tag:theconversation.com,2011:/nz/topics/christchurch-mosque-shootings-67899/articlesChristchurch Mosque shootings – The Conversation2021-04-29T20:02:53Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1596682021-04-29T20:02:53Z2021-04-29T20:02:53ZNot two different worlds: QAnon and the offline dangers of online speech<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397708/original/file-20210429-19-4hfe6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=84%2C60%2C7996%2C4082&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The arbitrary distinction between online and offline means much hate speech and abuse goes unnoticed until it’s too late.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The new docuseries, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rK_Gf9H2CWI&ab_channel=HBO"><em>Q: Into the Storm</em></a>, is an investigation into the QAnon conspiracy theory and the shadowy online subcultures and spaces that fuel it. An important narrative throughout the series is the negative consequences of online speech, which demonstrates the danger of <a href="https://thesocietypages.org/cyborgology/2011/02/24/digital-dualism-versus-augmented-reality/">digital dualism</a>: the tendency to treat online life as distinct, separate and sometimes as less real from offline life.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/designating-the-proud-boys-a-terrorist-organization-wont-stop-hate-fuelled-violence-154709">Designating the Proud Boys a terrorist organization won't stop hate-fuelled violence</a>
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<p>In our academic research and daily lives, we’ve noticed examples of digital dualism everywhere. Sometimes these examples are subtle, though pervasive. </p>
<p>Consider, for example, Canada Post’s slogan “<a href="https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/cpc/doc/en/campaigns/2020/delivering-the-online-world/delivering-the-online-world-magazine-fall-2020.pdf">Delivering the online world</a>,” or the subheading in a recent <em>New York Times</em> article, which cautions that “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/24/world/europe/capitol-far-right-global.html">extremists have built a web of real and online connections</a>.” The dualism here is in the use of the word “real” to describe offline, which implies that online is less real. </p>
<h2>Digital life, real harms</h2>
<p>Making a distinction between online and offline life was not always a problem. Throughout the ‘80s and '90s there were <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/second-self-twentieth-anniversary-edition">compelling reasons to think of life in front of a screen and away from a screen as distinct</a>. But thinking about life away from a screen today is much harder to imagine, particularly with the nearly ubiquitous adoption of smartphones and the fact that our political, social and economic lives are increasingly digital. This is perhaps <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/07/technology/coronavirus-internet-use.html">truer today than it was just over a year ago</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://books.emeraldinsight.com/page/detail/The-Emerald-International-Handbook-of-Technology-Facilitated-Violence-and-Abuse/?k=9781839828492">In recent research</a>, we studied the tendency to make this distinction and explored the negative consequences of digital dualist assumptions. </p>
<p>Other research examined the experiences of those targeted by online abuse and found evidence that <a href="https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/7628/">digital dualism prevents them from finding proper support</a>. Some participants explained that friends, family, mental health care providers and perpetrators themselves dismissed online abuse as “just words” that are “just online.” When online abuse is <a href="https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/the-right-amount-of-panic">downplayed as harmless speech</a>, and as something that is separate from life offline, it can prevent people from getting the help they need. This can result in <a href="https://www.bwss.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/CyberVAWReportJessicaWest.pdf">psychological, emotional</a> or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2018.1447344">economic trauma</a>.</p>
<h2>Online speech and it’s consequences</h2>
<p><em>Q: Into the Storm</em> shows several examples of how online speech influenced violent and abusive actions that hurt people. The docuseries shows the current owners of 8chan (now 8kun), father and son duo Jim and Ron Watkins, as having unfettered dedication to free speech. This is contrasted with 8chan’s original founder/creator Frederick Brennan’s realization that an <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/the-weird-dark-history-8chan/">absolutist approach to free speech is highly toxic</a>. At one point in the documentary, Brennan explains: </p>
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<p>“I had this mental divide in my mind between like the digital world and the real world … I always just thought that the internet is the internet, and I kind of had, I guess, a kind of split personality. What I did on the internet was different from what I did in real life … There’s no difference at all. The internet is the real world.”</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397707/original/file-20210429-23-1s5j7c3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="People display Qanon messages on cardboards during a political rally" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397707/original/file-20210429-23-1s5j7c3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397707/original/file-20210429-23-1s5j7c3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397707/original/file-20210429-23-1s5j7c3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397707/original/file-20210429-23-1s5j7c3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397707/original/file-20210429-23-1s5j7c3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397707/original/file-20210429-23-1s5j7c3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397707/original/file-20210429-23-1s5j7c3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Conspiracy theories like QAnon have further blurred the line between online and offline.</span>
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<p>By examining examples such as QAnon, the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill attack or the Christchurch mosque attack, the docuseries shows that distinguishing between online and offline life makes little sense. Drawing a line between where online harm ends and offline harm begins is arbitrary, and most attempts to do so focus on when harm becomes physical which is a misstep.</p>
<p>If we continue to view online and offline as distinct, then we won’t catch misinformation, conspiracies and online abuse until it’s too late. In other words, if we continue to view online speech as “just online,” and thus immaterial, we will continue to miss opportunities to respond to critical threats as they emerge online.</p>
<h2>Bridging the gap</h2>
<p>So how can we encourage others to stop adopting a mindset of digital dualism?</p>
<p>To start, we need to recognize that our online lives are our real lives. As our lives become more interconnected with digital devices — dating, working, shopping, learning, seeking health care — this distinction is no longer useful. </p>
<p>We need collective efforts to change how we speak, think about and treat online life. Documentaries like <em>Q: Into the Storm</em> that show how online messages have dramatic offline impacts will help, but we need to think about how other media can change as well. </p>
<p>For example, we could begin to change the way this issue is portrayed in the news. There is precedent for this. In the past major outlets have strategically modified the language they use to talk about certain issues. In 2019, the <em>Guardian</em> changed the language it uses to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/17/why-the-guardian-is-changing-the-language-it-uses-about-the-environment">discuss climate change</a>, and last year <em>BuzzFeed</em> decided to use the language of “<a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/drumoorhouse/qanon-mass-collective-delusion-buzzfeed-news-copy-desk">collective delusion</a>” to describe QAnon. </p>
