Terror

I have just come back form holiday, so this isn’t as polished as I would like it to be.

I might have been away from the phone, computer and the doorbell, but I haven’t been able to escape the words and images that have flowed from the mass media following the London bomb attacks of July 7^th.

On first hearing about the bomb attacks that Thursday, my first reaction was one of, “here we go again.”

Those of us who lived through the 70’s and 80’s remember well the IRA bombing campaign of mainland Britain .

I was living in deepest suburbia in SE of England. I remember many times having a train journey interrupted or even cancelled because of a bomb scare. I seem also to recall actually having been in Kings Cross Train Station a few hours prior to a bomb actually going off…

So yes, when I first heard of the London bombings two weeks ago my first thought was, “here we go again.”

But what are we to think?
What are we to do?
How are we going to cope?

Well, some of the potential answers have already been provided, courtesy of the British Press.

Having had the luxury of time to think and pray about these things, I think that what the Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Richard Chartres, said at a rally in Trafalgar Square on a week last Thursday, (which was attended by 17,000 people), absolutely hit the point: “As Londoners, we are determined to reach out and befriend neighbours. Those who have a faith have a special responsibility to pray and to struggle against false religion.”

And I think that the Gospel teaching about all of this is startling clear.

I believe that the teaching of Jesus is very straightforward. He said:

“Love your enemies.” (Matthew 5:44, Luke 6:27, & 35)

And he said it over and over again.

As I said, startlingly clear, and yet we are left asking, what does this really mean in practical terms in this particular context?

Are we meant to be pacifists – to simply roll over or turn the other cheek?

How can we live in such a way that we are not held hostage (quite literally) either by the terrorists or by our own fear?

“Love your enemies.”

There have been 250 bomb scares across London since July 7^th.

Only last week 4 bombs failed to detonate – bombs, which were potentially at least as destructive as the first attacks two weeks ago.

What are we to think?

What are we to do?

How are we going to cope?

To answer the last question first, ‘how are we going to cope?’ we are going to cope because we will have to; we are going to cope because there is no other choice; we are going to cope because we can; we are going to cope because we love our country, because we love our traditions, because we love our values, because we love each other and because we can be big and brave enough to love even our enemies. That’s how we are going to cope.

‘What are we to do?’

“Love your enemies.”

One of the things that has disturbed me ever since the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington DC is the gradual eroding of our civil liberties – both in the US and here at home. Has no one read or remembers George Orwell’s book 1984? Are we not to learn the lesson of history and remember how much damage was done, both to our cause and our credibility, by the Internment Laws passed by the Thatcher government in the mid 1980’s? These so-called laws gave the authorities the power to arrest and ‘intern’ anyone they suspected of IRA linked terrorist activities without proper evidence, charge or trial. The policy, as we now know, proved to be a disaster.

Should be vigilant? Yes.

Should we do everything that is legal and moral to prosecute our efforts to subvert the terrorists? Yes.

Should we punish those involved in acts of terrorism to the full extent of the law? Absolutely.

But in defending what we hold most dear – the rule of law, the freedom of speech and assembly, the freedom of religion and thought – in defending what we hold most dear, in our efforts to do so, we must guard against destroying the very things that we cherish.

And the last question, ‘what are we to think?’

Again, “Love your enemies.”

We need to remember that those people involved are all human beings – the victims, their families – but also the bombers, our ‘enemies’. There are ‘human’ causes for all of these things – and by keeping this in mind it might bring us a step closer to understating why some people are willing to perpetrate these terrible acts and then to stop them.
That these acts of terror do not divide us.
That our first reaction is not to meet violence with violence.
That we hold on to our values.
That we reach out to Muslims in our own community (“Those who have a faith have a special responsibility to pray and to struggle against false religion.”)
That we don’t loose sight of our own humanity – our capacity to adapt, to cope, to love, even to forgive.

So, what are we to think? what are we to do? how are we going to cope?

Jesus, our faith tells us and shows us how –

“Love your enemies.”

Simon Justice
24th July 2005

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