PROMOTE NOTHING BUT PEACE

“Everyone must be committed in the matter of peace; to do everything that they can ....Peace is the language we must speak.” — Pope Francis

With the increasing spread of social media, the barriers to sharing contents about politics, current events, social events and religious philosophies have decreased considerably.  The social media is especially popular among youths, offering an opportunity to engage a population segment that has, traditionally, shown lower levels of political and civic engagement.

In advance countries where people do things based on integrity, love for humanity and/or fear of the spiritual being, a church/mosque would be literally empty when the Pastor/Imam preaches anything other than a peaceful coexistence. Employees would close a company down; students would close down their schools when Managements dare to speak ill against a specific section especially the minority.

Unfortunately here, you would be celebrated and be crowned a role model for being a promoter of violence. You would be cheered on, your congregation increases with your daily utterances. You would be loved for openly showing your hatred against a different religion or ethnicity. For the matter of fact, before you are fully accepted, you'll have to denounce your love for some people. You'll have to openly criticize everything about the other. Hence, your votes would be guaranteed.

Peace enriches our communities and individual lives, as it directs us to embrace diversity and support one another to the fullest extent possible. Through caring, generosity, and fairness we provide a cornerstone for attaining a sustainable, just, meaningful, vibrant, and fulfilling personal and community life.

The normal hypocrisy is for a person to always sing songs of patriotism, talk about love and good governance in only situations that benefit his interests. When we meet our folks, in our places of work, or during business, we talk about "One Love " As soon as we get on social media, or when we are with our religious or tribal folks, we become something else, we pour all our anger on others as if they are the causes of our trials and tribulations.

“The corporate existence of the country is being threatened through irresponsible use of social media …and this is capable of degenerating into major catastrophe, if not quickly tackled."- Lawrence Audu

These actions might be small or sometimes unnoticed. But believe me, with just a sentence, you can trigger something in the hearts of thousands. Some people changing blows; a gun being fired; or at best-put a smile on someone's face.

As individuals, we need to recognize the extent to which all of us are interdependent. It behooves us to direct our energy and resources toward supporting, not harming, one another. The person we dismiss or even hate today may be connected in ways we don't realize to our own well-being.

The enmity and rivalry existing between the two religions in this country are over mere words. Religiously, Messengers were sent mostly to train a nation or people, causing it to rise from the lowest depths of ignorance to the highest station of knowledge. It doesn’t even actually matter the kind of messages they bring, the concern is how accurate you get the message.  

“Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.”. -Romans 14:19

”It is unworthy of a Mu’min [a person with faith] to injure people’s reputations; and it is unworthy to curse any one; and it is unworthy to abuse any one; and it is unworthy of a Mu’min to talk arrogantly”’;.-Prophet Muhammed (PBUH)

At a time when everyone seems to be promoting violence, I assure you that it will take only a great person to be steadfast on his/her positivity in humanity. Everything is a matter of choice; you don't necessarily need to post/share/retweet to retaliate what Mr. A posts. It's not a contest. If what he posts offends you, silently unfollow him and move on. Choose to be an Ambassador of peace.