<p>A similar editorial decision to stop using words like “real” as the opposite of online can begin to change how we think about the social digital landscape. <a href="https://news.stanford.edu/2019/08/22/the-power-of-language-how-words-shape-people-culture/">These changes in turn, will begin to influence how people talk about online activity</a>, and help people consider the link between online and offline actions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159668/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chandell Gosse receives funding from the Social Sciences and Research Council (SSHRC). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jaigris Hodson receives funding from the Social Sciences and Research Council (SSHRC) Canada Research Chairs Program</span></em></p>Online abuse is often dismissed as “just online.” But the rise of QAnon and similar groups demonstrates the very real consequences of online speech.Chandell Gosse, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Interdisciplinary Studies, Royal Roads UniversityJaigris Hodson, Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, Royal Roads UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1347802020-03-26T03:43:55Z2020-03-26T03:43:55ZLife in prison looms for Australia’s Christchurch gunman, now NZ’s first convicted terrorist<p>Less than a fortnight after the <a href="https://theconversation.com/nz/topics/christchurch-terror-attacks-anniversary-83907">first anniversary</a> of the Christchurch mosque shootings, and on the first day of New Zealand’s four-week COVID-19 lockdown, the Australian man responsible for the attacks has surprised the nation by <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/412640/christchurch-mosque-attacks-gunman-pleads-guilty-to-all-charges">pleading guilty to all charges</a>. </p>
<p>As well as being guilty of 51 counts of murder and 40 counts of attempted murder, he becomes the first person convicted of terrorism in New Zealand.</p>
<p>Up until now, the accused man – who The Conversation has chosen not to name – had pleaded not guilty to all charges and was due to stand trial from June 2. But the guilty plea means a trial is no longer necessary and the process now moves to the sentencing phase. </p>
<p>Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern <a href="https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/jacinda-ardern-let-massive-sigh-relief-christchurch-mosque-gunmans-guilty-plea">said</a> she “let out a massive sigh of relief” when she heard the news of his guilty pleas, and that she expected many New Zealanders would also feel:</p>
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<p>a certain sense of relief: that the whole nation, but particularly our Muslim community, are being spared from a trial that could’ve otherwise have acted as a platform. </p>
<p>Nothing will bring their loved ones back. But this is a small reprieve. </p>
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<p>But families of victims and the wider New Zealand public look likely to face a long wait before the Australian terrorist is sentenced, as the court processes have been disrupted by the pandemic response. The judge has indicated that sentencing will only take place when all victims who want to attend can be present. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/far-right-extremists-still-threaten-new-zealand-a-year-on-from-the-christchurch-attacks-133050">Far-right extremists still threaten New Zealand, a year on from the Christchurch attacks</a>
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<h2>Timing of guilty pleas</h2>
<p>A <a href="https://www.courtsofnz.govt.nz/assets/cases/R-v-Tarrant-20200326.pdf">note released by the judge</a>, Justice Mander, records that the defendant intimated earlier this week that he wished to plead guilty to all charges and then confirmed that in writing. </p>
<p>Criminal courts continue operating for urgent matters during the lockdown and the Christchurch High Court used audio-visual links for the defendant and his lawyers at the change of plea hearing. Only a small number of media representatives and senior members of the Christchurch Muslim community were present.</p>
<p>No date has been fixed for the sentencing hearing – and this is sensible. Justice Mander has asked for reports on the defendant prior to sentencing. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/323140/original/file-20200326-168912-98zgh5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/323140/original/file-20200326-168912-98zgh5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/323140/original/file-20200326-168912-98zgh5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323140/original/file-20200326-168912-98zgh5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323140/original/file-20200326-168912-98zgh5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323140/original/file-20200326-168912-98zgh5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323140/original/file-20200326-168912-98zgh5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323140/original/file-20200326-168912-98zgh5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<p>Aside from any difficulties for probation officers preparing their advice to the judge, sentencing hearings also provide an opportunity for victims and families of victims to present victim impact statements. </p>
<p>These are usually presented orally in cases of serious crime. Managing this process would have been difficult in normal circumstances and is now even more complex during a pandemic lockdown, but the judge has made clear he hopes this can happen. </p>
<p>Speaking after the news of the guilty pleas, Police Commissioner Mike Bush said some police staff who were working on the prosecution of the mosque attacker would now be freed up to help with New Zealand’s COVID-19 response.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/remembering-my-friend-and-why-there-is-no-right-way-to-mourn-the-christchurch-attacks-133239">Remembering my friend, and why there is no right way to mourn the Christchurch attacks</a>
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<h2>Likely sentence and security conditions</h2>
<p>The maximum sentence for attempted murder is 10 years, but for a terrorist act or murder it is life imprisonment. The <a href="http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2002/0009/latest/DLM135342.html">Sentencing Act 2002</a> requires a life sentence for murder unless that would be manifestly unjust. In this case, there is no doubt the defendant will be sentenced to life in prison. </p>
<p>Some countries add various determinate sentences together to make long sentences, possibly of hundreds of years, but this practice is not followed in New Zealand.</p>
<p>But there is a real question for the judge. A life sentence has two parts: there is an outer limit (the rest of the defendant’s life) and a minimum term that has to be served as punishment. If the Parole Board concludes that the risk to the public is low enough, a person can be released once they have served the minimum term - so this is important.</p>
<p>The Sentencing Act requires a minimum term of at least 17 years for a terrorist murder or for murder involving two or more victims. But the judge is required to look at accountability for harm to victims, denunciation, deterrence and protection of the public and decide whether these factors require that no minimum term be set. </p>
<p>There has been no such whole life sentence in New Zealand to date. But I expect Justice Mander will give it serious consideration, notwithstanding the guilty plea, which is often given credit at the sentencing stage.</p>
<p>A prisoner is in the custody of the Department of Corrections. The defendant, an Australian self-declared white supremacist, has been in the highest security category and subject to additional restrictions since his arrest. It will be a long time, if ever, before he is managed outside high-security conditions. </p>
<p>There are various treaties relating to the transfer of serving prisoners, but New Zealand is not a party to them. It requires foreign prisoners to serve their sentence and then deports them. New Zealanders who are sentenced abroad cannot serve their sentence here. </p>
<p>When asked today about deportation, Prime Minister Ardern <a href="https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/jacinda-ardern-let-massive-sigh-relief-christchurch-mosque-gunmans-guilty-plea">said</a> it was too soon to make any decisions about the future, and that it was important to let the sentencing process finish first.</p>
<p>But it is generally accepted that the executive can make arrangements on an individual basis in special circumstances. It remains to be seen if the New Zealand and Australian governments make relevant arrangements.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/134780/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kris Gledhill does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Christchurch gunman’s surprise guilty plea makes him the first person convicted of terrorism in New Zealand. A legal expert explains what will happen next in the sentencing process.Kris Gledhill, Professor of Law, Auckland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1332392020-03-12T19:04:34Z2020-03-12T19:04:34ZRemembering my friend, and why there is no right way to mourn the Christchurch attacks<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319992/original/file-20200311-116261-hy5zw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=18%2C1%2C1219%2C696&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">71-year-old grandfather Haji-Daoud Nabi, who was shot as he welcomed a stranger to his mosque.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Editor’s note: this article was updated on Sunday March 15 to reflect the latest news on event cancellations due to coronavirus.</em></p>
