Stop Politicizing the Christchurch Killings

As the families of the 50 Muslims gunned down at two New Zealand Mosques on Friday mourned, Senator Fraser Anning of Queensland put out a widely condemned statement that effectively blamed the victims:” data-reactid=”18″>As the families of the 50 Muslims gunned down at two New Zealand Mosques on Friday mourned, Senator Fraser Anning of Queensland put out a widely condemned statement that effectively blamed the victims:

Later, as Anning was being interviewed by media, a teenage boy smashed an egg on his head. Anning responded by throwing punches at the young man.

National Review’s Theodore Kupfer has noted the fascistic murderer’s “sh**posting” (online trolling which blurs the line between jokes about violence and actual violence) and his sadistic sense of irony, suggesting that he “wanted to deepen existing conflicts in a way that will prompt a cycle of overreach and radicalization.”” data-reactid=”22″>All this was caught on camera, of course, much as the massacre itself had been livestreamed on Facebook. Media and social media have undoubtedly exacerbated this tragedy. National Review’s Theodore Kupfer has noted the fascistic murderer’s “sh**posting” (online trolling which blurs the line between jokes about violence and actual violence) and his sadistic sense of irony, suggesting that he “wanted to deepen existing conflicts in a way that will prompt a cycle of overreach and radicalization.”

If that was his wish, some people seem to be granting it.

It was hardly surprising, then, when a teenager soon joined in. You could not make this up: #Eggboy was the top trending topic on Twitter on Saturday. His smashing an egg against Anning’s head while filming it for the purposes of social media was an expression of adolescent rage — inappropriate, yes but more excusable than Anning’s response. It was all a perfect microcosm of the wider cultural response to the shooting.

To be clear, it would be a grave mistake to attribute either cunning or sophistication to the bigoted thug behind the New Zealand attacks. But if it took neither cunning nor sophistication to produce such a shabby response from our politicians and pundits, what does that say about them?

Before it became unfashionable, people used to offer prayers in times of tragedy. Whether or not they meant the gesture literally, it signaled a somber thoughtfulness and a hope for the future that are both sorely needed now. Of course, prayer won’t bring back the dead, it is no substitute for policy, and when used as a type of virtue signaling it can be irritating. But in the immediate aftermath of violence, it can — if nothing else — serve to remind us of a civilizing force.

That is especially true in this case, where the slaughtered themselves were murdered while at prayer, cut down in the middle of a sacred communal ritual by an alienated, nihilistic, savage gunman. In the immediate aftermath of such horror, the least we can do is honor their memory.

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