FIRST, they bombed the Catholic church in Jolo, Sulu. Two days later, they bombed a masjid (mosque) in Zamboanga City. Both bombing incidents have led to the deaths of innocent lives - and there seems to be a pattern.
There is an attempt to sow discord and chaos, among Muslims and Christians in the ever growing diversified Mindanao. There is an effort that conflict will ensue all over again, to revive the Moro rebellion, and the hateful Ilaga - at the cost of peace and harmony.
These terrorists must be enjoying the attention they are getting, the hateful comments of the public and the brewing misinformed opinions that breed biases and racial discrimination. And as such, we should not allow these terrorists to simply do that.
It is unfortunate that there might be people starting to be distrustful and hateful towards other people because of their race and religion all over again. It is disheartening as well, that Mindanao will be subjected to various prejudices.
But this is also the time that the more we should prove to everyone else, and even to ourselves, that we have already risen from the past horrors and the way we see things. This is the time that we should use what we have learned in schools, and cause-oriented individuals and organizations, who painstakingly worked for peace, and a better Mindanao for many decades.
By observation, Mindanao’s society has dramatically changed, a number of people are becoming accepting of the different traditions, beliefs, and cultures especially those who belong to the younger generation. But these spoiler terrorists simply want to get us back to the old times when there were barriers.
The bombings in the houses of worship is a test for everyone, the terrorists want Mindanao to be forever divided, because that is the only way they thrive to make a living. They want hatred to be a force that will put, not only to this island but also the whole nation, to decisions and actions that can further widen the gap. It’s a classic, textbook style, and yet we still tend to fall for it - divide and conquer.
For now, the best weapon is discernment. We are better than this. The moment you put your fingers to blame a religion or group of people, the terrorists have won you over, more so, if you keep on spreading unfounded conspiracy theories that could only fuel the racial and religious biases.
This is not about Islam or Christianity being attacked, but this is about peace and humanity in Mindanao being challenged by the people who could not live in a multidimensional society.
Brothers and Sisters, the real enemy of Mindanao is neither a Muslim nor a Christian. The real enemy is ignorance. Never allow yourselves to be consumed by irrationality, and most importantly, never get overwhelmed with hatred and selfishness.
These things can be very hard, especially when there were lives lost. It is also hard that inasmuch that we want to exact our revenge, but we are not supposed to do it because we have held on to our values of respecting other people’s differences.
(nefluczon@gmail.com)