<p>On March 15 last year, I lost a close friend in the Christchurch attacks. When Haji-Daoud Nabi greeted a stranger at the door of the Al Noor mosque with “hello brother”, he was shot dead – one of 51 people killed.</p>
<p>I met Haji-Daoud at a Wellington mosque as a teenager, which led to a lifelong friendship. His stories partly <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/111364502/an-ordinary-man-with-extraordinary-values-hajidaoud-a-victim-of-the-christchurch-terror-attacks">inspired my PhD research</a> in Afghanistan. There, I studied the way violent events can shape people’s sense of community. </p>
<p>But I never thought those lessons from Afghanistan would one day also apply in the peaceful country I grew up in.</p>
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<h2>One year on, disagreeing about how to remember</h2>
<p>Over the past year, on my visits home to New Zealand, I’ve spoken with victims’ families, community leaders, people working on the recovery effort, and others working with the royal commission of inquiry into the attacks.</p>
<p>I have watched closely as the community I grew up with has moved forward. I have observed Muslim communities that in many ways are stronger now and better integrated – both with each other, and with the wider public – than before last year’s attacks.</p>
<p>Rather than turning people against Muslims, shared grief and anger has arguably led to a stronger society. </p>
<p>But I have also seen disagreements and differences emerge between Muslims in New Zealand, including around how the attacks should be remembered – particularly this Sunday’s planned <a href="https://ccc.govt.nz/news-and-events/whats-on/show/3674">National Remembrance Service</a> in Christchurch. </p>
<p>Before the <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12316677">event was cancelled on Saturday</a> due to coronavirus concerns, Christchurch City Council <a href="https://ccc.govt.nz/news-and-events/whats-on/show/3674">had said</a> the Sunday afternoon service would be jointly led by the local Muslim and Māori communities, along with the council and New Zealand government. Thousands of people had been expected to attend, and it was going to be streamed live online for a global audience.</p>
<p>Some in New Zealand had been unhappy about the service, saying they would rather “<a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12312378">move on</a>”. Spokespeople from both the Otago and Canterbury Muslim Associations, along with other Muslim groups, had distanced themselves from the commemoration. The general sense has been that celebrating anniversaries is not part of Islamic practice.</p>
<p>But not everyone believes this. </p>
<p>The Al Noor mosque <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/03/christchurch-mosque-reopens-call-action-islamophobia-190323042942715.html">re-opened</a> eight days after the shootings. Earlier this week, Al Noor’s imam Gamal Houda said the attacks were a “crime against humanity” and should be an <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12315692">exception to normal Islamic rules</a>. And other Muslims, like my friend Aya who lost her brother in the attacks, had been part of ongoing planning and consultation around Sunday’s planned commemorations.</p>
<p>For some, “remembering” is an occasion for silence and moving on. For others, it is a time for protest and a catalyst for change.</p>
<p>One of the recurring themes in my PhD fieldwork in Afghanistan, as well as others who have written on <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=nHjZAAAAIAAJ">violent events</a>, is that the voices of survivors often get subsumed by the “big story” - what the massacre means for a community or national identity.</p>
<p>But what the Christchurch anniversary highlights, yet again, is there is no single, homogeneous group of Muslims, in New Zealand or anywhere else, who all want and believe the same thing.</p>
<p>No one person or community can claim to own an event like the Christchurch attacks, or what it means, or how it is remembered. Each person <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/411650/mixed-feelings-and-emotions-ahead-of-christchurch-attacks-memorial">mourns in their own way</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/far-right-extremists-still-threaten-new-zealand-a-year-on-from-the-christchurch-attacks-133050">Far-right extremists still threaten New Zealand, a year on from the Christchurch attacks</a>
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<h2>Cultural practices intertwined</h2>
<p>In March last year, I couldn’t get a flight to Christchurch in time to be at Haji-Daoud’s funeral. </p>
<p>Watching his funeral via video instead, I was particularly moved by the haka, led by a Muslim, and the procession of bikies escorting the hearse carrying his body to the burial site. </p>
<p>To me, this spoke to who Haji-Daoud was as a person. He was as Kiwi as he was Afghan. </p>
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<p>Over the past year, we have seen cultural practices intertwine like this in surprising ways. First, through a spiritual cleansing of the two mosques that were attacked, by both Ngāi Tahu (the South Island’s main Māori tribe) and Muslim leaders. </p>
<p>After that, marae (Māori meeting places) opened their doors to Muslim mourners, and mosques opened their doors in turn. <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12316352">Messages of aroha (love)</a> and kia kaha (stay strong) were written outside mosques, and often translated into Arabic.</p>
<p>I do not think this was a momentary reaction. I think it represents a genuine coming together that has reshaped the way Muslims, and other Kiwis, know each other.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/christchurchs-legacy-of-fighting-violent-extremism-online-must-go-further-deep-into-the-dark-web-133159">Christchurch's legacy of fighting violent extremism online must go further – deep into the dark web</a>
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<p>This Sunday morning, in the hours before the much-debated (now cancelled) national remembrance service, the Kilbirnie mosque in Wellington had planned to host its annual <a href="https://fianz.com/umahday/">open day</a>. </p>
<p>Being part of Wellington’s Muslim community, I remember so many open days like it: filled with fun, laughter, henna painting, bouncy castles, barbecues. In the past, they were days of celebration. This year, it would also have been a day of remembrance.</p>
<p>But only hours before the mosque’s doors were due to open, the mosque <a href="https://www.facebook.com/islaminwellington/posts/2770860883012839">announced</a> its open day had also been regretfully cancelled. </p>
<p>The risk was that, because anyone could just turn up without a ticket, contact tracing would have been too difficult if it later emerged that someone with coronavirus was among the crowd.</p>
<p>In the end, it was the very openness of the Kilbirnie event that meant <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/120287235/coronavirus-mosque-open-day-cancelled-due-to-suspected-case-in-wellington">it had to keep its doors closed</a> today.</p>
<p>But beyond today’s anniversary, living with a spirit of openness is one of the best ways to pay tribute to my friend. </p>
<p>If the mosque open day had gone ahead, and if he could have been there, I can just picture Haji-Daoud behind the barbecue flipping sausages – or at the gate, welcoming strangers inside.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/133239/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shamim Homayun's doctoral research was funded by an Australian Postgraduate Award (APA) and the ANU College of Arts & Social Sciences.</span></em></p>Haji-Daoud Nabi was a lifelong friend, who helped inspire my research in Afghanistan on how violent events shape people’s sense of community. I never thought my work would one day apply at home in NZ.Shamim Homayun, PhD Candidate in Anthropology, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1331592020-03-11T19:16:49Z2020-03-11T19:16:49ZChristchurch’s legacy of fighting violent extremism online must go further – deep into the dark web<p>It didn’t take long for a terrorist to show how hard it is to prevent violent extremist content being shared online.</p>
