I guess you’ve all heard about the recent attack on a couple of mosques in New Zealand. All decent people agree that it was a terrible thing. There’s been an outpouring of sympathy towards the Muslim community in New Zealand and here in Australia. (We consider the Kiwis to be our cousins. Mess with NZ and you mess with Oz.)

It’s certainly been heartwarming to see that most people condemn the actions of the terrorists. Many Christian churches have sent public letters of sympathy, and those who live near the mosques have brought flowers and food to the grieving community. Of course, there’s always the few who agree with the killers but then there’s never a shortage of racist, bigotted eedjits in this world.

 Reading the newspapers and watching the TV coverage, one would think that Muslims are the only people who are targetted with bigotry and violence. And, the countries with a Christian/Judeo foundation are bending over backwards to ensure that Muslims feel welcomed and accepted in our society. As they should.

What bemuses me, however, is that meanwhile Christians in Nigeria are being slaughtered on a much bigger scale. We’re talking, thousands being killed and a high percentage are women and children. In the Philippines, just this past weekend, Christian churches were bombed, with over a hundred dead. ISIS has recently burnt alive a group of children, aged between 8 and 13, because their parents were Christians. A couple of buses of Coptic Christians (Egypt) who were on a trip to a remote monastery, were attacked with most of the passengers killed.

As far as I can tell, there was no coverage on any major news outlet. There were no flowers laid at the sight of these massacres by concerned citizens, other than relatives of the deceased, making their stand with the victims. There was no outpouring of sympathy from the Islamic communities towards the survivors and the Christians in their town. 

Surely a terrorist act is a terrorist act, regardless of who commits it and who the victims are? It’s vigilantism on a grand scale. It’s not acceptable. In fact, it’s wicked.

And then there are the recent attacks on Jewish synagogues, and the Hindi community in New South Wales … You know, it’s as if every community of faith is under attack. 

We need to broaden our horizons. We need to see the bigger picture. It’s not just Muslims under attack. Nor is it just Christians. If we think like that, then we will be more inclined to take revenge on our perceived enemy, rather than deal with the true perpetrators of this violence. If we allow these things to further divide us, then we are letting the terrorists win. 

Everyone who has faith in something outside themselves; who believes in the brotherhood of man; who teaches that we must forgive and love and care for each other – we are all under attack. We must support each other, stand with each other (even though we don’t agree theologically) against the forces of darkness.

Be informed. Stay alert and nip bigotry in the bud before it grows into a hanging tree.