Joy Attmore shares her thoughts on the recent tragedy.
We stepped out of the train station into a courtyard area flanked on
one side by a beautiful old gothic cathedral constructed of the kind
of architecture that makes you stop in your tracks and gaze upwards to
try and behold it all. Hundreds of people were milling around and
police vans were holding a line around the perimeter of the open
public space. A crowd gathered on the steps of the cathedral, banners
were erected and flags began to be waved in the winter breeze before
the congregation erupted in noise; the sound of whistles, horns and
the clangs of instruments filling the square, every second being
captured on camera by the news crews and reporters who stood just a
few feet away.
I stood with my family to one side of the
demonstration, drinking in the scene for a few minutes and feeling the
weight of emotion and the trauma of the stories that had led up to
this moment. Suddenly I felt the familiar sensation of sobs knotted in
my throat, pushing to come out. My eyes stung with tears and I blinked
hard, fiercely swallowing back down the eruption of emotion. I was
feeling the grief and turmoil that was filling Cologne's city centre
that day and the cries for justice were triggering my heart of
intercession.
On New Year's Eve 2015, hundreds of women
were targeted, robbed and sexually assaulted amidst the new year
celebrations in Cologne, many of which happened in and around the
city's main train station. A total of 838 people have filed criminal
complaints since that night, 497 of them being from women who had
experienced sexual assault.
The descriptions of the
perpetrators released by police have been that of a group of men of
'Arab or North African origin' creating an undeniable link with
Germany's huge influx of refugees over the past year. To add fuel to
the fire, it then appeared that the police and media had tried to
cover up the full extent of the atrocities in the days that followed,
in an attempt to prevent political backlash on the immigration issue.
The demonstration that I bore witness to came in response to this
cover up; women who wanted their voice to be heard and didn't want
shame or abuse to have the final say. Other protests have since taken
place in the city, some pro-peace, women's rights and pro-refugees,
carrying slogans such as, 'you can't fight sexism with racism' and
some were anti-immigration, creating clashes with police.
Arriving in Cologne during this turbulent atmosphere felt like both
the best and worst time to visit the well-known German city. How
people choose to respond to trauma and injustice reveals so much about
their hearts and how they choose to seek healing can be an invitation
for a city-wide turnaround, from brokenness to restored wholeness. I
felt the city's vulnerability as I stood taking all of this in.
As a woman who has also experienced sexual abuse I felt deeply
the pain and injustice of what had taken place. As someone who has
moved to another country that is not my homeland I also know what it
feels like to be a foreigner in a foreign land. I will not attempt to
understand what it means to have grown up in a war-torn land, to have
experienced the horrors of battle and to have been ripped from my
family and country - that is not my experience, but from the depths of
my imagination I can only conclude that it leaves a person irrevocably
changed and vulnerable to the mind-sets and tactics of war.
Over the course of the day, the topic of the New Year's Eve attacks
came up several times in conversation amongst my family and our
friends. Each time I couldn't help but sympathise with the cause of
the refugees. I can in no way allow myself to excuse the actions that
took place that night, but I can understand some of the potential
causes for it.
The tactics of defeating the enemy in a
war include killing the goodness and light within a man and woman's
heart so that they are able to carry out atrocities that only hell
would command. If this is the environment that someone has grown up in
and managed to escape out of, are we expecting that darkness and
trauma to disappear with the crossing of a country's boundary
lines?
Every individual who was attacked, robbed and raped
in Cologne is a victim who now requires healing and restoration from
the abuse they have received. Likewise, I believe that the
perpetrators from that night are also victims - victims of war and
lies that have instilled in them beliefs that only destroy and justify
acts of terror.
I'm not attempting to resolve a night of
tragedy in one piece of writing, nor to say that I know what caused
such actions to take place, but I believe that there is goodness
inside of each person; gold that is waiting to be called out and a
hand of grace that is extended to all, no matter our list of sins.
If we're not careful, I think it would be far too easy to allow war to spread its reign with the crossing of borders. When trauma, anger, hatred and disunity are allowed to go unchecked, the fruits of that way of thinking or living will continue to be felt, by an individual and those affected by that person, whether they stand in a war zone or have moved to a country of peace. We have the opportunity to extend mercy, grace and forgiveness to those who have wronged and been wronged and to be a part of ending the effects and reach of war.
The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.
Brave comments in an unforgiving world. Yes we are all sinners, and as followers of the Way we are called to forgive. Equally, we have to forgive anyone who does not pity or embrace the plight of the immigrants, whether it be through fear or misunderstanding. You are probably right about the effects of war and the consequences it has had on some people Joy, but it is possibly also the case that some of these immigrants may have been active criminals in their homelands before war. We should therefore also be able to protect 'our' people from harm, no guarantees with the unknown I know, but I don't think their is any harm in taking safeguard action instead opening the floodgates and dealing with the consequences after its too late.