International Day of Peace — And a Special Offer

The United Nations has declared this Thursday, September 21, as an International Day of Peace. The theme this year is “Together for Peace: Respect, Safety and Dignity for All.” Special attention will be directed toward displaced peoples.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres offers this exhortation: “In times of insecurity, communities that look different become convenient scapegoats. We must resist cynical efforts to divide communities and portray neighbours as ‘the other’. Discrimination diminishes us all. It prevents people — and societies — from achieving their full potential.” He added, “Together, let us stand up against bigotry and for human rights. Together, let us build bridges. Together, let us transform fear into hope.”

Check out this short video of Yusra, a Syrian refugee who competed in the most recent Olympics! She wouldn’t have made it without the help of others. Now more than other, the world is recognizing that Jesus’ directive to “love your neighbor” is our world’s only hope.

My friend Rebecca took a risk and loved her neighbors this week in Columbus, OH, where angry protesters threatened Muslims going to their Friday noon prayers at the mosque. Rebecca took her baby and rallied some friends to stand together on the sidewalk as a human barrier just to make sure her Muslim neighbors could navigate the protest safely.

The protesters, a group by the name of “Real Street Preachers,” used a bullhorn and the Bible to condemn the Muslims and graphically insult anyone who stood with the Muslims.

Rebecca writes about a man near her who shouted, “Muslims go to hell… So how many wives do you have, sir? The first one is for beating, the second one you use to cook, the third wife cleans and the fourth one is for sex. You don’t know the words of Jesus. John 14:9! Jesus said, ‘If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father!’ Jesus is God!” He cried out, with his arms in the air, “He’s gonna throw you into hell one day, sinner. He’s gonna throw you into hell one day, Muslim. He’s gonna throw you [looking at Rebecca] into hell one day, whore, lezbo. You don’t know the Bible!”

Rebecca adds, “At one point, I was able to have some reasonable conversation with one protesting man, about 40 years old. As I looked into his calm blue eyes, I thought, ‘He looks so normal.’

“Later, describing it to a friend I said, ‘If I met him in Starbucks, I’d not know he was any different than me.’ He spoke with me, vacillating between a level tone and yelling at passersby, ‘I’ve been doing this since 2010. I know you guys don’t see it this way, but we are loving them… Muslims go to hell! …It’s tough love… You’re all going to hell!’