Civilized peoples around the world are grieved and deeply disturbed by the tragic events in Christchurch, New Zealand. As of now, 49 Muslims have died and 39 others are hospitalized as a result of a terrorist shooting at two mosques last Friday. In the wake of this horrific massacre, it is difficult to find the right tone to criticize anyone except the perpetrators. It should be time of reflection for all of us. Questions abound. How could it happen that a peaceful country like New Zealand has been transformed suddenly into a scene of terrorism? What sort of world have we fashioned for ourselves? Sadly, it is a world where acts of violence are taught to children through videogames and where violence is becoming the preferred method of problem solving.
Instead of considering the seriousness of this tragedy, the anti-Trump media and leading Democrats have taken their predictable course: Blame the President! Absorbed by their obsessive hate of Donald Trump, they cannot resist being opportunists and exploiting a human tragedy for their own political gain. Aside from the incredibly poor timing of their comments, there is as always the matter of evidence.
In his so-called “Manifesto”, the accused murderer Brenton Tarrant refers explicitly to the book The Great Replacement (2012) written by the right-wing French author Renaud Camus. In this book, Camus proposes a conspiracy theory, claiming that Muslims are replacing white European and French Catholic cultures. According to statements of Tarrant himself, he began planning the attack after visiting Europe in 2017 where he witnessed Islamic violence against Europeans. In particular, he said that the Stockholm attack in 2017, during which an 11-year-old child was killed, was the first event that motivated him to violence. The header photo on his Twitter account shows a victim of the 2016 Bastille Day massacre perpetrated by the Islamic terrorist group ISIS; 77 people were killed and 150 injured. Following Camus, Tarrant entitled his Manifesto “The Great Replacement”, and he imitated the style of his Islamophobic idol Anders Behring Breivik who killed 69 people on a Norwegian island in 2011. From Breivik, Tarrant received his primary inspiration. Another “hero” of Tarrant was Dylan Roof who killed 9 African-Americans during a church service in Charleston, SC in 2015.
So what does all of this have to do with Donald Trump? In his rambling Manifesto Tarrant wrote: “Were/are you a supporter of Donald Trump? As a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose? Sure. As a policy maker and leader? Dear god no”. Based on this one comment, CBS news online reported under the heading “What we know about the New Zealand shooting” the following, as though it were the crux of Tarrant’s message: We know that Tarrant called President Trump a “symbol of renewed white identity”. This is not false, but it certainly conveys a skewed impression of Tarrant’s rant. Furthermore, Tarrant’s statement about Donald Trump does not even remotely suggest that he was inspired by the President. On the contrary, he doesn’t seem to have much respect for the President as a policy maker and a leader. But then why should a racist mass murderer approve of the President’s policies? President Trump is not a racist; he does not condone violence against minority groups; and unlike the radical right-wing groups that have gloated over this massacre, the President immediately offered his condolences to the families of the victims.
It is shameless that the anti-Trump media and many Democrats are politicizing this tragedy. Their comments are not only baseless; they are counterproductive. It is obvious that we have a serious problem today with intolerance and violence at home and abroad. We are currently observing a rising anti-Semitism within the political left. Both Muslims and Jews are being attacked verbally and physically by political extremists. African-Americans have been attacked, and Caucasians are now being attacked by liberal professors at our universities as well as by the mainstream media.
If one searches for a common thread in all of this, it appears that our world is becoming increasingly divided into individual groups, each characterized by a strong group identity and by hostility toward others. In spite of its rhetoric about diversity and inclusion, the radical left is just as intolerant as the radical right. Just try expressing a conservative view today on a university campus! Personally I find the situation to be extremely complex, and I can offer at present no solution. I am convinced, however, that the starting point for finding a solution must be an honest assessment of our situation. As far as honesty is concerned, I no longer expect from the mainstream media much more than I expect from the National Enquirer. My hope is that our leaders, Democrats and Republicans alike, will awaken to the severity of the situation and find a common ground for dialogue.
Villager Jack E. Brush is a frequent contributor to Villages-News.com