<p>Within six months of the attacks at two Christchurch mosques on March 15 last year, which were live streamed on Facebook, a far-right terrorist’s attack at a German synagogue was <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/09/the-german-synagogue-shooting-was-streamed-on-twitch.html">broadcast live</a> on Amazon’s video-streaming platform Twitch. </p>
<p>In an echo of the Christchurch attack, it was users who <a href="https://twitter.com/Twitch/status/1182036268202381313">reported the video</a> to Twitch, which was up for about half an hour before being removed.</p>
<p>Last year, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was commended for her leadership on the <a href="https://www.christchurchcall.com/">Christchurch Call</a>, bringing together governments and tech companies with the aim of eliminating terrorist and violent extremist content online.</p>
<p>A year on, the Christchurch Call is still an important initiative. But one of the <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/116024493/jacinda-arderns-christchurch-call-has-made-strides-but-is-worth-much-more-than-the-paper-its-written-on">biggest challenges</a> we face is to prevent far-right groups from simply moving to “<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-dark-web-and-how-does-it-work-63613">the dark web</a>”.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/far-right-extremists-still-threaten-new-zealand-a-year-on-from-the-christchurch-attacks-133050">Far-right extremists still threaten New Zealand, a year on from the Christchurch attacks</a>
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<h2>Three missing nations in the Christchurch Call</h2>
<p>Since <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-vital-we-clamp-down-on-online-terrorism-but-is-arderns-christchurch-call-the-answer-117169">launching</a> at a global summit in Paris last year, the Christchurch Call has generated some momentum – including the relaunch of the <a href="https://www.gifct.org/">Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism</a> as a staffed and funded independent legal entity, with an expanded mandate to counter extremism as well as terrorism. </p>
<p>A new crisis response protocol now encourages quick and effective cooperation between the tech sector and governments in responding to terrorist incidents. </p>
<p>And global support for the Call has grown: as Ardern has <a href="https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA2002/S00178/jacinda-ardern-speech-at-lautoka-mosque.htm">highlighted</a>, it’s now backed by <a href="https://www.opengovasia.com/significant-progress-against-terrorist-and-extremist-online-content/">48 countries</a>, three international organisations and eight online service providers.</p>
<p>But there’s clearly a long way to go in building a truly inclusive, effective international framework, especially because of the three critical nations that are not involved: the US, Russia and China.</p>
<p>The Trump administration’s refusal to sign the Christchurch Call weakened it from the start. Some major US tech firms signalled their support – including Microsoft, Facebook and Google – but the absence of the world’s leading nation was a major blow.</p>
<p>One might be tempted to blame President Trump himself, but the US approach was founded in concerns about the impact on the first amendment to the US constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech, and a broader historical and cultural reluctance to regulate the private sector. </p>
<p>The decision was also made against a political backdrop in the US, in which right-wing voices complained about being <a href="https://torontosun.com/news/world/big-tech-censors-social-media-companies-continue-to-gag-conservative-voices">shut out of mainstream and new media</a>. In a thinly veiled reference to the Christchurch Call, <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-74th-session-united-nations-general-assembly/">President Trump said</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A free society cannot allow social media giants to silence the voices of the people. And a free people must never, ever be enlisted in the cause of silencing, coercing, cancelling or blacklisting their own neighbours. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Russia and China are also notably absent. Without some of the <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/christchurch-shooting/112284082/how-can-upcoming-social-media-efforts-be-global-if-they-ignore-asia">world’s non-western media companies</a>, such as Weibo and WeChat, the initiative is unlikely to succeed.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/its-vital-we-clamp-down-on-online-terrorism-but-is-arderns-christchurch-call-the-answer-117169">It's vital we clamp down on online terrorism. But is Ardern's 'Christchurch Call' the answer?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Algorithms are not up to the task</h2>
<p>A second more technical problem relates to the algorithms used to search for hate speech, violence and terrorist content. </p>
<p>Social media companies rely on these algorithms to funnel content to their users, but they aren’t effective yet in quickly identifying violent extremist content. Facebook <a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2019/09/combating-hate-and-extremism/">has indicated</a> that automated processes still struggle to distinguish between real violence and other content, including footage of real military operations and movies that depict violence.</p>
<p>Reports suggest Facebook is using military footage to <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/115862252/facebook-announces-extremist-content-policy-changes-ahead-of-christchurch-call-stock-take?rm=a">train its algorithms</a> to identify terrorist violence online. But the technical capacity to <a href="https://parispeaceforum.org/publication/digital-platforms-and-extremism-are-content-controls-effective/">monitor vast amounts</a> of user-generated data is not there yet.</p>
<p>Last year, Facebook’s chief AI scientist Yann LeCun said artificial intelligence is years away from being able to moderate this type of content, particularly when it comes to <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/20/18632260/facebook-ai-spot-terrorist-content-live-stream-far-from-solved-yann-lecun">screening live video</a>.</p>
<p>A third problem is the ongoing <a href="http://visionofhumanity.org/app/uploads/2019/11/GTI-2019web.pdf">growth of right-wing violence and hatred</a>. If social media is a reflection of society, then it is no surprise that extremism continues to flourish online. </p>
<h2>Dark social media</h2>
<p>The good news is that globally, terrorist incidents have reduced by 52% since 2014, largely due to successes in fighting groups like ISIS and Boko Haram. But far-right violence continues to flourish, with a <a href="http://visionofhumanity.org/app/uploads/2019/11/GTI-2019web.pdf">320% increase over the past five years</a>. </p>
<p>High-profile attacks inspired by extreme far-right ideology have also continued, with one gunman killing 22 people in El Paso in Texas in August 2019, and an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/19/shooting-germany-hanau-dead-several-people-shisha-near-frankfurt">attack in Hanau</a>, Germany, that killed nine people in February this year. </p>
<p>Social media companies are ill-equipped to counter far-right narratives that feed these attacks by distorting perception, sowing division and feeding confirmation bias. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/four-lessons-we-must-take-away-from-the-christchurch-terror-attack-113716">Four lessons we must take away from the Christchurch terror attack</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The problem is compounded by the growth in “dark social” networks, including applications like WhatsApp and Snapchat, where users share content without any information provided about the source. </p>
<p>Recent research shows that <a href="https://whatsnewinpublishing.com/77-5-of-shares-are-on-dark-social-only-7-5-on-facebook-and-other-trends-publishers-are-in-the-dark-about/">77.5% of shares are on dark social media</a>, as opposed to 7.5% on Facebook. </p>
<p>The dark web continues to proliferate too, with the controversial 8Chan site, which was regularly used by hate groups, moving to a network of <a href="https://theconversation.com/8chans-demise-is-a-win-against-hate-but-could-drive-extremists-to-the-dark-web-121521">inaccessible and encrypted servers</a>.</p>
<p>Countries shouldn’t shy away from advocacy on these issues. Small states can be successful <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0010836702037001689?journalCode=caca">advocates for responsible standards</a> and social behaviours. But we’re only at the beginning of a long and complex process of change. </p>
