The Rockford Register-Star carried a story this morning, from AP reporter Brian Murphy, that a pastor in Erfurt, Germany committed suicide - apparently thinking he was a Buddhist monk in Vietnam, he poured gasoline over himself and set himself ablaze - not long after preaching a sermon that was "focused on his fear that Christian Europe would be overwhelmed by Islam."
I do not wish to make light of the horror of what the Rev. Roland Weisselberg has done. However, I cannot but wonder how he thought self-immolation was a proper response to the growing Muslim population in Germany and the rest of Europe. I recognize that, to the historically homogeneous states of Europe (although this is more by way of myth than historical fact; if you look at the history east of the Rhine and north of the Danube, various ethnic groups mixed quite freely, if not always peacefully) the influx of ethnically and religiously diverse peoples must seem like a threat to national integrity. The trick, of course, is making sure it does not become so by integrating them - legally, perhaps linguistically, politically, and socially - into the society. We are always enriched by bringing more and more diverse ways of living together.
The world is changing; I doubt if the world my grandchildren will live in will even be recognizable to me. That's OK, though, as long as we are still working together on this whole project of living as human beings on this earth. If we succumb to the temptation to hostility, violence, the "clash of civilizations", and religious warfare, there may be no world for my grandchildren to inherit. If we struggle together, however - I do not doubt conflict will occur; it is a question of how to manage it creatively and constructively - all of us can benefit, being enriched by the possibilities open to us.
I do not see suicide as a viable option for dealing creatively and constructively with our changing world. I see it even less so for a member of the clergy who is supposed to have faith that God is in control of events, even if we don't always perceive it to be so. Finally, I am saddened that a member of the clergy would hate and fear non-Christians and non-westerners so much that he would rather die than seek to live together with them, working with them to make a better society. I fear that Rev. Weisselberg will become a martyr to a variety of right-wing groups in Germany and elsewhere. I hope he becomes a symbol of what not to do as the world changes around us.
Virtual Tin Cup
