Reflection on the 2015 Lahore Church Bombing

On the day I landed in Lahore, Pakistan in December 5th, 2017, I was picked up by my host and taken to his home.  On the way, I passed by a church where there was a memorial on the front wall. On it were the pictures of Twenty-one people.  When I asked my host what this memorial was for, he informed me that on March 15, 2015, 21 people were killed in a Taliban-inspired attack on two churches.  Twenty were killed at Christ Church and one other was killed at St. John's Catholic Church a few miles away.  To many of us in the United States, we simply view the victims as a numerical number, but they are more than just numbers.  They are individual people who had their own thoughts and dreams.  They had families and friends.  They were Christians and Muslims.  They were men, women, and children.  They were innocent people, killed by hate.  

On December 14th, the 12th day of my trip, I had the opportunity to go to the churches and learn more about the lives of the individual people who lost their lives on that tragic day.  The attack was carried out by four Taliban terrorists.  Two gunmen two suicide bombers.  The two churches attacked were well known as had large congregations, that's why they were targeted.  The greatest loss of life occurred at Christ Church.  Here 20 people were killed.  Here the terrorists opened fire at the gate of the church and detonated suicide bombs.  Most of the victims were Christian men, but one of the Christian men (Top Row, Second from Left) also lost his Pregnant Wife (Middle Row, Third from Left) and his Young Daughter (Middle Row, Fourth from Left).  Among those killed were five Muslims.  Two were police officers who were simply trying to do their job, two owned a nearby shop, and one was just walking by at the time.  The only reason why the casualties were not worse in the attack at St. John's Church was due to the courageous actions of Christian Security Guard Akash Masih (Top Row, First on the Left).

When I visited St. John's Catholic Church a few miles away, the first thing that I noticed was the memorial built in honor of Akash Masih.  As the suicide bomber was preparing to enter the church, Akash noticed him and quickly dove on top of the killer.  Before the terrorist could get free. Akash quickly activated the bomb strapped to the terrorist and covered him with his own body to shield other people from the blast.  Through his courageous act of self-sacrifice, Akash Masih, in giving his life, saved dozens more.  As I reflected on what I heard on this day, I became reminded of a lesson I learned long ago: Unlike human beings, bombs and bullets do not discriminate.  They kill us all.  Innocent people of both faiths had their lives tragically ended, but while bullets and bombs may not discriminate, they do kill unless someone pulls the trigger. 

The terrorists who carried out these attacks were so fueled by hatred for their fellow man, that they did not care who it was that they killed, whether it was a Muslim, Christian, Women, or  Children.  Their minds & hearts became so twisted by hate that they believed that by committing these atrocities they were serving a great purpose.  Not long ago, I read the testimony of a woman who after years of indoctrination, was approached by a terrorist leader to join their cause, and she agreed to serve as a suicide bomber.  However, as the day for her to leave for training camp approached, she began to have second thoughts.  She approached the terrorist recruiter and asked what would happen if she blew herself up and accidentally killed innocent Muslims in the blast.  Her recruiter assured her that they too would be considered Martyrs and would go to Paradise.  However, this answer bothered her.  For years she had helped Muslim widows and orphans in her community, and in the end, she decided that making more widows and orphans was not the right way to serve God.  Thankfully, she came to her senses, did not join the terrorists, and eventually found her way off this path of hate.  

Unfortunately, too many terrorists have not made this same realization.  They do not realize that they are not killing and dying for God.  In truth, they're killing and dying for a lie.  

Sources:

Ahmad, Esther and Craig Borlase.  Defying Jihad.  Carol Stream IL: Tyndale Publishers, 2019.