<p>To measure progress, we need to develop clear metrics based on online patterns and trends to assess and sustain the Christchurch Call. This means including a wider range of tech providers and countries – and, just as importantly, dark social and dark web services.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/133159/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joe Burton receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 844129. He is affiliated with Universite libre de Bruxelles.</span></em></p>The US, Russia and China haven’t backed the NZ-led Christchurch Call to crackdown on online extremism. Without them, and key non-western media, the initiative is unlikely to make enough difference.Joe Burton, Senior Lecturer, New Zealand Institute for Security and Crime Science, University of WaikatoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1327572020-03-10T18:02:15Z2020-03-10T18:02:15ZIn an election year, gun reform has become political in New Zealand and Jacinda Ardern is losing her support<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319499/original/file-20200310-61084-wlm0r1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">David Alexander/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Immediately after the Christchurch massacre in 2019, the New Zealand government pledged dramatic gun law changes. </p>
<p>A year later, amid an ongoing <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12310701">elevated terror level</a>, the government has quietly dropped its promises the laws will <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-21/new-zealand-pm-jacinda-ardern-bans-semi-automatic-weapons/10923760">prevent future mass shootings</a>. It has shifted instead to platitudes about never wanting to see repeats of such horror, and vague assurances about making people “feel safe”.</p>
<p>The government aimed to have <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/116047692/aim-for-gun-reform-to-be-law-by-first-anniversary-of-christchurch-shooting">more gun laws</a> in place before the first anniversary of the massacre, but it is unclear whether <a href="https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/bills-and-laws/bills-proposed-laws/document/BILL_91272/arms-legislation-bill">its bill</a> – which focuses on creating a national gun register, substantially altering requirements around legal firearm ownership and making numerous other administrative reforms – will pass parliament. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/will-the-new-zealand-gun-law-changes-prevent-future-mass-shootings-113838">Will the New Zealand gun law changes prevent future mass shootings?</a>
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</em>
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<p>The opposition National Party <a href="https://www.parliament.nz/resource/en-NZ/SCR_93759/dc0896032262699f1094f5c39f08df21c2c19a9f">does not support the bill</a>. It has raised serious concerns that many proposals ignore evidence about what does, and does not, work to reduce firearm violence. </p>
<p>Even the NZ First Party, which is in coalition with Labour, is <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/119713576/nz-first-has-reservations-about-new-laws">voicing doubts</a> – including about whether police are fit to administer the laws.</p>
<p>This marks a major shift from the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/10/new-zealand-mps-overwhelmingly-back-post-christchurch-gun-ban">almost unanimous</a> passage of laws banning “military style” and many other semi-automatic firearms less than a month after the Christchurch shootings. </p>
<p>Political appetite for extensive gun law change appears to have diminished considerably – but why?</p>
<p>There are three key issues that help to explain this.</p>
<h2>Questionable policy efficacy</h2>
<p>Similar to <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-arguments-that-carried-australias-1996-gun-law-reforms-58431">Australia’s response following the Port Arthur massacre in 1996</a>, New Zealand implemented an amnesty period and compensation scheme (“buyback”) to facilitate newly prohibited firearms being handed in to police. </p>
<p>When that program ended in December, <a href="https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2019/12/gun-buyback-56-000-firearms-handed-in-102-million-paid-out.html">about 56,000 firearms and over 190,000 parts had been handed in</a>, with more than NZ$100 million paid out. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/114700462/kpmg-report-warned-government-to-be-cautious-over-gun-buyback-scheme-costs">Estimates</a> about the total number of now-prohibited guns in circulation in New Zealand before the buy-back <a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6554808/nzs-gun-buyback-ends/?cs=14232">have varied wildly</a>, from a remarkably convenient 56,000 to a far more awkward <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12235230">300,000</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319502/original/file-20200310-61084-1a9e09a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319502/original/file-20200310-61084-1a9e09a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319502/original/file-20200310-61084-1a9e09a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319502/original/file-20200310-61084-1a9e09a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319502/original/file-20200310-61084-1a9e09a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319502/original/file-20200310-61084-1a9e09a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319502/original/file-20200310-61084-1a9e09a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The gun buyback scheme initially had bipartisan backing in New Zealand.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">New Zealand Police/PR Handout</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The figure <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12295533">commonly bandied about in the media</a> is 170,000, suggesting a compliance rate of under 30% (similar to - or even lower than - <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/526a/200e5586c3feaf984027fed9106ff5941a81.pdf">Australia’s</a> estimated compliance rate).</p>
<p>Challenging government statements that the amnesty and buyback scheme <a href="https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1912/S00202/gun-buyback-over-next-phase-underway.htm">have been a success</a>, opponents highlight the prospect the same black market that appeared in Australia following the 1996 laws is now going to occur in New Zealand. They also cite international research showing hand-in programs are <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-national-amnesty-will-not-rid-australia-of-violent-gun-crime-79563">ineffective at tackling crime</a>. </p>
<p>Drawing on Australian and Canadian evidence, the National Party has further </p>
<ul>
<li><p>highlighted the prevalence of gun crime involving unlicensed offenders and unregistered firearms </p></li>
<li><p>challenged the government to back up its claims that gun registration will reduce gun-related crime and </p></li>
<li><p>called for full costings to be released. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>In response, the government says it has “<a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12295533">got to be a good thing</a>” there are fewer guns in the community. It also cites <a href="https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/rhr/combined/HansDeb_20200219_20200219_32">public opinion polls</a> showing support for strengthening gun laws. </p>
<p>However, it has been unable to provide credible evidence to support its belief the laws will have a direct effect on firearm misuse. </p>
<h2>Perceived lack of transparency</h2>
<p>Police issued the perpetrator of the Christchurch massacre with a gun licence <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12286323">shortly after he arrived in New Zealand</a>, and were seemingly aware of the firearms he owned. </p>
<p>It has been <a href="https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/rnz/ex-cop-gun-licence-obtained-without-proper-checks">suggested</a> he was not properly vetted and if he had been, he would not have been issued a licence. <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/world/christchurch-massacre-nz-police-ok-gave-tarrant-weapons/news-story/fa62097080646a6ce890925c67af38dd">Police deny this</a>, but the allegations have not been independently investigated. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-national-amnesty-will-not-rid-australia-of-violent-gun-crime-79563">A national amnesty will not rid Australia of violent gun crime</a>
