Love the terrorists?

"Love one another, as I love you," Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel incident (Jn. 15:9-17). To love as the human Jesus did? Unconditional – to the death? Tough act as it is to follow, still it makes sense when applied within the family, among families, within and between peace-loving communities, even between nations.

But Lord, how is all this connected with the horrible killings of innocent victims in Davao, Zamboanga, Koronadal – not to mention Bali, Saudi Arabia, and Morocco? How do you want us to feel and behave toward those inhuman terrorists responsible for these crimes?

What, Lord? You are asking us to go to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke for the answer? Yes, you say. For there it reads: "You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy!’ But I say to you, love your enemies." "Do good to those who hate you." (Mt. 5:43-44, Lk. 6:27).

For heaven’s sake, Lord. What does loving our enemies really mean? Shall we just allow the separatist MILF guerrillas and the al-Qaeda Islamic group to kill more and more of us? Of course not, I hear you say. And I also know in my deepest conscience that individual or corporate self-defense against unjust aggression is morally justified, even to the point of taking the aggressor’s life as a last resort.

How, then, are we to love the terrorists – in our own country, to begin with? Peace negotiations with the MILF should be resumed as soon as possible. This is the stand of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), the Bishops-Ulama Forum, and the Coalition of Mindanao Peace Advocates. Let us support this all the way, with the possibility of a political settlement to the 25-year separatist rebellion in Mindanao.

Moreover, to love the terrorists and do good to them means to help them convert back to the ways of God/Allah. Those who are captured are to be brought to justice – where they will have the opportunity for human understanding, compunction, and ultimately, compassion for one another. Above all, let us continue our prayers without ceasing.

To the devoted Muslims, Allah is the one God of all the world. The Allah of love, justice, and peace. As Christians, we also believe in the one and only God of the whole universe. We likewise believe that love and justice are like the two sides of the same coin. True love is just and fair. And true justice is a way of loving. Thus, love and justice lead us to peace.

We Filipinos are created as brothers and sisters under the one and only God/Allah. We must strengthen and deepen our interconnectedness for us to survive. As our late statesman, Carlos P. Romulo, once said: "Brotherhood is the very price and condition of man’s survival."

Let us together move toward the dawn of real peace in our country. From darkness toward the light.

A Rabbi once asked his students how they could tell when night had ended and day had began. "Could it be when you see an animal from a distance and can tell whether it is a sheep or a dog?" "No," answered the Rabbi. "Could it be when you look at tree from a distance and can tell whether it is a fig tree or a peach tree?" "No." "Well, then," the students demanded, "when is it?" "It is when you can recognize in every human face, the face of a brother, or the face of a sister. Because if you cannot do that, then no matter what time it is, it is still night." (From Rabbinical Stories).