evening prayer

I know we are all horrified by the massacre of Muslim worshipers in New Zealand.

One of this month's topics is the study of Islam. What impressions will you place on your children's hearts? Will they fear people of other faiths or will they seek to understand them? Remember the danger of the single story.

Like the song says in South Pacific:

You've got to be taught to hate and fear
You've got to be taught from year to year
It's got to be drummed in your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught

[Verse 2]
You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made
And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade
You've got to be carefully taught

[Verse 3]
You've got to be taught before it's too late
Before you are six or seven or eight
To hate all the people your relatives hate
You've got to be carefully taught

Tomorrow's world will be shaped by what you teach your children today.

Art credit: Evening Prayer by Jean Leon Gerome (Wikimedia Commons)