Last night an explosive device was detonated at Manchester Arena after an Ariana Grande concert. The device was detonated near the exits to the arena killing twenty-two individuals and injuring many others. What makes this act of terrorism even more heinous is the target. Ariana Grande is a musician who’s target demographic is children to young teens. Many of the casualties of last night’s attack fall within this demographic. As a Christian, when confronted with such evil, it’s natural to be confused about an appropriate response. Incidents such as this often force us to reevaluate our beliefs and cause us to question our response. How should a Christian feel and react in the face of such evil?

First, it’s important to establish some context when talking about terrorist attacks in general. I feel like my generation has always lived in a world where terrorist attacks have been a reality. I can’t say with any certainty that the 80’s, 70’s, or any other decade has experienced a greater amount of terrorist activity than now, but I do know that the public conversation about terrorism has been ongoing throughout the majority of my life, all starting back with 9/11. It’s important to try and understand why these things happen. The goal of terrorism is general is fairly simple. Terrorists use acts of violence and force in order to make a political statement or further a political agenda. Unlike theft, rape, or murder, terrorist attacks have a goal outside of gratification for the individual committing the crime. The goal of any terrorist attack is to spread around ideas. Terrorists use fear as a weapon to achieve their goals.

They want you to be afraid. They want you to be afraid to go to work, school, sporting events, and concerts. They want you to be afraid to live out your life. They want you to live out your life always fearing when the next attack will come. They want you to fear them and anyone who might look like them. Like Yoda once said, “Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” It might sound silly, but there is a lot of truth contained in that statement. Once you fear them, you get angry. You become angry at the things they claim to believe or stand for. You begin to hate those who look like the “terrorists.” This hate begins to show in the way we treat others. Those subjected to this unprovoked hate are pushed further and further away from society. These “others” who we as a society begin to hate in turn begin hating us back. They become radicalized and join up with terrorist groups to express their hate. This isn’t exclusive to Muslims/middle eastern people and ISIS. This is how all forms of terrorism sustain itself. This pattern can be seen in all terrorist groups.

How do we fight terrorism? We fight back against fear. If we can remove the emotional response that most people feel when faced with these atrocious acts, then we can start to undermine these terrorist goals. How do we fight fear? We fight it with the truth. With all the recent terrorist activity and the media exposure that comes with it, it might feel like the world is becoming increasingly dangerous. This is simply not true. We are fortunate enough to live in the safest time in recorded history. Crime is at an all time low in all developed countries, the miracle of modern medicine allows people to live longer than ever before, and technology has made us overall much safer. You are much more likely to die in a car accident than to be killed in a terrorist attack. In the face of these terrorist threats, it’s important not to lose our heads. While we should, of course, mourn the fallen and make sure to remain vigilant, the best defense is to continue on with life. We would never tell our children, after having a car accident, that we will never again ride anywhere in a car. We should neither overreact now or ever about a terrorist attack.

It might also be tempting to adopt a negative world view when trying to reconcile these events. It’s easy to give up on humanity and write people off as evil or immoral. That is exactly what terrorist hope we do. The truth is that humanity is overall beautiful. We are all made in the image of our creator, God, and we all have a deep-seated desire to receive and give sympathy and empathy. While some individuals may cause chaos and harm for seemingly no reason, it’s important to remember all the people who bring immeasurable beauty and good into the world. Mr. Rogers once said, as a reply to a question about how to respond to horrible events, that we should always look for the helpers. There are always people who are helping. There are EMTs, firefighters, police officers, and many other first responders who work tirelessly during events such as this. Even normal individuals, like homeless man Stephen Jones. People are generally good and the world is still an overall beautiful place. We cannot let the darkness of incidents like this overshadow all the light and goodness in the world.

Finally, we might be tempted to truly hate those responsible for these attacks. It’s easy to hate them for what they have done. Unfortunately, in Matthew 5:44 the Bible tells us to love our enemies. There are no loopholes that allow us to hate certain people. We don’t get to pick and choose who we should show Christ’s love to. The Bible makes it clear that God loves all people, regardless of what we may feel. I certainly do not condone the actions of any terrorist organization. I support responsible efforts to prevent, hamper, and quell terrorist activities, through the use of force or otherwise. Innocent lives must always come first. If certain terrorist individuals must be killed to prevent the loss of innocent life, then so be it, but we cannot be carried away. The truth is that God loves these individuals just as much as He loves us. While that might be difficult to stomach, it is the Biblical truth. The pain that God must feel to see His children corrupted to the point of carrying out such actions must be unimaginable. No one is born a terrorist or evil. Unfortunately these individuals souls have been twisted, their minds corrupted, and their spirits broken. Honestly, I feel pity for them. These people were mislead by other corrupt and evil individuals. They are victims of a corrupt and fallen world. I certainly do not sympathize with any of their methods, actions, or messages. The truth is that they need the redemption provided by Christ just as much as anyone else. We must stop the spread of terrorism not only to stop attacks like these, but to also prevent other innocent people falling prey to their radicalization. We cannot fight hate with more hate. The only thing that defeats hate is love.

As a Christian, how do we respond when it seems that darkness is all around. First, we realize that terrorism is not something we should live in fear of. Statistically, we are much more likely to be injured or killed by countless other incidents. We must remember that God is always in control, and the world is much safer that it appears. Second, we have to keep our faith in each other. When the darkness closes in, we always look for the light. Humanity is overall beautiful. God has imprinted himself on each and every soul. It’s important in times like this to always look for the light. Finally, we cannot allow these events to foster hate in our hearts. Our enemies are on the side of hate. As Christians, we are people of love. Love is more powerful than hate, and love always wins.