Nelson: Faith partnership grew from violent slaughter at Sikh temple

Article content

It was an act of horrific violence that shocked North America, yet it would trigger a remarkable partnership of faith, forgiveness and, eventually, friendship between two men who had once stood a world apart.

The pair’s journey, which touched Calgary this past week when they spoke to guests and students at Mount Royal University, was born amidst a hail of bullets on Aug. 5, 2012. That was the day when white supremacist Wade Page opened fire inside a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, killing five men and one woman.

The killer, who committed suicide after the attack, belonged to one of the most notorious hate groups in the United States — the Hammerskins. One of its founders is Arno Michaelis, while Pardeep Singh Kaleka is the son of one victim from that dreadful day — the temple leader, Satwant Singh Kaleka.

Those two men, now the closest of friends, would find common cause in the tragedy. Michaelis had turned his back on the Hammerskins and what they represented, several years before the actual shooting, by joining together to talk to anyone interested in discussing the need for understanding and compassion in a troubled world.

They promoted a peace-building and educational initiative called Serve2Unite and collaborated on what would become a bestselling book —The Gift of Our Wounds: A Sikh and a Former White Supremacist find Forgiveness after Hate, published last April.

“The intention of our work together was in diminishing the harm that racism has done to our society and to try and help people see each other properly and, by doing so, help each other,” Michaelis said in an interview with Postmedia.

“I had been working on this — peace and education — for a few years before the Sikh temple shooting, but when it happened it brought a new level of responsibility for me. And then meeting Pardeep was a huge inspiration. It brought a more powerful message of peace than I’d ever imagined possible,” he added.

The two men took their first tentative steps working together by speaking at a high school in front of 700 students. Watching and listening to the pair on stage together resonated with those teens. It was then they knew they had embarked on something special.

“We had them completely dialled in for 100 minutes and at the end there was a spontaneous standing ovation that brought tears to our eyes. It was a real indicator that we needed to put everything we had into this in order to reach people,” said Michaelis.

The men, both now fathers, plan on continuing the work and speaking anywhere people are open to the message they bring.

“The plan is to keep doing what we do and to keep building a narrative about speaking to people’s hearts,” said Kaleka.

“There is a new urgency in our lives. We want to do as much as we can to create a future for all our children. The worst thing would be later if children ask of their parents: ‘You saw these issues. Why didn’t you do anything about it?'” he added.

Religion does not enter directly into their talks, but faith certainly does. Kaleka said it is about finding wholeness within people despite differences.

“When we do this we are exhausted, but it is a fulfilling exhaustion and it makes you realize you are living your life’s purpose. What people are suffering from is a division from themselves — mind, body and spirit,” he said.

“That feeling of wholeness can’t happen unless you have a faith foundation. You cannot see this in the next person unless you see God or the divine within that person. That exists in us all. The question is how do we see the divine in that person because it might be a person I disagree with.”

Michaelis and Kaleka spoke Tuesday evening as part of Mount Royal University’s Manmeet Bhullar speaker series at the Bella Concert Hall. The Faculty of Arts Distinguished Speaker Series and the Office of the Provost funded the event.

These themes cut across many of the disciplines contained in MRU’s Faculty of Arts, said organizer Michael Hawley, associate professor of religious studies.

“It tells us of the value of what we do,” he said.

For more information visit www.giftofourwounds.com