History will record that on Friday 15th March 2019, two Mosques in Christchurch New Zealand came under a shooting attack from a lone gunman. At time of writing, 50 Muslims have lost their lives and at least as many injured. Following are some of my thoughts on the Christchurch Mosques tragedy.
A lot of things crossed my mind when I heard the news. I can’t remember which came first. But before I get to that I’d like to recall two incidents which happened in Melbourne Australia when I lived there…
The first one became known as The Hoddle St Massacre. It was perpetrated by Julian Knight. A few weeks prior to his rampage, knight walked into the place where I worked. He looked like any ordinary person. There was nothing threatening or overtly sinister in his demeanor. Yet one Sunday night he shot and killed 7 people and injured 19 others.
The incident was literally too close to home. It occurred between home and my place of work. They were a mere five-minute drive apart. Moreover, it wasn’t uncommon for me and my brother to take a drive down Hoddle St. on a Sunday night. The incident sent long lasting shockwaves through Melbourne.
The second event was the Melbourne Queen St. Massacre. It occurred the same year as the Hoddle St. Massacre, a few months later. In a bizarre twist, Knight drew outrage when he opined why Vitkovic was able to kill more people than he had. Forensic psychologists later speculated that the killer (Vitkovic) may have identified with Knight.
A search of Vitkovic’s room after the killings revealed that Vitkovic kept press clippings of the Clifton Hill massacre [Hoddle St.], with extracts underlined in red.
So there was some connection between the two incidents: similar perceived grievances, with Vitkovic perhaps drawing inspiration from Knight. This is important to note when considering the history of Islamic terrorism and its inclination for retribution. What can we expect in the future?
Given the volatility regarding Islamic terrorism in Europe, the United Kingdom and the US – along with the rise of discontent – one might expect this sort of evil act. However, I was shocked that it happened in Christchurch New Zealand, a quiet peaceful place. If nothing else, we learned that sin and evil don’t have set geographical boundaries.
To gain some perspective of how this impacts the tiny Christchurch community, a Facebook friend posted the following hypothetical population-versus-death statistics using different cities: If this had happened in Houston, it would equate to 302 deaths; Sydney would equal 581 deaths; New York would come to 1127 deaths etc.
Melbourne had a much larger population (three-plus million at the time of the massacres) than Christchurch. The total deaths from these two events were less than half the Mosque killings. Yet they rocked Melbourne for years after. Sadly, we’ve now become so accustomed (conditioned-hardened?) to these incidents that it takes increasingly larger death tolls to shock us.
The general secular media outrages in the aftermath of the Christchurch tragedy were predictable – particularly when we learned the murderer’s identity. In their worldview, it proved that “Islamophobia” was the root cause of this tragedy. Some fingers inevitably pointed at Donald Trump, conservatives and, ironically, even a stunned Chelsea Clinton.
Predictably, there are those who will use incidents like this to condemn and stifle any fair criticism or concerns about the growing impact of Islam in western nations. For more on this see Robert Spencer’s article “So Long, Everybody.” Apologist David Woods’ has provided his perspectives on the Christchurch tragedy on his YouTube Channel
But where does all this leave the Christian?
Those of us who pay attention to the routine slaughter and persecution of Christians around the world feel frustrated. The selective secular media, and even many churches, largely ignore it. We see that Islam is protected in our home countries, whereas it’s open season on Christianity.
Despite this, as Christians, we’re called to love our enemies and to holiness, rather than frustration. And I am frustrated! We’re Ambassadors from another Kingdom. We are citizens of Heaven.
When I first heard about the Christchurch Mosque shootings, I thought of Nabeel Qureshi’s book Seeking Allah Finding Jesus. Qureshi was raised in a Muslim household. They had no thoughts about spreading Islam via terrorism. He recounts how afraid they were of retribution on the very day of the attack on the Twin Towers. He wrote:
We wanted people to know that we weren’t the enemy, no matter what they were hearing on the news. (Page 115)
God eventually called Qureshi out of Islam. For the Lord’s sake, he paid the price of being ostracized from his family. God is also calling many Muslims to salvation in the West and in Islamic dominated countries. They often face great trials for the sake of their new faith.
As Christians, we ought to empathize and pray for the families of the Christchurch victims. Think about the grief they’re going through, and their fears. Let’s pray that Christ’s love shines to them through Christian outreach. May the Holy Spirit use this tragic event to call these people to salvation, thereby glorifying God’s name.
Maranatha
P.S. Tiny Christchurch experienced a devastating earthquake in 2011 in which 185 people lost their lives. Let us pray for that city.
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