Watchnight service<\/a> at a church in Washington, D.S. on December 31, 2016, at which Valarie asked a packed sanctuary if perhaps the moment was not the darkness of the tomb, but the darkness of the womb and encouraged America to breath and push. It is a question that seems as profoundly relevant today as it did almost four years ago. On June 17, Kaur was joined by the actor and writer, Rainn Wilson to talk about the book and the moment into which the book was birthed. The conversation, facilitated by IFYC’s Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, offered insight into the deep spiritual commitments held by Valarie as a Sikh and Rainn as a Baháʼí, and how the teachings of their traditions inspired action in this moment. Undergirding the discussion was what Kaur identifies as Revolutionary Love, a social ethic that mandates just relations in both the personal and systemic ways, and ways that point towards actions of solidarity with Black lives in this birthing moment.<\/p>\n Valarie and Rainn offer a master class in what it means to have an honest, humble and joyful conversation about ourselves, our communities, and the necessary and life-giving work that is calling to all of us in this time. Watch the video and read the transcript below.<\/p>\n
Valarie Kaur<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n I see no stranger. I see no enemy. These are the words of Guru Nanak, the first teacher of the Sikh faith, the first guru, the founder of the Sikh faith. When I was a little girl, my family has been in this country for a century, so I grew up on the farmlands that my grandfather farmed when he first arrived in 1913. So, I grew up with a deep sense of belonging to this Earth, land and country and with the stories and the songs and the scriptures of my Sikh ancestors in my ear. And I remember when I would come home from school for the first time, my first experience with racial slurs. It would be my grandfather, my other grandfather who would scoop me up in his lap and tell me Guru Nanak stories. And oh, I see no stranger. I see no enemy. What does that mean? He would teach me, ‘Oh, my love, [speaks Punjabi]<\/em>,’ that it means it look upon the face of anyone around you and say, ‘you are part of me I do not yet know.’ You are part of me I do not yet know. It is an orientation of wonder and humility. And it is dangerous. Papa Ji used to say, ‘Love is a dangerous business. In America, they say, I love you, I love you, I love you. All talk, no action.’ If you really love someone, that means you choose to love them, you choose to let their grief in your heart and you choose to fight for them even when they are in the face of harm’s way, even in the face of grave injustice.<\/p>\n Rainn Wilson <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n The imperative for people of faith is to find spiritual tools to help combat today’s injustices. So, that doesn’t mean just like hugging a cop. But it means bringing a deep love to a conversation about social imbalances and understanding that the great imbalances that are happening in the world right now, the great injustices, the broken systems are broken for a much deeper reason than can be fixed with legislation. And with protest. Legislation and protest, super important. Obviously we can’t have Jim Crow laws! We need to have a civil rights movement to overturn them. Super important. But did that fix racism? Did it fix prejudice? Did it fix people’s hearts with that legislation? No. So, we have to work both at the same time. So, most of Bahá’u’lláh’s teaching are focused on social justice actually, the elimination of racial prejudice, the equality of women and men, extremes of race and poverty.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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