At approximately 7 in the morning MDT on Friday March 15th, a white nationalist Australian named Brenton Tarrant attacked two mosques in quick succession in an attempt to kill as many individuals practicing the Islamic faith as he could. Individuals he chose to think of as immigrants and “plagues” in New Zealand. Tarrant used social media to post a long racist document called “The Great Replacement”. A term used by many anti-immigration movements in Europe. In the end 49 people lost their lives with many more requiring intensive surgery. Tarrant was a deranged, racist, evil individual who believed his actions were for the betterment of society. However, it only casts more light on a problem that has been extremely prevalent in the international community. The question now is does this paint a dark painting for the future or can we find light within the dark?
Many could look at this event or those preceding it as a dangerous trend on the rise within the worldwide community. Recent reactions across the world present a dark image of what has happened and what is to come. It is understandable to look upon this attack and those like it with distaste. However, we cannot let this event dictate how we see the world around us. Through this tragedy, we can see a rise of support that can show that despite the hatred we experience now, there is a brighter future.
In the aftermath of the attack groups of people have bonded together and moved forward with uniting against hatred. The stories we see coming out of the international community as a result of these attacks show the strong bond that we as humans can create in the face of adversity. A prime example is near the New Zealand embassy in Tel Aviv, both those of Jewish and Islamic faith prayed together for the victims of the attack together. Two groups of marginally differing beliefs came together in prayer for those who suffered. Two groups with a long history of conflict and violence between them set aside their difference in order to join together in the face of tyranny.
Another example is several world leaders from US President Donald Trump and British Queen Elizabeth the 2nd all the way to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have expressed their condolences and their support to those of New Zealand. It may be true that each of these individuals have their own beliefs on the true source of the problem but at least they agree it’s a problem. And instead of turning their backs on other, they supported the hurting nation and showed their willingness to come together to show their disapproval of such awful actions.
A personal example is of 95 year old WW2 veteran, John Sato, and his long journey to make an anti-racism rally in New Zealand. This is just a prime example of the compassion people can feel for others when they are hurting. And the lengths we can and will go to in order to support each other.
In conclusion, although it is true that what happened in New Zealand is awful and just one of unfortunately many incidents. However, we can see that despite the religious differences, the hatred, and the hurt, we can all come together to help our fellow man. This may have been an attack on those of the Islamic faith, but despite that there is diamonds in the rough. But I ask you reader, do you think this is a sign of things to come or can we look at the bright side?
In Tel Aviv, Jews join with Muslims in vigil mourning New Zealand dead
Mosque attacks spark outrage, fuel concern over Islamophobia
contemporaryamericanreligion 
I appreciate you writing about this so soon after this happened. I feel as if the general public has a certain perception about these tragic events. This is a very professional point of view to explain how we can move on from events like these. Great post!
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I’m so glad you wrote about this. Very intriguing title as well. I used to have a friend who lived in New Zealand and after the happenings, they reached out asking for prayers. Even though they were not directly targeted it filled them with so much grief that the only thing they could think of was to reach out online. I read about this, and afterwards, I just had to sit in silence for a little bit. The hate this world has is so dreadful. Religion being the reason this happened also hurts my heart because it’s a huge part of everyday life. Even here, every time I go to Walmart there is a man that says “God Bless you, have a nice day” every time after I use the self-checkout. The fact that we have that freedom here and others don’t elsewhere breaks my heart.
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I always thought of New Zealand as a country that accepts everyone regardless of their politics, faith, or skin color – sort of a haven of peace and acceptance within a world of war and rejection. This belief in New Zealand was shattered when a young man attacked two Mosques, killing 49 people for seemingly no reason at all other than to just kill as many Muslims as he could.
We’ve become a world of “well, they started it!” Wouldn’t it be great if retaliation was not an acceptable response? I wonder how we move the world in that direction.
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