Justification by Appearance

We justify our actions by appearances;

God examines our motives.

Proverbs 21:2

After September 11, there has been both a blatant and a subtle backlash against individuals who appear to be Muslim.  I say "appear to be," because many people who are not Muslim have been the victims of racial profiling by professional and the everyday man on the street. Such has been the experience of the Sikh community, whose male members have been deemed Muslim because of their colorful turbans and full beards.  Amardeep Singh, program director of the Sikh Coalition, said Sikhs had become "collateral damage" in a 24-hour news machine that uses dark-skinned, bearded, turbaned men as visual shorthand for terrorists.  Yesterday, this truth was driven home when a gunman invaded the worship service at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, killing six people and seriously wounding four others.

In point of fact, the Sikh faith is based on peace.  A Sikh must have the courage to defend the rights of all who are wrongfully oppressed or persecuted, irrespective of religion, color, caste or creed.  It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world, with over 30 million Sikhs and is one of the most steadily growing. They are far from propagating terrorism - enjoying strong community and living quiet, peaceful lives.

That peace was shattered on Sunday by a gunman with ties to white supremacy, whose life was concentrated on hating those whose appearance seemed to stand for everything non-white, non-USA.  We have little to go on to determine why the killer acted as he did; he lost his life in a gun battle with a policeman outside the temple.  What is clear is that a man with intolerance in his heart and violence in his soul attacked an innocent group of people he knew nothing about, just because their outward appearance was an affront to him. 

The families of the victims and the survivors need our prayers - prayers for their grief and pain, and prayers for ourselves - for our prejudice and our narrow-minded fear.  We are all in need of God's grace and peace.