Love will prevail

We decided to deal with those people who came to protest against us in a way which we hoped could change hearts and minds... So, the reason it's so important to talk right now is because the other option is don't talk, and let the ignorance, hatred, misunderstanding remain and fester and grow... ~ Adam Kelwick, imam at Abdullah Quilliam mosque

Last week I gathered fragments from a week filled with the violence and hate of far-right riots in several cities. But at the same time as I was writing, the tide was beginning to turn. We'd already seen communities come together in the clear morning aftermath of each riot, to clear up and repair, where possible, what had been damaged. But within a few days, as the far-right threatened more riots in different places, targeting specific projects and hostels, hundreds of anti-fascists began flooding streets, often outnumbering the people who had come intent on creating fear and destruction. Hope and community, not hate and division, had begun to prevail, even though the fear and high alerts remained.

And somewhere within all this, I began hearing about the mosque in Liverpool which had reached out to the rioters, offering them food, and dialogue over a good English cup of tea. And then, the other day, I came across a tweet by their imam, with a video showing people who had responded to this invitation to come into the mosque to break bread, not windows; to talk instead of shouting slogans, and shake hands instead of fists. 

I too was drawn in, by this account of brave, and radical hospitality; of reaching out, and offering food to the very people who had come to damage and destroy; of sitting down with rioters, answering their questions and showing that they have more in common, more which can unite, than divide. Of dispelling hate and bigotry, one cup of tea at a time... Of an example of loving forgiveness and empathy which can be an inspiration to us all.

I found a Guardian article and video about this, headlined, with great hope, Love will prevail. These were the words of another imam, speaking of the support and friendship they had received - that ultimately, love will prevail over hatred. And this, of course, is what my Faith tells me - tells us; what the life and death and resurrection of Jesus tell us. This is the example he set when he continued to love and forgive the ones who were wounding him... This is what happened when his Heart was pierced, releasing a stream of love... 

And this is the Love in which we believe, and the source of all our healing and hope: the Love which we know will prevail.