Turbulent Times
By Azher Quader
Community Builders Council
Chicago, IL
We live in turbulent times. We have witnessed enormously significant happenings that will be long remembered and oft written about in the days and years to come. In science and technology of course there is so much for us to rejoice and celebrate as we look back these past fifty years.
From the days of the Russian sputnik to Armstrong’s landing on the moon, from the inability to predict major storms to the accurate tracking of destructive hurricanes, from the introduction of the microchip to the beginnings of the Internet, from the bulky PCs to the portable laptops, the tablets, and the palm size cell phones, from open incision operations to non-invasive robotic surgeries, from the magic of faxes and copiers to the convenience of emails, texting, whatsap and to the connected world of Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn, and the list goes on and on.
In politics we have experienced both delight and dismay from such momentous events as the election of Obama, the assassinations of Kennedy, Malcolm X and King, the revelations of Watergate, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the wedding of Diana and Charles, the retreat from Vietnam, the tragedy of 9/11, the start of the war on terror to the current crisis with ISIS to name a few.
In sports who can forget Muhammad Ali, who captured our imagination both in and out of the ring and our victory over the Russians on Olympic ice in 82 which gave us a thrilling moment to remember. In music we danced to the songs of the Beatles and rocked with Elvis and hummed the tunes, which Rafi immortalized for us.
Yes, our generation has already lived through much and witnessed a lot. Our rendezvous with destiny still continues. America today is at a crossroads, where our founding principles are being challenged. There is reason for concern and need to reflect as our understanding of democracy; freedom, justice and security are being tested. Our priceless gift of democracy, once a repository of the peoples’ will, is being auctioned off to the highest bidders in the country. Our freedoms and liberties we once used to so cherish, are under attack. Our privacy and security once enjoyed without questions, unencumbered by the surveillance of anyone, public or private, are being threatened.
Life and death play fateful games every day on our urban streets. Our lives are not safe even in the custody of those who are sworn to protect us. After the lapse of four centuries we still continue to ask that age-old question, do black lives matter? Indeed we may go even further to ask, do any lives matter in our country today? Our valiant youth, our pride and joy, are being sent away to shed their blood and give their lives on distant lands, so our hunger for global power and our thirst for cheap oil may get satisfied. Over four thousand have perished and the number keeps growing every day. Our longest war in the nation’s history continues without an end in sight. Our shameful greed for profits, our incessant denial to share the benefits with the workers who make those profits possible, leaves an ugly stain on the clean canvas of capitalism. We are told our businesses will suffer if workers are paid more. Try living on minimum wage in the richest country on earth, to know what it is like to live pay check to pay check, to show up for work when you are sick, to go to sleep when you are hungry. We have a code word for our indifference: compassionate conservatism! Whither the wealth we possess, the compassion we claim?
What about a political system where the voice of the people is silenced? How about a criminal justice system where black lives don’t matter? How about a healthcare system which denies health coverage to all? How about an educational system which leaves the student buried in debt for life? How about a banking system where banking overlords commit financial murder, rob millions of their life savings and no one goes to jail? Whither the long arms of justice? When the extremism of a few clouds the conscience of the many, can we remain to be sensible or even sensitive to the rights of those who pursue another faith, or to the plight of those who linger and toil in the shadows of a system that denies them legal status? Can we be the welcoming nation we once were for the huddled masses who came to our hopeful shores from troubled lands?
We live in turbulent times indeed. We are today at such a crossroad where the voices of passion are becoming more louder than the voices of reason. Our fear of the unknown has pitted citizen against citizen, patriot against patriot. We no longer want to be a refuge for the tormented and a home for the dispossessed fleeing from the tyranny of their intolerant societies. We talk about internment today. About building walls and mass deportations. How far have we moved in the darkness of our fears? How far from the light, which guided our ways? Our failure to control violence at home mirrors the violence abroad that we cannot contain. The justice we practice neither touches the criminals on Wall Street nor the innocents in our back streets. Our culture of dependency imprisons the poor to remain poor. Our high cost of college creates debtors for life. Our courts give verdicts denying the will of the voters, the knowledge of science and the wisdom of God. We were once pilgrims of faith who valued family structures. Our ethics were strong, our promises were lasting. Marriages were built on commitments we made. Today marriage is out, cohabitation is in. Kids grow up not seeing their dads. Life is such a struggle to survive who has the time to be a parent anymore.
We worry about the kids not performing in schools. How will they without the love they crave from the people they care? Our pride in sexual freedoms mocks the morality we so proudly uphold. Adultery is in fashion. Premarital sex has become the new norm. Unwanted pregnancies are an inconvenience. Abortions are the answer and sanctioned by the law. Pornography is big business. Sex crimes lurk in the sacred spaces where we go to pray. Look where freedom without any boundaries takes us to. The freedoms we demand deny the boundaries they require.
Our right to free speech refuses to feel the pain and agony it creates when exercised without limits. Our right and freedom to bear arms shuts its eyes to the carnage we see from the absence of common sense gun laws we fail to accept. Look again at the outcomes of freedoms without boundaries. Less than a hundred years ago, a poet philosopher of the East, warned a people of another place in another time, against the real threats for losing relevance and power. His simple message to practice love not hate, to be just not unjust and to act without prejudice for race or creed, may still be a good start for us to regain our compass. Ujaarha Hai Tameez-e-Millat-o-Aaeen Ne Qoumon Ko Mere Ahl-e-Watan Ke Dil Mein Kuch Fikar-e-Watan Bhi Hai? Distinction of sects and disregard for justice has destroyed nations Is there any concern for the homeland in my compatriot’s hearts? Taassub Chorh Nadan! Dehr Ke Aaeena Khane Mein Ye Tasveerain Hain Teri Jin Ko Samjha Hai Bura Tu Ne Give up prejudice O imprudent one! In the world’s mirror house They are your own reflections which you have taken as evil ones Na Samjho Ge To Mit Jao Ge ‘Mere Hamwathan*’ Walo ! Tumhari Dastan Tak Bhi Na Ho Gi Dastanon Mein You will be wiped out if you do not understand, O people of my country! Even your tales will not remain among the tales of history Iqbal (with an apology for changing * Ai Hindosthan walo to Mere Hamwathan Walo). Here perhaps is the troubling message on our wall we are not paying attention to, as we walk by it worrying about so many other issues of our turbulent times. Ignoring family as the foundation for our societal life is bankrupting us as a nation. Ignoring justice as a value that transcends our politics and our passions, is blinding us in our search for security. Ignoring the boundaries of freedom to have necessary limits, is frustrating us in our pursuit for peace.
The writing on our wall will likely not change, for it is written with the enduring ink of permanent principles. Are we willing to read and pay heed? In the interest of our children and our future, let us hope that those endowed with vision and capacity will pause to read and rise to make a difference. Whenever America’s vision has been blurred by misguided passions, people of faith have stood up to speak out and correct the course. As the newest faith community to grace the scene and join the ranks of the faithful, Muslims too can add their voice and become more audible.
azherquader@yahoo.com
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