Are you sure?
This bookmark will be removed from all folders and any saved notes will be permanently removed.
Eye on the World: Social reform and education in the Middle East
Tens of thousands of people across Pakistan and the Middle East demonstrated against the Taliban over the weekend after the group took responsibility for shooting Malala Yousafzai, a 14-year-old female blogger. The Taliban said they carried out the attack, which also injured two of Yousafzai’s schoolmates, because the teenager was “promoting secularism” through her blog and media appearances talking about life under the Taliban and the ban on girls’ education. Yousafzai, whose condition is stable, was treated in Pakistani hospitals last week and was flown to the United Kingdom on Monday for rehabilitation. Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf denounced the attack, and much of the country has expressed outrage against the Taliban and Islamist militancy.
We can prayerfully join these protests by denouncing violence and evil intentions as no legitimate part of God’s kingdom, and recognizing that God sanctions only those actions and motives that tend toward freedom, honesty, and peace.
“What 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai is teaching the world” explores how the young girl’s example can inspire all of us to see God’s work through expressions of love and justice. The author explains, “If [evil] is once seen for what it is, it is universally condemned by the good in our hearts … Has one act of terror shown the impotence of goodness? No. A more spiritual view shows error exposed and the method for its complete destruction made plain. . . ”
Enjoy 1 free Sentinel article or audio program each month, including content from 1898 to today.
