Once again, Waleed Aly has shown us all how to be better humans on The Project. In response to Sonia Kruger’s controversial comments about closing Australia’s borders to Muslims, he has argued that instead of fuelling the fire of outrage, we should ‘Send Forgiveness Viral’.
He started off the segment by pointing out that while he could argue why Sonia’s points were wrong – that Japan has had terrorist attacks, that a woman in Australia is more likely to be killed by a man she knows than a terrorist – we should be changing the conversation.
He explained that Sonia Kruger has had devastating personal attacks on her since her comments, and this is not constructive for any of us.
“Sonia Kruger isn’t evil. She’s scared and she’s trying to make sense of the world. Yesterday, she admitted to not feeling safe. How do you think she feels now? And how do you expect her to react?”
When presented with a controversial opinion, there are two options, ‘destruction’ or ‘construction’, he said.
“We can react emotionally, carelessly, and with little genuine critical thought, and we can destroy a perceived enemy in the hope that it will neutralise the threat that is making us feel unsafe,” Waleed said. “This is the destructive choice.
“Or when we are presented with what we perceive as an outrageous opinion, we can consider what motivated that person, try to understand their fear, and empathise with how they came to their conclusion. The truth is, what motivates them, is fear. And fear is one thing we all share.”
He has encouraged everyone to stop the outrage and #SendForgivenessViral. Just another reason why he love him! Watch the full segment here:
