The middle path in the midst of chaos
As I read the Kite Runner for the second time, I find my nights, daydreams and siestas haunted by Afghanistan. It seems that everywhere I go, Afghanistan trails closely. At the bookstore in Lisbon Airport, the story of Aisha, an 18-year-old Afghan woman who was sentenced by the Taliban to have her nose and ears cut off for fleeing her abusive in-laws is on the cover of Time magazine; and I could not help but lay my hands on it and obsessively pour over it. While taking a stroll at night in Wiesbaden, I came up to an Afghan kebab shop and gave in to a kebab.
In fact, so absorbed I am that I have been wondering why did I not learn Arabic in school given that I have lived almost my entire life in a Muslim country. At the core of my obsession is actually curiosity. Curiosity of Muslim culture elsewhere, first lighted as a student back in school studying Islamic civilization and reignited as an adult in a world of religious conflict.
Perhaps more important is a deep longing, one lasting a lifetime, to really connect with another being. Coming from a multicultural country, religious tolerance has often been emphasized, yet few seemingly give thoughts to the reality that true acceptance can only be achieved with understanding of what differences are and how they arise. Look around you and what do you see? Do you see what I see? What lies in front of us may be the same sight, but how we perceive can be hugely disparate.
Therein lays trouble. Someone said, “strong opinions should be weakly held”. I believe this is equivalent to the middle path called for by Buddhism. If people of the world could do so, our disagreements will not be fewer, but our need to be correct will lessen and so will bloodshed. This view will no doubt be seen by many as overly simplistic. And you will find that the person who argues the most, undoubtedly, is not the simplest person in the room. And just may be, this disagreeable person, happens to also be the person with the most grouses about an unfair life.
Tags:Mestengo, Plunger, religion, The Kite Runner, tolerance
What can I say?
Truth, truth, and truth is what you write.
By the way I love that book!
Cheers!
"strong opinions should be weakly held"
What about the weak opinions?
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Again, great job!!!
If "strong opinions should be weakly held", how do you think we should hold to weak opinions?
May I recommend also Khaleed Hosseini's other book, "A thousand splendid suns". This time Hosseini explores women's lifes, from their perspective, of life in Afghanistan.
Under my point of view all opinion should be weakly held and leave it open to be discussed with a base of respect, nothing is good, nothing is bad, where is the true?
Perhaps the world is shades of gray, rather than black and white? For example, research has shown that people's perception of acceptability of torture as a tool of interrogation is dependent on who the victim and, especially, if you are related to the victim or not.
I agree! as Shakespeare would say "there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so"
Hi! Just to say thank you for this interesting article! =) Peace, Joy.