It is the eve of Christmas eve, where shopping for last minute Santa presents, food and drinks intensity is creeping to stratospheric proportions, writes Ruta Mave.

The air is a buzz of who are you spending Christmas day with?  What food will be prepared? Where there are ribbons bows, paper and tape? If you haven’t cried out “Oh for heaven’s sake” at some point then you truly haven’t experienced the Christmas spirit. 

In amongst it all, spare a thought for the fact that Christmas has the word Christ in it and it is his birthday. Remember the nativity scene of an animal manger, a bed of straw with baby Jesus receiving gifts from three highly educated spiritual men who are the originators for Christians celebrating Christmas with gift giving. They travelled a long way on camels across the desert following a star to Bethlehem, ten kilometres south of Jerusalem which is in the Middle East.

While some Cook Islanders call to be an official Christian state, it is not the people who pray we need to be worried about when there are those who prey on the young, old and vulnerable in our community. There is a dark underbelly lurking in our community with dangerous drugs in our midst. Marijuana is nothing in comparison. There is a gnawing suspicion that tourists who visit other islands for dark pleasures may look here as a destination. The focus should be to keep the Cook Islands clean and safe for all.

Christians while you shake your Bible at our Muslim workers praying for peace and love as you are. You also sit silently next to alcoholics, thieves, wife beaters and child abusers and say nothing. You don’t remove those at risk out of harms way. Is the Christian way to pray, forgive and let God sort it out?

One of the greatest and most globally known Muslim man is, Muhammad Ali. Float like a butterfly sting like a bee was his boxing motto. Originally born Cassius Clay after his grandfather who was a strong abolitionist on antislavery. He won a gold medal for boxing in 1960 Rome Olympics, representing his country America – home of the brave and the free. He was celebrated as a hero. When he went back to his hometown and sat in a restaurant to order breakfast, he was told “We don’t serve niggers here.”  He replied, “That’s okay because I don’t eat them.”

That was when he turned to Islam and changed his name from his slave owner’s given name.

He refused induction into the army citing his religious beliefs and ethical opposition as the reason. He believed he shouldn’t fight in a conflict he saw as unjust, especially as a black man in America facing discrimination at home. “Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so called negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights. If I thought war was going to bring freedom and equality to 22 million of my people they wouldn’t have to draft me.”

Ali refused to fight while he prays for peace, but many Christians have gone to war in the name of God fighting for peace.

“Hating people because of their colour is wrong. And it doesn’t matter which colour does the hating it’s just plain wrong.” Ali was best friends with Jewish comedian Billy Crystal.

In an interview, Ali pointed out the underlying racism we have in our everyday lives. “Why is Jesus white with blonde hair and blue eyes? Why are all the disciples white, and all the angels are white, where are the beautiful black angels? Tarzan the king of the jungle in Africa is white. Angel cake is white, devil cake is chocolate, the ugly duckling is black, but becomes beautiful, when it is a white swan. A black cat is bad luck. If I threaten you, I’m going to blackmail you, why don’t they call it whitemail they are lie too.”

Closer to home is Sonny Bill Williams, a NZ heavyweight boxer and a former professional rugby league and rugby union player. Williams converted to Islam in 2009. The first Muslim to play for the All Blacks and has spoken extensively about his faith. “I’ve become a true Muslim. It’s giving me happiness. It’s made me become content as a man and helped me to grow. I’ve just got faith in it and it has definitely helped me become the man I am today.”

In a call for acceptance, Muhammed Ali said “Rivers, ponds, lakes and streams they all have different names, but they all contain water. Just as religions do, they all contain truths.”