All at the Same Address...
Hello everyone, like most of you, I am writing this with a heavy heart after the terrible events in Christchurch, New Zealand, to even try and imagine the horror those people faced, when they'd begun their day undoubtedly looking forward to meeting with their community to pray - who amongst them could have believed such a horrific event was about to happen. As for the perpetrator? He did know, he had known for the two years he had apparently been planning this murderous campaign - he had been riddled and fuelled by his own hatred of people he saw as 'different' from himself. Leaders from so many nations across the world, sent their condolences, well-chosen words, which, I don't doubt, were sincerely meant at the time. But I cannot help but wonder, if any of those leaders took a long, hard look at their own policies, the inflammatory language they'd used in the past and, perhaps, worst of all, how many of them in the weeks to come, will still assume an anti-something stance - be it Muslim, immigrant, Jewish, Palestinian...the list goes on.
I am well aware of the need for strict rules regarding immigration, no nation can afford to open its doors to everyone without applying strict tests, without performing background checks, after all, the home nation citizens need to be protected. But when that need is used to seemingly promote an 'us and them' agenda, it can only serve to permeate through the population - that their nation is the 'best' and all others are, in some way, inferior so 'we need to keep them out.' I could not disagree more with this way of thinking, no nation is better or worse than another - their leaders definitely - but the general population ? Absolutely not. I believe you could go anywhere in the world and find families who want nothing more than to raise their children, live peaceful lives and be allowed to follow their chosen faith without fear of devastating reprisals.
It may sound naïve and simplistic, but despite the fact, we are all of different nationalities, live thousands of miles apart, hold different beliefs, speak a variety of languages - it all happens on one single, beautiful planet. When the NZ Prime Minister said 'They are us', it's true - even the most extreme radical cannot attempt to suggest there are a whole range of different worlds because there's only one and we need to start accepting, whatever else we might be, we are all citizens of the same place.
As I understand things, it seems white supremacy is now a growing trend, in the face of an alleged threat from any group perceived to be somehow 'less.' Surely you only have to look at recent history to see how divisive and damaging to society, that kind of belief can be - after all it wasn't so long ago, the Nazis were promoting that same doctrine. As we all know, they saw several groups within their community as being undesirable, ranging from Jews, to gypsies, to homosexuals, to people with either long term mental or physical health issues...in fact, anyone they decided was not like them. In the 70 years since those dark days, for all our apparent advancements - it seems there are still people, (sadly some leaders), who can only see someone's colour, faith, sexuality etc instead of just seeing another human being.
Until we as a world population can really appreciate each other, make a genuine effort to understand the glory of human diversity in all its forms, I think it's unlikely, the awful events in NZ will not happen again. Is that really the world we want for our children? Wherever you might be, whatever faith, colour, race, you are..I don't believe you want that, any more than I do.
There are so many issues facing our world, would it not be more productive to unite and try working together to solve them instead of dwelling on our alleged differences? Of course there will always be a few amongst us, who want to wreak havoc, who want to cause destruction, but their voices would be swiftly silenced if we all spoke- as one world- and said 'no more.' If instead of allowing divisions to form within our communities, we stopped anyone trying to break us apart. No group of people can ever be allowed to be seen as less worthy of respect than another, because, as I've already said, when that happens, the worst possible potential outcomes become stark, horrific realities.
It may seem as if I feel the world is doomed, I don't, because the vast majority of the population of our world, don't want violence on their streets, they want to happily co-exist with their neighbours- despite what some leaders might want to believe. Also I have a sincere hope, with so many ways of communicating around the world, we are starting to learn and understand more about each other.
I hope when the memorial service for those who were killed in Christchurch is held, wherever you are n the world, you take a moment and imagine what those families are suffering...their tragic loss was entirely due to one person considering himself 'better' than them - let's hope, from now on, we consider ourselves - the whole population of our world - infinitely better than him and anyone else who shares those same beliefs....we call ourselves a civilised society, let's also strive to be an inclusive one....until the next time …
Take care out there xx
I am well aware of the need for strict rules regarding immigration, no nation can afford to open its doors to everyone without applying strict tests, without performing background checks, after all, the home nation citizens need to be protected. But when that need is used to seemingly promote an 'us and them' agenda, it can only serve to permeate through the population - that their nation is the 'best' and all others are, in some way, inferior so 'we need to keep them out.' I could not disagree more with this way of thinking, no nation is better or worse than another - their leaders definitely - but the general population ? Absolutely not. I believe you could go anywhere in the world and find families who want nothing more than to raise their children, live peaceful lives and be allowed to follow their chosen faith without fear of devastating reprisals.
It may sound naïve and simplistic, but despite the fact, we are all of different nationalities, live thousands of miles apart, hold different beliefs, speak a variety of languages - it all happens on one single, beautiful planet. When the NZ Prime Minister said 'They are us', it's true - even the most extreme radical cannot attempt to suggest there are a whole range of different worlds because there's only one and we need to start accepting, whatever else we might be, we are all citizens of the same place.
As I understand things, it seems white supremacy is now a growing trend, in the face of an alleged threat from any group perceived to be somehow 'less.' Surely you only have to look at recent history to see how divisive and damaging to society, that kind of belief can be - after all it wasn't so long ago, the Nazis were promoting that same doctrine. As we all know, they saw several groups within their community as being undesirable, ranging from Jews, to gypsies, to homosexuals, to people with either long term mental or physical health issues...in fact, anyone they decided was not like them. In the 70 years since those dark days, for all our apparent advancements - it seems there are still people, (sadly some leaders), who can only see someone's colour, faith, sexuality etc instead of just seeing another human being.
Until we as a world population can really appreciate each other, make a genuine effort to understand the glory of human diversity in all its forms, I think it's unlikely, the awful events in NZ will not happen again. Is that really the world we want for our children? Wherever you might be, whatever faith, colour, race, you are..I don't believe you want that, any more than I do.
There are so many issues facing our world, would it not be more productive to unite and try working together to solve them instead of dwelling on our alleged differences? Of course there will always be a few amongst us, who want to wreak havoc, who want to cause destruction, but their voices would be swiftly silenced if we all spoke- as one world- and said 'no more.' If instead of allowing divisions to form within our communities, we stopped anyone trying to break us apart. No group of people can ever be allowed to be seen as less worthy of respect than another, because, as I've already said, when that happens, the worst possible potential outcomes become stark, horrific realities.
It may seem as if I feel the world is doomed, I don't, because the vast majority of the population of our world, don't want violence on their streets, they want to happily co-exist with their neighbours- despite what some leaders might want to believe. Also I have a sincere hope, with so many ways of communicating around the world, we are starting to learn and understand more about each other.
I hope when the memorial service for those who were killed in Christchurch is held, wherever you are n the world, you take a moment and imagine what those families are suffering...their tragic loss was entirely due to one person considering himself 'better' than them - let's hope, from now on, we consider ourselves - the whole population of our world - infinitely better than him and anyone else who shares those same beliefs....we call ourselves a civilised society, let's also strive to be an inclusive one....until the next time …
Take care out there xx