</strong>
</em>
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<p>Was there a failure to enforce existing laws prior to the Christchurch shootings? It would be hoped not, but what we know about <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317557695_Australian_Mass_Shootings_An_Analysis_of_Incidents_and_Offenders">Australian mass shootings</a> suggests New Zealand cannot ignore this possibility. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://christchurchattack.royalcommission.nz/about-the-inquiry/">royal commission</a> into the attacks may consider this issue, but its terms of reference are somewhat open to interpretation. </p>
<p>Moreover, its report is not being released until late April. The government has been pressing hard to get its new gun laws passed before then, giving the impression it expects findings that could run counter to its policy positions. Whether or not that turns out to be true, it is not a good look.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319531/original/file-20200310-61076-rmjssb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319531/original/file-20200310-61076-rmjssb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319531/original/file-20200310-61076-rmjssb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319531/original/file-20200310-61076-rmjssb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319531/original/file-20200310-61076-rmjssb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319531/original/file-20200310-61076-rmjssb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319531/original/file-20200310-61076-rmjssb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The firearms store in Christchurch where the mosque shooter acquired four of the five guns he used in the attack.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Karen Sweeney/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Irregularities in process</h2>
<p>There were raised eyebrows when, during the first round of gun law reforms, the <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/the-house/audio/2018690621/gun-law-reform-s-speedy-select-committee-followed-typical-process">select committee process was shortened</a> to just one week. </p>
<p>This has been followed by questions about the committee considering the second tranche of proposed laws. The bill was not sent to the <a href="https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/sc/scl/justice/">Justice Committee</a>, where firearm matters most logically sit. Rather, it was sent to the <a href="https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/sc/scl/finance-and-expenditure/">Finance and Expenditure Committee</a>, which focuses on economic and fiscal policy, taxation and related matters. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-qanda-did-government-gun-buybacks-reduce-the-number-of-gun-deaths-in-australia-85836">FactCheck Q&A: did government gun buybacks reduce the number of gun deaths in Australia?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>Sending a bill to that committee greatly improves the chances of findings favouring the government. Unlike other committees, which tend to have an even split of members from opposing sides of the floor, the 13-member Finance and Expenditure Committee has a majority of members from the Labour-NZ First coalition. </p>
<p>The committee recommended a small number of what are essentially “cosmetic” rather than “substantive” changes to the bill. Nevertheless, the overall impression is the government is more focused on a scoring a “political win” than on carefully considered legislative development. </p>
<h2>What else is going on?</h2>
<p>The government and its supporters have tried hard to characterise criticism as nothing more than “gun lobby pressure”. This simplistic response seeks to <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-gun-debate-needs-to-move-away-from-simplistic-ideas-of-good-and-bad-92734">deflect and delegitimise</a> reasonable analysis of whether the proposed measures are really going to achieve their stated outcomes. </p>
<p>It also makes the government look fearful of being questioned and unable to provide arguments that withstand serious scrutiny.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/117880219/new-poll-has-nationalled-government">Recent polls</a> provide <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12308451">further insight</a>. Labour is <a href="https://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/failed-miserably-jacindas-in-trouble/3956250/">facing a battle</a> to retain power in this year’s general election. And critics have cast it as <a href="https://theconversation.com/left-leaning-australians-may-look-to-new-zealand-with-envy-but-ardern-still-has-much-work-to-do-128227">inept and struggling</a> to <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/jacinda-ardern-show-pony-or-stayer/news-story/50062ae173b94270d3445cdaab2ce253">perform</a> on a range of <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/116855014/two-years-in-how-is-pm-jacinda-arderns-government-doing">domestic policy issues</a>. </p>
<p>Some commentators also speculate Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is less interested in handling domestic matters than in <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12220880">positioning</a> for a <a href="https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/09/the-world-has-changed-march-15-dominates-jacinda-ardern-s-united-nations-address.html">future UN role</a>. Others say her party is too quick to embrace symbolic but <a href="https://theconversation.com/nzs-fossil-fuel-investment-ban-for-popular-kiwisaver-funds-is-more-political-than-ethical-132863">poorly thought-out</a> measures. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/one-year-on-for-arderns-coalition-government-in-new-zealand-105212">One year on for Ardern's coalition government in New Zealand</a>
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<p>Against this background, it would be naive to believe the government is not trying to use gun laws to boost <a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/03/08/asia-pacific/politics-diplomacy-asia-pacific/new-zealand-jacinda-ardern-election/#.XmbwK6gzaHs">its re-election hopes</a>. Again, this mimics Australia, where political parties use gun policy to signal their moral and law and order credentials. </p>
<p>Yet, in one regard, the two countries diverge. In Australia, tactics such as sloganeering, deflecting close examination of policy, <a href="https://www.policyforum.net/australias-gun-laws-leading-by-imperfect-example/">shifting goalposts</a> and discrediting those who ask unwelcome questions have been meekly accepted. </p>
<p>Based on the bipartisanship in New Zealand immediately following the Christchurch shootings, there can be no doubt New Zealand’s government expected an equally smooth run. Instead, it is being held to account and seems affronted by that.</p>
<p>Inevitable political horse-trading may still see the laws pass. But rather than unifying the country, it appears government overreach has instead paved the way for distrust and division. And when it comes to that, sadly, New Zealand and Australia are again in step.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/132757/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span> Dr Samara McPhedran does not does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that might benefit from this article. She has received funding from various Australian and international government grant programs, including the Australian Research Council and Criminology Research Council, for a number of projects relating to homicide and suicide. She has been appointed to a number of advisory panels and committees, including as a member of the Queensland Ministerial Advisory Panel on Firearms, and as a previous member of the Commonwealth Firearms Advisory Council. She does not receive any financial remuneration or other reward for these activities. She has held past memberships with/volunteered for a range of not-for-profit firearm-related organisations and women's advocacy groups. She is currently affiliated with the Queensland Homicide Victims’ Support Group, serving on the Board of Directors. This is an unpaid position. She is not, and has never been, a member of any political party. The views expressed are those of the author alone</span></em></p>Rather than unifying the country, it appears the government’s overreach on gun legislation has paved the way for distrust and division.Samara McPhedran, Director, Homicide Research Unit/Deputy Director, Violence Research and Prevention Program, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1330502020-03-10T18:01:15Z2020-03-10T18:01:15ZFar-right extremists still threaten New Zealand, a year on from the Christchurch attacks<p>In the hours after the Christchurch mosque attacks on March 15 last year, <a href="https://theconversation.com/christchurch-mosque-shootings-must-end-new-zealands-innocence-about-right-wing-terrorism-113655">I wrote</a> that I hoped New Zealand would finally stop believing it was immune to far-right extremist violence. A year on, I’m not sure enough has changed.</p>
