Dalai Lama Foundation Study Circle Montreal

September 11, 2012

a project of ServiceSpace

Two Mothers & Their Brave Friendship: A 9/11 Story

Two mothers. Phyllis Rodriguez lost her son, Greg, in the attack on the World Trade Center. Aicha el-Wafi’s son, Zacarias Moussaoui, was an al Qaeda terrorist convicted of conspiring to commit the attack. When they met in November of 2002, Phyllis didn’t see Aicha as her enemy; she saw a woman experiencing much the same grief as she was. “Our suffering is equal. Yet I’m treated with sympathy; she is treated with hostility,” says Phyllis. In their courageous attempts to find peace the two women formed an unlikely friendship that has now become a powerful symbol of healing and reconciliation. Watch them share their story hand-in-hand in this moving TED talk. { read more }

Be The Change

Forgiveness is broadly conceived as virtuous. Retribution is morally complex and problematic in many of its manifestations; but it also has social benefit. Consider the philosophical tension between these attitudes. { more }

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