parties, and one of the contenders is Sikh. A recent meeting was interrupted by a woman voicing anti-Islamic statements, as shown here:

http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/jagmeet-singh-shuts-down-heckler-with-love-and-courage-1.3581894

Instead of dismissing her or responding angrily, he encouraged the crowd to focus on "love and courage" and allowed her to speak.

When asked later why he did not simply tell her he wasn't Muslim, his response was again amazing:

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2017/09/09/jagmeet-singh-explains-why-he-didn-t-tell-that-heckler-he-s-sikh-not-muslim_a_23203030/?utm_hp_ref=ca-homepage

"Many people have commented that I could have just said I'm not Muslim. In fact, many have clarified that I'm actually Sikh," he said. "While I'm proud of who I am, I purposely didn't go down that road because it suggests their hate would be ok if I was Muslim. We all know it's not.

"I didn't answer the question because my response to Islamophobia has never been 'I'm not Muslim.' It has always been and will be that 'hate is wrong.'"

Singh said he reacted as he did because he needed to "act fast and set the tone" for the room.

"Once allowed to grow, hate doesn't pick and choose, it spreads like fire. Once we say it's ok to hate someone based on their religion, we're also opening the door to hate based on race, gender, sexuality, and more," he said. "It's important that we stand united against all forms of hate.

"It takes love to understand that we're all in this together. It takes courage to come together, demand better and dream bigger, so that we can build a world where no one is left behind."

kce8

 ^ Love and respect! 

Shyner

Throw your weapons down

cp3iverson

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