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New Zealand mourns with prayer, silence one week after mosque attack

12 Comments
By Tom Westbrook

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On facebook, I read that even biker gangs were lining up to offer protection for the muslims during the first prayer after the attack.

Yes - it's true, but I'm a bit cynical at this gesture. To make it meaningful, I would like to see the gangs turn in their semi-automatic weapons that are now (or soon to be) illegal. Unfortunately I don't see that happening.

8 ( +8 / -0 )

The world stands with the brave people of New Zealand.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

Jacinda's finest moment. She has done pretty well, I'll give her that. Today I saw unity on a scale that I've never seen before. I think we truly put our differences aside for a couple of minutes and pretty much became one. There are stories of cars lines up on the side of the road all over the country as commuters stopped to reflect. My own workplace stopped. Supermarkets & shopping centres stopped. The eerie, haunting & unfamiliar call to prayer. The sermon was very good. The complete silence for 2 minutes. It was all rather strange... but peaceful and beautiful. I'm not sure, but I don't think there are many places in the world that would pull this off quite so well.

4 ( +7 / -3 )

YESTERDAYTODAYTOMORROW & Toasted Heretic

Agree with you both.

On facebook, I read that even biker gangs were lining up to offer protection for the muslims during the first prayer after the attack. NZ is an amazing country with an amazing PM and awesome people.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

Who is Tom Westbrook to defy New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's ban on uttering the persona non grata perpetrator? Japan: be in solidarity with Prime Minister Ardern by abiding with her wishes, her leadership. Please. Thank you. Francis F Smith Pleasant City, Ohio USA

3 ( +4 / -1 )

It's been suggested that Jacinda Ardern be nominated for the Nobel peace prize. That'd be awesome.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Yes - it's true, but I'm a bit cynical at this gesture. To make it meaningful, I would like to see the gangs turn in their semi-automatic weapons that are now (or soon to be) illegal. Unfortunately I don't see that happening.

They are saying on facebook that when they go to the mosque to protect the muslims, they are going without guns. That's what's on facebook anyway.. I don't really know.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

If I were living in NZ and some friends of mine chose to wear a hijab for this occasion, I would certainly respect their choice. 

But I would hope that my choice to not wear one would also be respected -- and that it would not be bent and twisted into meaning that I don't care about the victims.

You would have that choice and be respected for your choice. It's not a negative thing either way.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Aly Ruston, you dont know NZ. No way is a civilian - let alone a biker gang- going to be allowed to stand guard in a public place while toting firearms.

I don't claim to know NZ. I was quoting facebook. So I would appreciate it if you didn't make such comments. And try to spell my name correctly next time.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Aly Ruston, you dont know NZ. No way is a civilian - let alone a biker gang- going to be allowed to stand guard in a public place while toting firearms.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

At risk of repeating the obvious, what happened in New Zealand a week ago was atrocious and evil.

Each day since that awful event, I have prayed for the victims and their families and friends.

And I will continue to do so for quite some time.

The #headscarfforharmony movement, launched by an Auckland doctor, encouraged people to wear headscarves on Friday to show their support for the Muslim community.

But if I were living in New Zealand, I honestly would not wear a headscarf, or hijab as it's called.

I would not wear it because, while I understand that many Muslim women wear it voluntarily, many more do not. They are forced to wear it -- and in at least some places in the world, under penalty of severe punishment, including even death.

It is, in many respects, a symbol of women's oppression and subjugation.

Again, I know that many Muslim women choose to wear it, a choice I fully respect.

But I do not feel I have to wear one in order to show sympathy or mourning for the Christchurch victims. If my words and prayers alone cannot suffice, then something is wrong.

If I were living in NZ and some friends of mine chose to wear a hijab for this occasion, I would certainly respect their choice.

But I would hope that my choice to not wear one would also be respected -- and that it would not be bent and twisted into meaning that I don't care about the victims.

Call that uncaring, call it "Islamophobic," I don't care. But I would not wear something just to virtue-signal my care for the victims, when I know in my heart and in my prayers that I do care about them.

And I certainly wouldn't wear something that in many respects symbolizes the inferioritising of women -- so much so that many countries, even including some Muslim countries, have actually banned the wearing of such garb in public.

-5 ( +2 / -7 )

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