Episode 9 of Endeavor Against Extremism is particularly special for two reasons. First, I speak with former extremist Arno Michaelis on how becoming a father pulled him out of extremism. The preventing/countering violent extremism sector often enough looks at the role of gender in extremism, but only through the lens of motherhood. When it discusses masculinity, the focus is on how toxic masculinity concepts pull men in, but rarely is the a conversation on how authentic masculinity pulls men out of the ideology and into their power as men. I discuss that with Arno, but somewhere in there something quite incredible happens: a realization that the other is speaking a language that often isn't understood ...the language of compassion, kindness, love and vulnerability. I threw away any other question I had lined up and decided to move this conversation into a figurative open field. And that is what makes this podcast episode so special, and I wish it was available in video too so you could see the meeting of the minds that started taking place. I dug into this conversation uncharacteristically hurried, running late from one meeting to another, and yet as soon as we started speaking resonating on the same wavelength, we eased into the real conversation, which I share with you here fully and unedited, and hope you enjoy.
About Arno Michaelis:
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Arno Michaelis was a leader of a worldwide racist skinhead organization, a reverend of a self-declared Racial Holy War, and lead singer of the hate-metal band Centurion, which sold 20,000 CDs by the mid-nineties and is still popular with racists today. Single parenthood, love for his daughter, and the forgiveness shown by people he once hated all helped to turn Arno's life around, bringing him to embrace diversity and practice gratitude for all life. After spending over a decade as a successful information technology consultant and entrepreneur, Arno is now a speaker, author of My Life After Hate, co-author of The Gift of Our Wounds, and very fortunate to be able to share his ongoing process of character development as an educator working with Serve 2 Unite. Founded as an ongoing peaceful response to the August 5th 2012 Sikh Temple shooting in Oak Creek, WI, S2U engages students creatively with a global network of peacemakers and mentors in partnership with Against Violent Extremism, The Forgiveness Project, Search For Common Ground, and Parents for Peace.
Visit: https://www.parents4peace.org https://www.lifeafterhate.org
About Shireen Qudosi
Shireen Qudosi is a writer and speaker on faith, identity, and belonging. She’s one of the leading North American Muslim Reformers. Her work has been published in The Federalist, Women in the World, Clarion Project, The Middle East Forum, and more. Her keynote writings also include an in-depth assessment on the War on Terror through the lens of WWII and a two-hour exclusive interview with radical Imam Abu Taubah, who was linked to Orlando Shooter Omar Mateen. In 2016, Shireen testified before the House Homeland Security Committee Hearing on radical Islam, offering a powerful testimony that tied the current crisis to Islam’s origin story. “Original Islam” is a theme that runs through the veins of her work, and is central to the book project she is pursuing. In 2017, Shireen launched a petition against Davis hate imam Ammar Shahin, which broadened into a small movement in 2018. She carried her message on hate imams in Never Again is Now, a documentary by filmmaker Evelyn Markus, on the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe and the United States. In 2019, she bridged her experience in reform to ally with former extremists and develop a training series on preventing violent extremism.
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