Senseless. Barbaric. Tragic. The news is still raw with the
latest mass murders, 49 people killed and at least 20 injured in what appears
to be coordinated attacks at two mosques. The leader is a male in his late 20s,
along with at least two others being held by local authorities. An 89-page
manifesto was left via a social media account just prior to the attacks, and it
reads like an amalgamation of the language similar to words used by the Islamic
State and al Qaeda, heavily biased anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric. Such
attacks are nearly commonplace in the United States, sad to say; perhaps not
every week, or even every month, but there have been enough in the past year
that this news is almost expected to come from this country.
Unfortunately, this happened in the city of Christchurch,
New Zealand.
The last time such a travesty happened in that country,
thirteen people were killed by a single man on a shooting rampage in late 1990.
That crime was not attributed to any xenophobia at the time, but New Zealand
did tighten its gun laws. By comparison, that was a minor incident with nearly
four times the victims, and the incidental evidence to go along with the suspect
in this latest atrocity. Reports from New Zealand discuss the detailed planning
of the attacks. Four people were initially arrested, with at least one
confirmed to be an Australian citizen, and witnesses saying one of their
attackers wore some kind of uniform.
Social media was certainly abuzz during and after the
attacks, with one of the gunmen livestreaming their actions – this video has
since been pulled by the social media websites, and authorities request no one
share any copies they might have downloaded. In the aftermath, politicians and
celebrities have condemned the actions of the perpetrators and sent condolences
to those affected. This is as per usual, the people of the world unite in
mourning and condemnation for a time, and then things go back to normal for
most of the masses.
This is not the first international attack targeting
immigrants – especially Muslims. The anti-Islamic sentiment in the latest manifesto
is becoming less of a fringe and more common than most want to admit. In the
last three years, hate crimes and extremist protests are on the rise, and while
official word from the White House sends condolences to the families, it has
not specifically condemned the actions of the New Zealand attackers. Conservatism,
nationalism at an increasing rate, along with more pressure towards
isolationism in countries all over the world – all this is contributing to the
increasing hatred and xenophobic nature of many current events nationally and
internationally. “Brexit”, “America First”, “MAGA”, to name a few, are the
catch phrases, the banners which some use to justify the actions taken by what
many used to consider fringe groups – those who now can walk openly and defy common
civility.
Consider This – it is time for an attitude adjustment.
This global trend of turning within is the wrong direction. The
polarization of the people is coming to a head, with the isolationism battling
against inclusion. We see the bumper stickers and social media memes about
sharing the world, “COEXIST” in the different religious symbols. THIS is the
direction we should be going, embracing our differences and try to understand
the other point of view, the other side of the coin. Too often the apparent
conflict, the competition is between each other, when it should be considered a
competition within ourselves. After a tragedy – whether natural or man-made – there
is a brief unification of the nations of the world. Instead of letting it fade,
we need to embrace this unification and make a change in attitude. We can’t let
differences define our existence, or our relationships between people or
nations. We share this world, and need to learn how to coexist in nurturing,
harmonic unity.
If we look at our own nation, the nationalist trend which
started when Trump took office is seeing the backlash of the progressive,
liberal movement which started in that same election cycle. Many believe if the
Democrats had chosen Bernie Sanders instead of Hillary Clinton, the election
results would have been different, and the path our nation is one would have
been different as well. But it isn’t too late to take a serious look at where
we are as a nation, and determine where we want to be as participants in the future
society of the world.
Coexist. Love, not hate.
