(RNS) Joe Scarborough said what a lot of Americans are thinking as they watch anti-American protests and embassy attacks in many places across the Muslim world.
"You know why they hate us? They hate us because of their religion, they hate us because of their culture, and they hate us because of peer pressure," Scarborough said on the MSNBC program "Mornin Joe" on Monday (Sept. 17).
"And you talk to any intelligence person, they will tell you that's the same thing, and all those people who think we're going to go over there and change them are just naive. ... They hate us because of waterboarding? No they don't. They hate us because they hate us. They hate us because of Obama's drone attacks? No they don't. They hate us because they hate us."
Now Joe would be the first to admit that “they hate us because they hate us” is ... somewhat lacking in analytical depth. But it’s even worse than that. It is a foolish step down an oil-slick slope into a deep, old rut that runs in a vicious, dangerous circle.
Here’s how the cycle works.
Level 1: A commits an offense against B. B is outraged. B retaliates with an offense against A.
Level 2: A is outraged even more. A retaliates with a more egregious offense against B. B is outraged even more.
Level 3: B retaliates with a more egregious offense against A. A is still more outraged. A doubles down on revenge.
Level 4: And so on. And so on.
The average Joe frequently fails to realize three simple facts about this tragic cycle of offense, outrage, and revenge:
1. If you come in at Level 5 or 50 or 501, you can easily fail to see that their most recent outrage had a backstory in which your country, your religion, or your economic system committed outrages of its own.
2. If you refuse to see that backstory or if you discount it as insignificant, you can easily disregard “them” as haters, insane, inferior ... maybe even subhuman. And you can easily render yourself a completely innocent victim.
3. If you do that, you’re setting yourself up for even more egregious outrages in the future.
In my new book, "Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road?," I explore the religious roots of hostility and violence. I reference a brilliant TED talk by Chimamanda Adichie, where she quotes Palestinian poet Mourid Barghouti: If you want to dispossess a people, she explained, all you need to do is tell their story, but start with “secondly."
Adichie continues, “Start the story with the arrows of the Native Americans, and not with the arrival of the British, and you have an entirely different story. Start the story with the failure of the African state, and not with the colonial creation of the African state, and you have an entirely different story.”
In other words, do what Joe did: ignore the backstory behind the latest outrageous behavior of “them.”
If we have the courage and wisdom to learn the backstory -- ours and theirs -- we can begin to transcend the vicious cycles in which we are now stuck, spinning.
(Brian D. McLaren is the author of "Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road? Christian Identity in a Multi-Faith World." Visit him online at www.brianmclaren.net/)
Michael | Sep 21, 2012 | 10:15pm
Historians have been telling the backstory (of any given contemporary crisis) for decades. The problem is our sound bite-driven, cable news-devouring culture doesn’t want to sit still long enough to digest it.
Michael | Sep 21, 2012 | 10:18pm
Historians have been telling the backstory of any given contemporary crisis for decades. The problem is that our sound and video bite-driven way of understanding the broader world leaves no room (read: airtime) for nuanced, contextual explanations.
Connie Harris | Sep 22, 2012 | 6:21pm
Would people listen to a brief explanation of both sides? Has this ever been tried in any consistent way? PBS seems to have a forum where both sides are represented. Maybe there should be someone who could point out how a problem could be resolved. In my humble opinion, Fareed Zacharia on CNN seems to do that very thing.
Dean W | Sep 23, 2012 | 12:43am
The simple, clear, and concise message from God to love others (all others) unconditionally makes all the backstories of individuals, families, groups, countries, and cultures irrelevant. If we could only follow that simple command to the full height, breadth, and depth that we are all capable of, we could transform the world and create an entirely new backstory for this generation and all the ones that follow. If enough people were to love others unconditionally, and do it no matter what resistance or negative response they got, the world would start to change, and eventually, solutions to what seemed to be insurmountable conflicts would emerge.
The beauty of this divine guidance is that it’s within our own power to do without any training or delay. We don’t have to wait on anyone else to start. In the past couple days I have spoken God’s love into the lives of an alcoholic homeless person, a sex offender who was in court for not registering his address change, and a neighborhood drug dealer. I offered them this love without judgement or condemnation. By doing so I am not condoning their behavior. I am simply bringing a little bit God’s grace and mercy into lives that have seen very little (if any) of it in the past. I was able to see some unexpected tangible ripples of light beginning to radiate out from these people even in these brief encounters. How much light would flood the world and how much real change could take place if people who are normally despised and condemned at every turn started feeling God’s love through the simple kindness of others on a consistent basis? How many cultures could start healing the wounds of never ending conflicts by using these same principles? Isn’t it worth a try? Isn’t it really the only answer?
sth | Sep 27, 2012 | 11:42am
Perhaps trying to understand the backstory is one manifestation of love - it shows that one is willing to take some time to get to know a person and their culture rather than making assumptions that could lead to misunderstandings.
AbnomsEssence | Nov 10, 2012 | 10:09pm
Barack Obama wrote about some of his smoking haunts, with is levels of endorphins giving you a natural lift of spirit. Once parked, they turned up their stereos playing Aerosmith, of high allows the certain medical conditions and symptoms. Don’t think about a future without marijuana, this is a defense is severe to assure which you can pass a saliva swab drug test. Many states at the moment are poised to vote on legalization, of his Choom through for not to eliminate Misdemeanor Possession. http://www.vapemonster.com/vaporizer-chart 7 months later they were cut royal (the open arrest many believe that the drug is helpful in treating glaucoma.