On a Tuesday in October of 2019, I was speaking at North Seattle College about my work with Neighbors in Faith. There I was asked a question I have never been asked before: What is the hardest thing about your job? Here is what I said.
The hardest thing about my job is making people aware that they have already gone far down the road of dehumanizing their Muslim neighbors (and others!). When I am speaking or working with people I can see the pain of this realization in their eyes and in their bodies. People strive to be of good character and like to think of themselves as immune from dehumanizing others. But they begin to see where they have gone wrong – and how they have participated in the wrong of dehumanization that leads to violence.
It is a painful moment for them. It is painful for me to witness it.
But then I am able to share with them that I have had to take the same journey, experience the same pain, do the same work.
I am not immune from it either.
The Abrahamic tradition teaches about sin: that all of us are vulnerable to actions and attitudes that harm ourselves and others. Even more central to our tradition is the idea of repentance: That God offers forgiveness so that we can seek reconciliation with those we have dehumanized or harmed; that a new beginning is possible and we are not trapped by our past.
It should not be a surprise that we as human beings are susceptible to fear, hatred and dehumanizing language that leads to violence. Why should we be immune from what has happened to so many? But it is a surprise to us when we realize it.
The joy of my work is that I get to keep doing the work of repenting of how I have dehumanized Muslims and others and experiencing reconciliation with my siblings. The joy of my work is that I get to see others take that same journey of repentance – and find themselves more connected to their humanity again, and the Creator who calls us all “Beloved Children.”