<p>I’ve researched far-right extremism for decades – and I would argue it remains a high-level threat in New Zealand, not just <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/sep/19/fastest-growing-uk-terrorist-threat-is-from-far-right-say-police">overseas</a>. </p>
<p>My assessment is that there are about 60 to 70 groups and somewhere between 150 and 300 core right-wing activists in New Zealand. </p>
<p>This sounds modest alongside the estimated 12,000 to 13,000 <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/21/world/europe/germany-shooting-terrorism.html">violent far-right activists in Germany</a>. But proportionate to population size, the numbers are similar for both countries. And it only takes one activist to act out his extremism.</p>
<p>In the past year, there has certainly been greater investment by New Zealand’s security agencies in monitoring extremist groups and activists. There has been more media coverage. The government moved quickly to ban assault weapons and further <a href="https://www.parliament.nz/en/get-involved/topics/all-current-topics/bill-proposes-further-tightening-of-gun-controls/">controls on the use and possession of arms are underway</a>. Other initiatives, including a <a href="https://christchurchattack.royalcommission.nz/">royal commission of inquiry</a>, are pending. </p>
<p>But I also feel there is a tendency to see the Christchurch attacks, which killed 51 people, as a one-off or an aberration – rather than something we still need to guard against. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/christchurch-mosque-shootings-must-end-new-zealands-innocence-about-right-wing-terrorism-113655">Christchurch mosque shootings must end New Zealand's innocence about right-wing terrorism</a>
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<h2>New Zealand’s home-grown extremists</h2>
<p>New Zealanders should now be more aware than a year ago of the presence of local right-wing extremists. There has been plenty to remind them.</p>
<p>In June last year, Philip Arps, who has been involved in white supremacist activities in Christchurch for some time, was sentenced to 21 months in jail for sharing video of the Christchurch shootings. I am puzzled by the limited public awareness that the imagery on the side of his van – a <a href="https://www.adl.org/education/references/hate-symbols/1488">reference to 14/88</a> and Nazi signage – was a clear indicator of his extremist views. </p>
<p>Arps was <a href="https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/01/white-supremacist-philip-arps-released-from-prison-banned-from-contact-with-muslims.html">released early in January this year</a> under strict conditions, including a GPS monitor that alerts authorities if he goes near a mosque. </p>
<p>Even though the white nationalist group Dominion Movement folded after the mosque attacks, one of its leaders, a soldier in the New Zealand defence force, was arrested in December last year for “<a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/119627639/whats-public-and-whats-secret-in-the-case-of-the-soldier-arrested-for-breaching-national-security?m=m">accessing a computer for a dishonest purpose</a>” and disclosing information that “<a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/118942709/soldier-with-farright-links-accused-of-disclosing-military-information">prejudiced the security and defence of New Zealand</a>”. He had been active since 2011 on the neo-Nazi site Stormfront and attended a free speech rally in Wellington in 2018 along with another extreme-right activist.</p>
<p>He also appears to be a member of Wargus Christi, a group formed in September last year by a self-described neo-Nazi, Daniel Waring. It is a “martial-monastic” group of body builders who are homophobic, anti-Semitic and Islamaphobic.</p>
<p>Another group new to New Zealand’s extreme right is <a href="https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2020/03/09/1072195/action-zealandia-member-planned-terror-cell">Action Zealandia</a>. Their slogan is “building a community for European New Zealanders”. Apart from their online presence, their main public activity is placing stickers in public spaces highlighting their ultra-nationalism.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-overhauling-nzs-gun-and-terrorism-laws-alone-cant-stop-terrorist-attacks-113706">Why overhauling NZ's gun and terrorism laws alone can't stop terrorist attacks</a>
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<h2>Confronting NZ’s place in a global web of hate</h2>
<p>Information from agencies such as the <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/">Southern Poverty Law Center</a> or the <a href="https://www.adl.org/">Anti-Defamation League</a> in the US shows a significant <a href="https://www.adl.org/blog/white-supremacists-double-down-on-propaganda-in-2019">increase in extremist activity</a> since 2016. </p>
<p>What has been most concerning is that the rise in online hate speech has real-world implications. <a href="https://phys.org/news/2019-10-online-speech-crimes-minorities.html">Research</a> shows an increase in online hate speech will be accompanied by hate crimes in a region or locality. Internet outages reduce both.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-year-from-the-christchurch-terror-attacks-nz-intelligence-records-a-surge-in-reports-131895">A year from the Christchurch terror attacks, NZ intelligence records a surge in reports</a>
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<p>In the aftermath of the Christchurch attacks, it was good to see <a href="https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/new-zealand-bans-military-style-semi-automatics-and-assault-rifles">rapid action on limiting automatic weapons</a>. And the <a href="https://www.christchurchcall.com/">Christchurch Call</a> – Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-christchurch-call-is-just-a-start-now-we-need-to-push-for-systemic-change-117259">initiative</a> to stop people using social media to promote terrorism – certainly helped put pressure on online platforms such as Facebook to monitor and remove objectionable material.</p>
<p>But we could move to ban right-wing organisations and put restrictions on individuals who <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/feb/24/uk-ban-neo-nazi-sonnenkrieg-division-terrorist-group">breach agreed thresholds of speech and action</a>. We still do not have clear guidelines for what constitutes hate speech, apart from <a href="http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1993/0082/latest/DLM304643.html">s61 of the Human Rights Act</a> and the <a href="http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2015/0063/latest/whole.html">Harmful Digital Communications Act</a>.</p>
<p>I do worry that we don’t have sufficient resources and skills locally to adequately monitor what is happening, even if agencies have been working together more closely internationally.</p>
<p>It would be good to know more from the agencies that have oversight. The New Zealand Security and Intelligence Service (<a href="https://www.nzsis.govt.nz/">NZSIS</a>) refers to the threat value, but often in relation to international threats. </p>
<p>More openness about their concerns and the extent of local groups and activists would help: for instance, something like <a href="https://tellmamauk.org/">Tell MAMA</a> in the UK or the reports other security agencies provide. </p>
<p>It was refreshing to see the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (<a href="https://www.asio.gov.au/">ASIO</a>) provide its <a href="https://www.asio.gov.au/director-generals-annual-threat-assessment.html">annual threat assessment</a> in February this year. It assessed the terrorist threat in Australia as probable but the possibility of a right-wing extremist attack as low in terms of capability.</p>
<p>But it acknowledged that advances in technology are “outstripping our technical capabilities”, which must be a concern everywhere.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/asio-chiefs-assessment-shows-the-need-to-do-more-and-better-to-prevent-terrorism-132447">ASIO chief's assessment shows the need to do more, and better, to prevent terrorism</a>
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<p>One thing is certain. The Christchurch mosque attacks have become part of the lexicon whenever white supremacist terrorism is discussed. The events on March 15 have become something of a guide – and, unfortunately, an inspiration to other right-wing terrorists. </p>
