It can always undoubtedly be stated, that religious views differ. Wars are fought over religious differences: ways of thinking, ways of living, and ways of answering the world’s greatest questions. The comparison of Malcolm X and Thich Nhat Hanh suggests that both Islam and Buddhism are avenues directed towards peace, but also that there different paths are permitted. The lives of these two men provide that peace is attainable through different paths- that there is no one right answer to our greatest questions. The contrasting paths to peace of Malcolm X and Thich Naht Hanh are evinced by the distinction of sacred and holy, and the juxtaposition of omni-partiality and chutzpah. Malcolm X and Thich Naht Hanh, though both inspired religious…show more content… Malcolm X demonstrates the exact opposite of omni-partiality as he relates that he “learned to hate every drop of the white rapist’s blood that is in [him]” (Fasching 277). Malcolm X devotes his adult life to leading a social movement on behalf of the oppressed, specifically African American citizens. Malcolm emphasizes the values of chutzpah by changing his name from Malcolm Little to Malcolm X was his way of, “rejecting the sacred order of white racist society,” and standing up with audacity against the oppressive white supremacists of his time (Fasching 281). Thich Naht Hanh most effectively demonstrates his affinity for omni-partiality in his poem “Call Me By My True Names” where he writes, “I am the frog… I am the bird… I am the child in Uganda… I am the arms merchant” (Fasching 185- 186). Unlike Malcolm X, Thich Naht Hanh places an emphasis on a lack of self identity. Rather than defining who he is and fighting for what he believes in, Thich Naht Hanh takes a more universal approach and imagines himself in the shoes of the stranger, a “child in Uganda,” and the “arms merchant” alike. Although the paths to enlightenment of Thich Naht Hanh and Malcolm X were contradictory, representing the differences in sacred and holy, and those of chutzpah and omni-partiality, both paths were effective and created meaningful
