Friday, March 22, 2019

The New Resolve, New Zealand, Summons


Today is the one-week anniversary of the horrific mosque massacres in Christchurch, in New Zealand.

The details are staggering:  50 persons dead, and over 20 persons injured, in 2 mass shootings, in 2 mosques. 

But the response of New Zealand's Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern is stirring

For starters, As the New York Times reported, Ardern announced on Thursday,  "...a national ban on all military-style semiautomatic weapons, all high-capacity ammunition magazines and all parts that allow weapons to be modified into the kinds of guns used in last week’s attack..."https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/21/world/gun-laws-australia-uk-germany-canada.html?action=click&module=RelatedCoverage&pgtype=Article&region=Footer

And then today, Ardern led a time of solidarity, as "...people across New Zealand observed the Muslim call to prayer...as thousands gathered in Hagley Park opposite the city's Al Noor mosque...as...Ardern [announced]  'We are one'...[as] thousands more listened on the radio or watched on television. The prayer was followed by two minutes of silence..."https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the-latest-australia-ups-its-scrutiny-of-white-supremacists/2019/03/21/1d3ac4ce-4c47-11e9-8cfc-2c5d0999c21e_story.html?utm_term=.1fe35e56cf42

Wow!  Pretty impressive leadership, in just a week's time.  

Such leadership calls forth a new resolve, in all of us, to take new, decisive, steps toward the curbing of guns -- and -- the curbing of prejudice toward those different from us -- in particular -- those of the Muslim faith.   

Specific action steps, flow from such resolve -- that we pray -- result in new gains toward peace and civility, on a globe, so violent and uncivil. 

Call To Action #1 -- Halt A Prejudicial, Punitive Outlook, On Those Different


Have you noticed:  we tend to be threatened by those different from us? The result: a suspicion of 'the other' -- and a tendency -- to think the worst.  

The vilification of Muslims has been especially pronounced.  For example, just in the U.S. alone, discrimination and harassment of Muslims are on the rise.  As the Council On American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has reported:
"...[There has been]...a 17 percent increase in anti-Muslim bias incidents nationwide in 2017 over 2016. This was accompanied by a 15 percent increase in hate crimes targeting American Muslims, including children, youth, and families, over the same period. Of particular alarm is the fact that federal government agencies instigated 35 percent of all anti-Muslim bias incidents recorded in 2017. This represents an almost unprecedented level of government hostility toward a religious minority within the United States, and is counter to the American value of religious freedom..."  http://www.islamophobia.org/#  
I'm guessing this stems from the assumption that any Muslim is a potential terrorist, especially after 9/11.  But that logic has proven woefully fallacious in the past.

For example, in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, many Japanese residents in the U.S. were assumed to be 'the enemy,' as well.  The result: Executive Order 9066, issued by Franklin Roosevelt, leading to the internment of hundreds of Japanese U.S. residents, many of whom were U.S. citizens, in inhuman camps.   As the U.S. Archives records this chapter of U.S. history:  
"...Roosevelt's order affected 117,000 people of Japanese descent, two-thirds of whom were native-born citizens of the United States...As four or five families with their sparse collections of clothing and possessions squeezed into and shared tar-papered barracks, life took on some familiar routines of socializing and school. However, eating in common facilities and having limited opportunities for work interrupted other social and cultural patterns..." https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/japanese-relocation 
Not surprisingly, the result was great injury to thousands of established Americans.  In response, in 1988, the U.S. Congress passed the Civil Liberties Acts, financially compensating affected Japanese Americans for their ordeal.  But only after a presidential commission in 1982 concluded that the internment program was a colossal failure of political leadership, stemming from war hysteria and racial prejudice.

The current wave of prejudice against Muslims is of a similar stripe:  failure of leadership, bathed in hysteria and prejudice.

We must resolve, not to participate.

Call To Action #2 -- Eliminate The Availability Of Weapons That Do Wide Harm 


One can make a case for a hunting rifle -- but not -- military-style semiautomatic weapons, or weapons with high-capacity ammunition magazines.   

And so, just as New Zealand's Prime Minister came to that conclusion and announced plans for a ban on such weapons, with dispatch -- other world leaders could also act, with dispatch, and implement similar action.

For how much more evidence do we need, that dire action is needed, now! 

This week, Nicholas Kristof suggested four practical steps that could occur rapidly, if U.S. lawmakers adopted the resolve and pragmatism of the New Zealand Prime Minister.  
"... [1.Gun Laws]...When Connecticut tightened licensing laws in 1995, firearm homicide rates dropped by 40 percent. And when Missouri eased gun laws in 2007, gun homicide rates surged by 25 percent...[2. Background Checks]...Astonishingly, about 22 percent of guns in the U.S. are still acquired without a background check. In parts of the U.S., you need a more thorough background check to adopt a dog than to acquire a semiautomatic AR-15 weapon...[3. 'Red-Flag' Laws]...Keep guns out of the hands of people shown to present a danger to themselves or others, such as when they are suicidal or threatening a domestic partner...[4. Smart Guns]. We should likewise invest more in “smart guns” that can be fired only by an authorized person; it’s outrageous that my phone requires a pin or fingerprint but that an AR-15 doesn’t..." https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/20/opinion/new-zealand-gun-control.html
Overall, we need to conclude that we can protect ourselves, without weaponry that is designed to slaughter and massacre.  Paul calls us to such new reality in 2 Corinthians 10:
"...For although we live in the natural realm, we don’t wage a military campaign employing human weapons...Instead, our spiritual weapons are energized with divine power to effectively dismantle the defenses behind which people hide...Since we are armed with...dynamic weaponry..." (2 Corthinians 10:3-6, The Passion Translation)

Call To Action #3 --  Resolve:  That If Any One Of Us Suffers, We All Suffer


I found it significant that Jacinda Ardern's call to pray today was in conjunction with the accustomed Muslim time of prayer -- and -- that as the New Zealand Prime Minister entered into prayer -- she declared: "New Zealand mourns with you. We are one...and then, two minutes of silence. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-newzealand-shootout/we-are-one-says-pm-ardern-as-new-zealand-mourns-with-prayers-silence-idUSKCN1R22GB

Though we must not suggest that specific, significant religious convictions do not exist between Christians and Muslims -- we can as Christians and Muslims affirm our common humanity -- and -- our common rootage in Abrahamic faith.   
"...[For, along with Judaism, Christianity and Islam are] linked to one common religious tradition that goes as far back as the time of the patriarchal prophet Abraham. This underlying religious tradition forms the solid foundation on which all three religions have built upon over the course of history, and from which each has developed different beliefs and ideals that set them apart from others. https://www.alislam.org/library/religions/christianity/judaism-christianity-and-islam-a-common-tradition/
And so, though we differ, we are also united, in a common identity as children of God.  And as such, we live out the love of God, compelling us to...
"...Hate what is evil; cling to what is good...Honor one another above yourselves...Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer...Practice hospitality...Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. (Romans 12:9-15).
And so we continue to mourn with our sisters and brothers in New Zealand.

But also motivated and resolved, to take new action toward stifling weapons of massacre -- and -- any threat, to any, of God's children!   

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