Hate Has No Home Here Lawn Sign
The young man who ruthlessly murdered four innocent people in London Ontario recently will be in court today to face charges which may include hate crimes and domestic terrorism. The entire country was shocked by this mass murder of a family which was destroyed because they were Muslim. This was the latest in a string of violent anti-Muslim crimes in Canada, several of which have resulted in the deaths of those going about their everyday lives, including attending worship.
There was a massive rally of sorrow and support in London on Tuesday, which was heartening. Politicians made the right noises to denounce anti-Muslim sentiments, including some who voted against a motion condemning Islamophobia in Parliament a couple of years ago. How is that for moxy? And Premier Ford was there, the man who had tried to push through creating a university from a fundamentalist Christian college, which touts homophobia and Islamophobia as gospel.
I figure that the majority of Canadians are not really Islamophobic in any extreme sense. Yet a disturbing number feel okay with being disrespectful and just plain ignorant about those who worship differently than they do, if they actually worship at all.
We have friendly neighbours with whom we get along well, and we do our best to be mutually supportive. Not long ago she saw Ruth at a task outside and came over to help. They spoke about grandkids being schooled from home and somehow her conversation shifted to religion. To Ruth's surprise there was a "those people" comment, as in "those people come here and we can't have the Lord's Prayer in schools anymore." To Ruth's credit she offered in her calm way that this isn't how she feels. It's curious because we've never seen these neighbours head out to church on Sunday mornings in the eight years we've lived here. What is this really about?
This is the sort of outlook which is casually expressed by those who feel entitled to do so about those with different coloured skin and different religions, even when "those people" may have lived in Canada for generations. In the case of Indigenous peoples, they resided here for thousands of years before settlers arrived, people who lied about the allegedly peaceful and mutual relationships they wanted to establish. Maybe those of us who are White need to get our stories straight.
What happened in London is an extreme example of hatred, yet we need to consider what lies beneath the surface in terms of prejudice and dislike, even if the majority would never resort to violence. People have also claimed that "this is not our London" and these words have been spoken with sincerity. Yet a family out for a walk on a lovely evening in a city with approximately 30,000 Muslims was struck down.
I think it's time for Christian congregations to revisit documents such as the United Church study program called That We May Know Each Other: United Church Muslim Relations Today from 2006. We can examine our own consciences and actions and ask how we might better exhibit the love of Christ for all. Should we all find one of those lawn signs as well?
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