Whenever I hear words such as “violent extremism”, it is as if I am drained and a feeling of fatigue overpowers me. The words conjure up images of dead and wounded children and young people. Children as victims. There is Alan Kurdî, the little boy found drowned on the beach in Turkey. There is Omran Daqneesh, the little boy covered in dust in the ambulance in Aleppo wiping away blood from his face. The first victims of war and conflict are children. Political and religious rhetoric advocating violence is attracting and motivating individuals or groups but there is nothing that could justify violence against children.
We are drained because we are powerless watching children dying from the bombs and in the waves of the seas. And even if and when a political deal is made, a truce is decided, a declaration is promulgated, suffering continues and children will die and I can’t do anything about it. And we have seen more often than not that many of the attempts to put an end to conflict quite the reverse lead to overkill and to a polarisation of conditions.
Is pressing the dislike-button on Facebook the only way out to express my frustration? I’m not being flippant. The question remains, what else can we do? The dislike-button may make us feel good but it won’t do good.
- : https://ethicseducationforchildren.org/en/knowledge-center/blog/981-learning-to-live-together-tthe-role-of-education-in-preventing-violent-extremism
- : Rev. Dr Hans Ucko
- : Arigatou International