Archives

One thing you can do

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts, Announcements on Mar 13, 2009

Me and Mo (far left) with other students at Miss Porter’s School

(Photo: Laura Danforth)

Last week, I posted three emails on this blog — one from a non-Muslim who lauds the “universal values” of courage and liberty that I advocate, one from a Muslim convert who fantasizes about beheading me (dude needs to grab a life), and one from a young Egyptian Muslim who desperately wants to know what he can do to advance the campaign for Muslim reform and moral courage.

In response to that third email, I said that would soon introduce an idea for further action, along with the person who embodies how well this idea can succeed.

Here’s the idea: If you live in a country that censors dissidents, as Egypt does, reach out to everyone you know in your country about signing the pro-freedom, pro-human rights and pro-secularism petition on this website.

But first take a few hints from Mo Yang, a student from China who currently attends Miss Porter’s School in Connecticut. After I spoke at the school, Mo wrote to me with the same question as the Egyptian Muslim:

How can I, as an individual with a limited amount of power, help your mission?

I suggested that she urge all of her school mates to sign the petition. Mo did that (and the updated list of signatures now includes many students from Miss Porter’s).

Then, Mo went the extra mile — literally. She began contacting people in her native China, as well as Chinese living in Western countries. And lemme tell ya, it hasn’t been an easy sell.

Read Mo’s email exchange with two young Chinese men living in Italy, one of whom insists that changing the world wastes time. He prefers “sleep, sun spa and bars.” Mo compels him to think:

#1:
What petition?

Mo:
It’s about Islam reform… against violence and religious radicals… support human rights, women’s rights…etc…check it out yourself. She’s well-known overseas. It’s a good cause.

#2:
Women’s rights?

Mo:
So?

#2:
Islamic countries are for men. No place for women at all.

Mo:
That’s why changes are needed.

#1:
Not interested…

Mo:
Then make it an interest.

#2:
Impossible.

Mo:
At least it’s a start. Are you guys going to help or not?

#2:
I’ve been to a Muslim’s house. The male master would get mad if I look at or have eye contact with his wife.

Mo:
That’s why it’s called a reform.

#1:
I’m still not interested. Sorry.

#2:
Don’t tell me you are a Muslim?!

Mo:
Nope, I’m not.

#2:
They can’t eat pork nor have alcohol. So depressing. I think they are so self-closing and stubborn, unable to communicate.

Mo:
That’s why to reform!!!

#2:
It’s not just exclusive, it’s that religion means everything to them. I like not having a religious belief.

Mo:
But I want to help.

#2:
Why?

Me:
Because there are Muslims in Xinjiang as well.

#2:
What can you do? It’s extremely hard to change them.

#1:
I support you! [Mo’s side note: he agrees w/ me on the Xinjiang part only, I think.]

#1:
But I’m still not interested.

#2:
Or put it another way, not quite possible.

Mo:
At least I’ll give my best try.

#2:
I don’t do impossible things. Why not save that time and do what I want to do, like sleep, sun spa, and bars. Enjoy what Italy offers, and the delicious food too.

Mo:
If you give your best try, it’s going to increase the possibility, and if everybody does that, then it will be a success. Start with the petition now, and it only takes a few seconds. You lazy people.

#2:
Why bother to sign the petition? What is it going to do? That’ll make the change?

#1:
If signing it is against your will, that’s just useless.

Mo:
If it’s against your will, I’m not going to force you sign it. But it’s important to get support from every corner around the world.

#2:
I will sign it. To show some support. I’ll also ask my Muslim friends sign it.

Mo has learned that doing morally courageous work — which involves defeating the apathy all around us — demands persistence. In her own words, “It takes mental toughness, time and patience. It’s a commitment.”

Which brings me to why any of us should bother rallying our fellow citizens to sign this petition. After all, Mo herself asked me, what jihadi will actually care about the signatures? Will the Muslim convert who threatens to decapitate me read the petition, see that its defenders fan out from all over the earth, and magically rethink his gruesome desires?

Of course not. But the petition isn’t meant to change the minds of the irrational. By definition, irrationality can’t be reasoned with.

Rather, this petition is meant to change the minds of the timid — people across the globe who feel either alone or powerless to use their voices for good. This petition shows that, in fact, they are not on their own. An international community of non-violent, freedom-loving warriors exists, and is growing. We who claim to believe in human rights and diverse expression will never win this crucial struggle until we convince our side to become as vocal as freedom’s adversaries are.

What a statement it would make to show that our petition is also circulating in countries that value communal conformity more than individual creativity. If we can prove a breath-taking spectrum of support in places known for censorship, then there’s absolutely no excuse for any of us in open societies to lapse into laziness, victimhood, or sheer indifference when it comes to fighting for freedom of conscience.

To view the updated list of petition supporters, click here. Signatures from China are scattered throughout.

By the way, after I posted the new list, Mo sent me yet more Chinese signatures. Here they are:

* Ming Ma (Xi’an, Shanxi, China)
* Uthman/ Jiancheng Wu (Ningxia, China)
* Yubao Yuan (Shanghai, China)
* Qiang Yang (Hunan, China)
* Jing Zhong (Beijing, China)
* Hui Yao (Hunan, China/London, UK)
* Changwu, Yu (Fujian, China/Hampshire, UK)
* Jack Lau (Guangdong, China)
* Xinyi Han (Chongqing, China)
* Jingfang Xia (Hunan, China/Texas, US)
* Dan Zhao (Beijing, China)
* Chunyang Hu (Jiangxi, China)
* Helen Dong (Fujian, China/Camarines Norte, Philippines)
* AnAn Jiang (Liaoning, China)

Oh — and how cool is this? — one from Tibet:

* Sharon Wu (Llasa, Tibet)

Whether you live in Scandinavia, where individuals routinely self-censor, or in Russia, where it’s the state that regularly censors, consider serving as an ambassador for moral courage by sending the petition link to your compatriots.

That’s my advice to the young Egyptian Muslim who wants to do more: Get as many other Egyptians to sign. Doing so is an act of faith in your society. Mo emphasizes to me that she loves China. This has to be one reason she’s managed to collect so many names from a nation that I, personally, haven’t been able to crack. Go, Mo!

And thanks for teaching so many of us about the power of one.