This week has seen two
high-profile, tragic incidents in the news.
First the hostage crisis and 16 hour siege in Sydney in which 2 people
were killed, and then the attack on the school in Pakistan, in which 132
children and 9 teachers were killed, and 125 others were wounded. Both of these were, at least ostensibly,
religiously motivated actions, although I suspect that political motivations
were just as significant, and it seems as though in the latter event, revenge
played a greater part than either.
Both were carried out by Muslims,
the first by a lone individual, the second by a group acting as part of the
Pakistani branch of the Taliban. There
has been very little positive news regarding Muslims making headlines recently,
and as a result it’s increasingly easy to immediately think of Muslims when one
hears the word ‘terrorist’ or ‘extremist’.
As a result, the Muslim community, both here in the UK, and across the
world hardly needs more bad publicity, and the vast moderate majority must be
despairing, as well as shocked and outraged by what, certainly in the second
case at least, can only be called atrocities.
But on top of this must be a
great sense of apprehension, even fear.
After all, when Lee Rigby was murdered by Muslim fanatics in the UK,
there was a surge of anti-Muslim feeling, with mosques vandalised and Muslims
verbally abused in the streets. It will
be sad, but ultimately unsurprising if these recent events don’t cause similar
reactions in various places.
It is incredibly heartening then
to see that people have already taken steps to ensure that this doesn’t happen,
or at least try and limit it as much as possible. In Australia, #i’llridewithu trended on Twitter.
The idea was for people to offer to accompany visibly identifiable
Muslims on public transport to help protect them from any
abuse that might be triggered by the events in Sydney. To what extent this has worked, or was even
necessary I don’t know, but it shows a very encouraging response, a level of
understanding rather than scapegoating or generalising. It would have been good if such a thing had
occurred here in the aftermath of the Lee Rigby murder. I hope that next time, and I fear that there
will be many next times, something similar will be seen.
In India, the traditional rival
and foe of Pakistan, and between whom there is a large amount of very bad
feeling which has festered for decades, #IndiawithPakistan
began trending on Twitter, as people in India responded to the attack on the
school with an outpouring of sympathy and compassion. It is far too much to hope that this tragedy
might lead to a greater reconciliation between the two countries, but it does
at least emphasise the fact that people are not their governments, and that
historical enemies can be united, albeit briefly, by grief.
These acts were acts of evil, but
as is often the case, some good has come of them. If it can be sustained and repeated, if
forgiveness and understanding can replace bitterness and vengefulness, then
much will have been achieved. They may
seem like small, insignificant things in the face of massacres and killings,
but it is the many tiny, individually insignificant acts of kindness,
forgiveness and love that counterbalance the monolithic evils of the
world. Better that they’d never happened
at all, but if evil must occur, and I believe that in our world it must always be
possible, then we must strive to ensure that at least as much good comes out of
it too.
Last Sunday, before either of
these events occurred, the church I attend printed the following prayer in its
notices as the Prayer of the Week:
Through Heartbreak to Hope
The assignment is clear:
Bind up the broken, proclaim life restored.
Always be joyful!
Sing a song of hope;
Offer it to the world regardless of ears to hear it.
Lord, keep me fixed on the coming light,
Just visible through the haze of my tears.
Lord, clothe me in hope,
The garment of splendour for a heavy heart.
Amen.
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