Posted on: Friday, January 10, 2003

ISLAND VOICES
Aloha isn't warranted for these protesters

Malcolm Chun is a cultural specialist at the University of Hawai'i, Manoa.

The imminent plans of protest and picketing by Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., of government and church sites should be an important community issue for a state so steeped in the traditions and economics of hospitality.

Their presence does pose a dilemma to the manner in which our island community responds to such uninvited guests.

Should they be, as some have suggested, welcomed in the spirit of aloha, or should there be counter-protests to their stand against homosexuality? If the former is attempted, it would be more from a perceived sense of Christian "charity" perhaps based upon Jesus' words to "turn the other cheek" or from the deep commitment we have to economic hospitality.

Such a welcome would not be found in our cultural traditions. A good example can be found in the dialogue between the paramount chief of the island of Hawai'i, Kalani'opu'u, and his wife, Kalola, when he had his forces attack the island of Maui. Maui was ruled by Kahekili, the brother of Kalola.

When Kalani'opu'u realized that defeat was imminent, he pleaded with his wife to go to see her brother to negotiate a peace. Kalani'opu'u said to Kalola, "O Honokawailani! We shall all be killed. Do go up to your brother, Kahekili, to sue for peace."

Kalola answered, "It will not do any good for me to go, for we came to deal death. If we had come offering love, we should have been received with affection."

Aloha is a means to establish relationships, to maintain them and to recover them, if necessary. It should not be used as a religious or political pretext in an uncomfortable situation. The Westboro Baptist Church is not coming here "offering love," and it should not expect to be "received with affection."

What should or could people do? Instead of counter-demonstrations, which might only heighten their visibility, perhaps as a community recognizing that a unique experience in the human condition has happened here in these Islands, we can practice and live that aloha better in our own lives and with each other.

We can smile more, be more courteous on the road, in a waiting line, and make more deliberate attempts to live aloha so that people will know this is not the Mainland.