The two young men, brothers, may have come from a Chechen background, but they spent their formative years in America. The older generation of their family came to the US and Canada to escape ethnic and religious violence and had successfully established themselves and integrated into North American society. The older of the two men married a Christian woman and had a young child.
What happened? How did they become radicalized to the point that they could senselessly kill and maim innocent people? Why is it often young people who end up adopting extreme religious and political ideals? And of course, it is the young we send off to war.
In light of all this I was thinking of how Jesus managed to convince young men to leave behind their secure lives to follow him. For three years the disciples traipsed after Jesus trying to absorb the nature of his radical message. Of course with Jesus it was the invitation into a peaceful way of being in relationship with God, the promise of a new reign and a transformed hope based on love.
It may just be the nature of youth to be idealistic and ready for adventure. We see how it can go terribly, terribly wrong. We need to be committed to opening another pathway for our young people, rooted in the gospel. That same fervour will be the hope for us as a Christian community.
What are your musings about all this?
How much of this (as with Adam Lanza, James Holmes, Eric Harris, Dylan Klebold and others before them) comes from a combination of mental illness and a desire for infamy?
ReplyDeleteWhy does violence sell so easily to young people?
I have no good answers.
I think tempering adventure and logic gets crossed in our young people. Their whim convinces them this is a good idea, since that nagging little voice of reason is more of a whisper. We as adults (for the most part) have learned to listen to the whisper.
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