Universally Speaking
Rahim Islam is a National Speaker and Writer, Convener of Philadelphia Community of Leaders, and President/CEO of Universal Companies, a community development and education management company headquartered in Philadelphia, PA. Follow Rahim Islam on FaceBook(Rahim Islam) & Twitter (@RahimIslamUC)
Rahim Islam
For evil to triumph, many good people must remain silent – this is what happened during the escalation of a number of wars including the Vietnam War, the Jewish Holocaust and the Black Holocaust (the chattel enslavement of our people for nearly 350 years.)
When these atrocities occurred, too many “good” people who knew better did and said nothing.
Too many “good” people were silent. I understand why this phenomenon happens. Most people are comfortable with following and not leading and speaking out, which sometimes can create unwanted attention.
People can do three things when they see evil:
1) Hate in their hearts. This is the least they can do, but hating evil is the foundation to take further action.
By hating evil in your heart, you have the conditions needed to make change and fundamentally, while you’re unable to do anything more about it, you at least recognize it as wrong
2) Speak out against it, which requires a higher level of action.
Speaking out against evil sometimes places you against people you love and care about who don’t see it the way you do.
It also puts you at odds with the power structure, especially if that evil act is supported by them.
It’s a risk to speak out against what you believe to be is evil and wrong and there is a price to pay.
3) Change it with your hands – this is the highest level of commitment.
Not only are you speaking out against the evil you see, but you’re using yourself and your resources (i.e. financial, time, intellect) to fight with those who support the evil you see.
However you choose to respond, evil can’t triumph if “good” people let their voices be heard.
Yes, we have laws, rules and regulations, but we also have a higher law and a higher power buried deep into the concept most God-fearing people ascribe to “you reap what you sow.”
This means everything we do has repercussions. It will come back to you one way or another and you can’t escape it.
Another term used to describe this is “karma,” the total effect of a person’s actions and conduct during the successive phases of the person’s existence, regarded as determining the person’s destiny.
This applies to everyone and all human activity at all levels.
When you attack evil, remember that the entire universe and its laws will support you and if you’re consistent and persistent, the long-term effects of your actions manifest.
I’ve always said the majority of people are good and mean well by nature, but unfortunately they are part of the “silent” majority.
The silent majority is an unspecified large group of people who do not express their opinions publicly.
This term was used when President Richard Nixon referred to a group of Americans who didn’t support those who were not against the Vietnam War.
He categorized the Vietnam War as good and not evil but nothing could be further from the truth – most wars are evil.
All wars have some level of evil and some wars are outright wrong.
The 20 year Vietnam War was, in my opinion, very much evil with nearly 60,000 Americans dying.
Our soldiers are absolved of any wrongdoing because, as soldiers, they were fighting under orders to defend our country and by some estimates, 1.3 million Vietnamese died with nearly half being civilians.
How much havoc did Americans unleash on the Vietnam?
Not only the casualties, which were extreme, but Vietnam is still recovering physically, emotionally, and financially from this war.
I know we value the lives of the 60,000 Americans who died but do we not value the 1.3 million lives, especially the nearly 600,000 innocent civilians?
During the escalation, I’ll always remember what happened to those who opposed the Vietnam War. Some of our greatest leaders spoke out against it including Dr. Martin Luther King and Muhammad Ali and both paid a heavy price.
Dr. King paid with his life and Muhammad Ali was stripped of his title and both were defined as “traitors.”
In 1967, three years after winning the heavyweight title, Ali refused induction into the U.S. military, citing his religious beliefs and opposition to American involvement in the Vietnam War.
He was tried and found guilty on draft evasion and eventually stripped of his boxing title.
He did not fight again for nearly four years, losing a time of peak performance in an athlete’s career.
Ali’s appeal worked its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, where his conviction was overturned in 1971.
The irony and karma is that Muhammad Ali is highly regarded, not only for his skills in the ring, but for what he exemplified outside of the ring and his fight for religious freedom, racial justice and his stand on the Vietnam War.
Muhammad Ali also attacked the hypocrisy of the American government for denying blacks equal and human rights while asking blacks to serve and to take the brunt of the casualties in this war.
Muhammad Ali – “Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?
No I’m not going 10,000 miles from home to help murder and burn another poor nation simply to continue the domination of white slave masters of the darker people the world over.
This is the day when such evils must come to an end.
I have been warned that to take such a stand would cost me millions of dollars. But I have said it once and I will say it again.
The real enemy of my people is here. I will not disgrace my religion, my people or myself by becoming a tool to enslave those who are fighting for their own justice, freedom and equality.
If I thought the war was going to bring freedom and equality to 22 million of my people they wouldn’t have to draft me, I’d join tomorrow.
I have nothing to lose by standing up for my beliefs.
So I’ll go to jail, so what? We’ve been in jail for 400 years.”
