New beginnings?

It has been five days since the Christchurch terror attack. It feels like a month.

The previously much vilified Muslim community has been one of the sources of support and wisdom for those struggling to deal with the events in Christchurch.. They have had to deal with extremists in their own ranks, and seem wiser than the rest of us.

There are signs of new beginnings but already they are being trampled by those who benefit from the status quo.

We who have been watching our Australian political discourse are appalled at the carnage, but, as Waleed Aly so eloquently put it, we cant be surprised. Most of us didn't realise the viciousness of the monster our government helped create. Now we understand.

At first I was so angry, angry with those despicable politicians who have been promoting divisive racist, anti-Muslim and even more anti-aboriginal ideas for their own political gain. The anger remains, but a sadness too, as we see the offenders squirm and wriggle, trying to say the 'right' thing, only to inadvertently show how entrenched their views are. Australian  PM Scot Morrison blames social media, but makes no mention of the toxic Murdoch press which continues with its racist rantings to this day.

The automatic response for many (Christians) has been 'an eye for an eye',  but look where that got us. We urgently need a change to compassionate inclusive politics, a politics that disallows racist, misogynist hate talk, which is actually all about power.  If we create a society that strips power from racists and misogynists we can begin to build a society we all want to live in.  This means each of us calling out racist and sexist language where we hear it. It is all around us and if we make an effort,  pointing it out won't create enemies but instead help people become aware of how ubiquitous it is, and teach them to mind their language.

As others are pointing out, we need to act on several fronts including online. Talking about her newly released book  Troll Hunting,  brave journalist Ginger Gorman who interviewed trolls to understand them, says they hope for just such outcomes as the NZ terrorist attack. We can no longer disregard them.

All power to Jacinda Ardern and her clear sighted responses to this tragedy. She is going to need our support. We who want to avoid going down the path of strong man politics need to be even more determined than those who are going to resist change.