We deplore the senseless, cruel and evil taking of lives, especially in the name of a religious faith.

In the aftermath of the Paris massacres at the hands of terrorist gangsters, there began to appear in social media and across internet sites, the too-predictable diatribes about the fanaticism of Islam, the hatred of "these people" who are intent on destroying Israel and her allies. This is sad to hear. It makes me wonder if more people in the world need to get to better know, at a personal level, their Muslim neighbors.

My association with Muslim families, over the years, has acquainted me with people whose religion has supported and encouraged within them such virtues as forgiveness toward others, a striving for peace among all people, working against all forms of injustice, taking care of one’s aging parents with a joyful and appreciative spirit, having compassion to people and animals, never judging anyone because of race, income, or status in society.

The Muslims I have known wake up in the morning, get their kids off to school, go to work, buy groceries on the way home, cook dinner, help their children with their homework and wonder, like most of us, how they’re going to pay all the bills sitting on the corner of the kitchen counter.

Yes, terrorist attacks plunge us, understandably, into despair as we wonder if these kinds of violent attacks on ordinary people, going about their daily lives, will ever end. I pray daily that they will.

In the meantime, I also pray that people of good will do not close their hearts to the people who identify with the Muslim faith, ordinary people, who are trying to find meaning, fulfillment, inner peace — people who, as in all of the major religions of the world, seek to practice a version of the Golden Rule — of doing for others as we want them to do for us.

Yes, I know that there is the fear of unidentified, terrorists among the multitudes of the Syrian refugees, and it is important that heightened security measures be put into place.

At the same time, let us also consider, that the thousands of refugees streaming out of Syria are mothers and fathers with their children, who are seeking to find a place they can call "home" where there is no banging at the door in the middle of the night by militants with automatic weapons, where there are no explosives going off on the street they used to walk down every day, where their children are not hovering in the corners of the room, screaming and crying through the night.

Syrian refugees may not make it to the distant shores of Hawaii. But if they did, I have a feeling that those of us who have experienced the welcoming, affirming, neighborly spirit of aloha will be highly motivated to help them build a life among us. Those of us who have been on the receiving end of hatred, irrational fear and discrimin- ation have learned a valuable lesson — it hurts to be turned away because of prejudice — and it means the world to be embraced, and to be given a chance, a new start, a hopefulness for a brighter tomorrow.

May we not let the distorted perceptions of a respected major religious faith, and the knee-jerk reactive fear of terrorists in our midst, deter us from putting our good will into action by having a welcoming spirit to those who have already known too much, heartache, fear, rejection, cruelty, despair.

Let’s be the people of Aloha that God intends for us to be.