So here I was, freshly returned from my journey around the world feeling all warm inside because it had confirmed what I already suspected: the world is not a big scary and dangerous place filled with bad people only. Quite the contrary, it is my firm belief that the world is a beautiful place, filled with mostly good people.
This warm feeling ended abruptly when I came across a video in the news today that showed a group of people calling people from the LGBT community ‘saleté’ (filth) and ‘malpropre’ (impure) in the name of their religion. Right here in Mauritius. The paradise island. The nation that prides its multi-racial, -cultural and -religious population. Talking about a cold shower!
The group of people in question were manifesting against the ‘Marche des Fiertés’, the local version of a gay-pride parade. Everyone has the right to have a different opinion and to express this. It is called ‘freedom of speech’ and I respect this. However, insulting other people and especially, in the name of religion – that I cannot, do not and will not ever respect.
Every religion has its own version of Holy Scriptures: the Christians have the Bible, the Muslims the Quran, the Jews the Tanakh etc. I myself grew up with the teachings of the Bible. I remember the day I read a passage in the Bible that neatly explained how many slaves one could keep. As a child coming from an island whose history started with slavery, and is still today conflicted by that history, I was shocked and felt deeply confused. The same Bible that says ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself’ condones taking away someone’s freedom for no good reason?? The more I read the Bible the more I realised it is full of contradictions. To a point that I started to question whether God really inspired the authors of the Scriptures, or whether certain passages were simply added out of convenience by ‘ordinary’ men with an agenda.
Mind you, not only the Bible is filled with contradictions, the Quran too. And although I have never read the Tanakh, I can imagine it would not be different in there either. The world’s history and present day is filled with wars, atrocities and violence committed in the name of some religion, the same religion that teaches the exact opposite!
Coming back to the ‘Marche des Fiertés’. In my opinion it is about a group of people asking to be respected who they are at their core. To be free to be themselves without shame and/or repercussions. They do not hurt anyone, they do not insult or scream in other people’s faces that are different from them, they do not try to convince or force other people to ‘become’ like them (as if that would be possible). I therefore wonder what exactly it is the protesters are afraid of if not their own ignorance?
The world is portrayed as a scary and dangerous place filled mostly with bad people. It is not. It is mostly filled with ignorant people. Ignorance is a highly underestimated danger. It leads to intolerance which leads to the earlier mentioned atrocities, violence and wars. And, it is a powerful tool to those who seek power.
The world can be that beautiful place I witnessed over the past weeks if we make the effort to reach out to those who are different, to start conversations, to get to know each other instead of mindlessly gobbling up what other people (with their own agendas) write or tell us.
I sincerely hope that Mauritius will show its true colours. It is not red or blue or yellow or green. It is all these colours together.