The Great Awakening of Justice:  A Winning Strategy for Peace and Prosperity

by Dr. Robert D. Crane

  On January 30, 2008, the “conscience of Seattle”, Jeff Siddiqui ( in the listserve, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) ) recommended a new lexicon to define the demonization of Muslims and other uppity trouble-makers.  He is referring to the recent attacks on Arun Gandhi which have accused him of being “anti-Semitic”.  The whipped-up hysteria based on egregious distortions of his statements about the current policies of the Israel government finally forced him to resign his post as President of the Mahatma K Gandhi Institute for Non-violence, which he had co-founded as the Mahatma’s grandson and as a world leader of peace through justice.

  Jeff quips that Gandhi has been “Iranized” and “Iraqified”.  “Iran”-ing is the word for vilifying a person, group or a nation by taking something out of context and extrapolating it to a ludicrous extreme.  “Iraq”-ing is when the now-vilified person, group, or nation is completely destroyed in order to ‘help rehabilitate’ them.

  This new technique of Islamofascist demonization is demonstrated again in the long attack a couple of days ago by Robert Spencer and his flying squad of fascist Islamophobes in response to my article, “Challenge and Response: the Case of Islamophobic Wilding” on The American Muslim site on January 24, 2008?  I used the term “wilding” in reference to the attack by a gang on a woman jogger in Central Park a few years ago, which caused permanent brain damage and first introduced the term “wilding” in the American lexicon.  This is an appropriate term also to describe Geert Wilders, a member of the Dutch parliament and a leader of the far-right Freedom Party who is attacking the Prophet Muhammad, salla Allahu ‘alayhi wa salam, as part of a political strategy to radicalize Muslims in order to purge Islam from Europe by demanding that the Qur’an be banned in public and criminalized even for private reading at home. 

  The attack by Spencer’s Jihad Watch is a rabid attack on everyone who stands up for justice.  This represents a clear strategy, using Jafar Siddiqui’s terminology, to “Iranize” and “Iraqize” everyone who supports the human right of self-determination and, like Arun Gandhi, has committed the ultimate crime of telling the truth.  Opposing violence (even by the victims of ethnic cleansing) seems to be more dangerous than merely supporting resort to violence as legitimate in self-defense, because appealing to transcendent justice and a higher morality, as Arun Gandhi did, is harder to stamp out in a world where orchestrating public relations is the name of the game. 

  The answer to Islamophobia as it is being invoked by the alliance of apocalyptical and secular Zionists with the regressive Evangelicals, who want to bring on the destruction of the entire world in the ultimate incarnation of terrorism, is a cooperative alliance among the traditionalists in all religions who seek peace through compassionate justice.  This strategy is best described in the new book, just out, by Jim Wallis, who was fascinated by the idea of joining forces with Muslims when Sister Anisa ‘Abd el Fatah, the head of the National Association of Muslim American Women, met with him in Georgetown twelve years ago.  Yesterday, I received a two-day 40% discount email from Borders, so, not wanting to waste it, I went to the huge Borders in Manassas and bought the first book that stared everyone in the face as we entered.  This new book, The Great Awakening, with a beautiful foreword by Jimmy Carter, revives justice as a new paradigm of thought in the world and as the only antidote to the NeoCon and Al Qa’ida calls for creative destruction.

  This book is described as “the definitive guide to the next Great Awakening,” referring to the three periods in American history during the 19th century (including the first civil rights movement against slavery) when the enlightened principles of universal Christian thought captured the public imagination like nothing ever has since, except for the existential fear of the last seven years.  The significance is the revival not merely of spiritual awareness and love, which Thomas Jefferson declared is the greatest bulwark to preserve freedom, but the revival of the term “justice,” which has been essentially dead ever since the NeoCons and the political Zionists have done their best to stamp it out.

  The reviews refer to “Jim’s commitment to justice and his refusal to allow faith to remain silent in the public square ... which builds on the rich tradition of Christians shaping society, offering a compelling vision of faith today that refuses to be co-opted by any single political party. ... The spirit of God is using Jim Wallis to stir a new movement toward justice in our country today, with the church leading the way.”  Others state that, “In this searing declaration of progressive evangelical faith, Jim Wallis fans the flames of justice revival in America”.  The head of the Reformed Church in America, advises everyone to “read this book if you suspect that the pathways toward a future shaped by God’s justice will go through your heart”. 

  The Dean of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco writes that, “Religion is being blamed for most of the world’s ills and we need a sane contrary voice.  Jim Wallis understands not only the necessity for a revival of a commitment to the Common Good but also that faith (linking personal with social transformation) must undergird our passion for inclusion and justice.  His is a vision of politics not driven by power and the protection of narrowly conceived identities but by the captivating joy of a divine hospitality where everyone, without exception, is welcome at the table.  Now, that’s a revival worth embracing.”  Adam Hamilton, the author of the best-selling Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White, concludes, “This book is the definitive guide to the next Great Awakening.” 

  Muslims often quote the verse in the Qur’an, which is central to all the world religions” “When Allah says ‘Kun,’ [be], it ‘is’.”

See also:

Arun Gandhi: Man of Peace & Good Will

Gandhi’s grandson quits peace institute

Arun Gandhi Resigns From NY Peace Center