??

Why would a man take a gun, and go into a mosque, and kill and injure almost 100 people.? And it seems that he had planned it for a very long time. He picked out the mosque that he planned to carry out this massacre. He had had these feelings for a long time. In his manifesto or essay, he talked about the many other massacres that had inspired such violence. He named the shooter who killed the Muslims at the mosque in Quebec City.

This is a lot of hatred built up over a long time. I think about doing stupid stuff , but my conscience or ethics stops me quickly. I would never think about doing this. What happened to this man, that he carried these kinds of thoughts for such a long time in his life ? He may have kept them to himself, and he never had a doubt he had in his mind that he was going to do ? How can a person keep such awful thoughts and actions in his mind for such a long time ? Is he mentally ill ? And what is wrong with Muslims ? Nothing.

We think this is awful, but what about rational killing by the military-industrial complex that happens everyday. But , that is for our own self-defence. We are killing our enemies ( I know Jesus said something about enemies one time ), and that seems to be fine. We rationalize it as part of our national security. We can threaten Haiti, Panama, Venezuela, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan among many other places. And we call it normal. Threatening nations and people should not be considered normal at all. Politicians in Canada and America talk about that the problems in Venezuela might call into question our national security ( it is all about oil ? ). They have said this with a straight face, like it is normal. So, we can attack the country of Venezuela whenever we feel the need. Even if that would go against international law, but it is in our national security. No questions asked.

Let me return to the recent events of New Zealand. If this man thinks that a certain religious or ethnic group is endangering his life and the life of his country , then he thinks he is justified in carrying out this violent act of killing innocent people. I presume, if he say it to himself over and over again, that is becomes to him a justifiable act. It is not. It is a crime against humanity . It is a crimes against all of us. It hurts all of us.

“God, we are a broken and sinful people. Come near us, so that we might learn to be compassionate people to everyone. Help us to love even our enemies . That will change our perspective in life, but maybe not our enemy. Your son’s words on the cross, saying, “ Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing [ to me ] . Forgiveness and reconciliation are the hardest things in life. They are not easy God. Help us along, so we might be peacemakers. AMEN. “

Fred Redekop