<p>It is challenging that many of these extremists, the alleged Christchurch gunman included, are self-radicalised, ideologically motivated, and with a small or no digital footprint. Often there is no prior warning of an attack. </p>
<p>One year on from the attacks, my report card for New Zealand is that we’ve made progress on greater awareness and action. But we still need to do more, including on keeping the public better informed that the problem hasn’t gone away. Just ask those <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/403884/new-register-for-islamophobic-and-racist-incidents-created">who continue to be targeted</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/133050/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Spoonley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>My assessment is that there are about 150 to 300 core right-wing activists in New Zealand. This might sound modest – but proportionate to population, it’s similar to extremist numbers in Germany.Paul Spoonley, Distinguished Professor, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Massey UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1318952020-02-26T19:04:27Z2020-02-26T19:04:27ZA year from the Christchurch terror attacks, NZ intelligence records a surge in reports<p>The Christchurch mosque attacks on March 15 last year have prompted a significant rise in tip-offs about people expressing extremist views, according to a <a href="https://www.nzsis.govt.nz/assets/media/NZSIS-Annual-Report-2019.pdf">report</a> by New Zealand’s Security Intelligence Service (<a href="https://www.nzsis.govt.nz/">NZSIS</a>).</p>
<p>During the three months following the terrorist attacks, NZSIS <a href="https://www.nzsis.govt.nz/news/nzsis-director-general-isc-opening-statement/">received 455 pieces of lead information</a> about people who expressed racist, Nazi or white supremacist views.</p>
<p>The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (<a href="https://www.asio.gov.au/">ASIO</a>) also released its <a href="https://www.asio.gov.au/director-generals-annual-threat-assessment.html">annual threat assessment</a> this week, warning right-wing groups are more organised than in previous years.</p>
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<p>Right-wing extremism has been in ASIO’s sights for some time, but obviously this threat came into sharp, terrible focus last year in New Zealand. In Australia, the extreme right-wing threat is real and it is growing. In suburbs around Australia, small cells regularly meet to salute Nazi flags, inspect weapons, train in combat and share their hateful ideology.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/christchurch-mosque-shootings-must-end-new-zealands-innocence-about-right-wing-terrorism-113655">Christchurch mosque shootings must end New Zealand's innocence about right-wing terrorism</a>
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<h2>Different approaches</h2>
<p>In New Zealand, a <a href="https://christchurchattack.royalcommission.nz/">royal commission of inquiry</a> is expected to report back in April about what intelligence agencies knew about the alleged perpetrator before the Christchurch attack and how they should be reorganised to prevent such incidents in the future.</p>
<p>I believe the mosque attacks represent a serious failure of intelligence services and any reorganisation should involve greater transparency with the public, so that people see the scale of the threat and how intelligence services are responding.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-how-a-royal-commission-will-investigate-christchurch-shootings-116122">Explainer: how a royal commission will investigate Christchurch shootings</a>
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<p>Terrorism is a risk for most countries, but intelligence agencies differ in the way they present the risks, their understanding of it and how they report on it.</p>
<p>The European Union (EU) does not report a generic threat level, but individual countries do. For example, the UK’s intelligence agency MI5 records the <a href="https://www.mi5.gov.uk/threat-levels">risk of a terror attack</a> in England, Scotland and Wales as substantial (an attack is likely) and in Northern Ireland as severe (an attack is highly likely).</p>
<p>The Australian agency <a href="https://www.asio.gov.au/">ASIO</a> has listed the <a href="https://www.asio.gov.au/sites/default/files/2018-19%20Annual%20Report%20WEB2.pdf">national terrorism threat level as probable</a> since 2014. </p>
<p>In New Zealand, the threat level went from low to high following the Christchurch attacks, but is now medium, which means a <a href="https://www.nzsis.govt.nz/assets/media/NZSIS-Annual-Report-2019.pdf">terrorist attack is assessed as feasible</a> and could well occur.</p>
<h2>Reporting terrorism risk</h2>
<p>In 2018, the NZSIS <a href="https://www.nzsis.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/2018-NZSIS-Annual-Report.pdf">reported</a> around 30 people of “particular interest”. Following the Christchurch attacks, “between 30 and 50 individuals have been <a href="https://www.nzsis.govt.nz/assets/media/NZSIS-Annual-Report-2019.pdf">under active investigation</a> … in relation to violent extremism at any one time”.</p>
<p>Australian intelligence agencies do not report how many people are of particular interest. They report the number of attacks that have been disrupted (three in the past 12 months) and how many (12,478) counter-terrorism leads were resolved or investigated. The EU has a similar approach, recording the <a href="https://www.europol.europa.eu/activities-services/main-reports/terrorism-situation-and-trend-report-2019-te-sat">number of foiled, failed or completed attacks</a> (129 for 2018), and the number of arrests (1,056).</p>
<p>Australian agencies rank their risk groups. Currently Sunni Islamist extremism, primarily from small groups and individuals inspired by extremist groups overseas, is listed as the “<a href="https://www.asio.gov.au/sites/default/files/2018-19%20Annual%20Report%20WEB2.pdf">principal source of the terrorist threat</a>”. </p>
<p>In Europe, risk reporting currently shows most attacks come from “<a href="https://www.europol.europa.eu/activities-services/main-reports/terrorism-situation-and-trend-report-2019-te-sat">ethno-nationalist and seperatist groups</a>” (83), followed by jihadist (24), left-wing (19) and other groups.</p>
<p>Although right-wing terrorism is not a primary risk factor in Australia, intelligence agencies are <a href="https://www.asio.gov.au/sites/default/files/2018-19%20Annual%20Report%20WEB2.pdf">more aware</a> of it. </p>
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<p>This threat is not something new, but current extreme right‑wing networks are better organised and more sophisticated than those of the past … any future extreme right-wing inspired attack in Australia would most likely be low capability and conducted by a lone actor or small group, although a sophisticated weapons attack is possible. </p>
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<p>Similarly, in Europe, right-wing groups are not a dominant risk factor, but intelligence agencies <a href="https://www.europol.europa.eu/activities-services/main-reports/terrorism-situation-and-trend-report-2019-te-sat">note an increase</a>.</p>
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<p>The number of arrests linked to right-wing terrorism remained relatively low but increased for the third year in a row. Right-wing extremists prey on fears of perceived attempts to Islamicise society and loss of national identity.</p>
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<h2>More transparency needed</h2>
<p>This month’s <a href="https://www.nzsis.govt.nz/assets/media/NZSIS-Annual-Report-2019.pdf">national security report</a> notes the Christchurch attack made it clear that New Zealand is not immune to the threat of right-wing violent extremism. </p>
<p>But intelligence services do not gauge the scale of this domestic risk. Instead they paint the problem as “a growing threat internationally … that will … continue to be a challenge for security agencies around the world for the foreseeable future”. </p>
<p>Other countries’ agencies tell citizens more. Australian agencies reported seven terror attacks and 16 major counter-terrorism disruption operations since 2014, including where these incidents took place, what types of weapons were used and whether the targets were public spaces, military sites or infrastructure. </p>
<p>European agencies follow similar reporting, but provide their citizens with even more information. This covers everything from arrests, convictions and penalties, financing, weapons, use of propaganda and detail about people who travel to and return from war zones. </p>
<p>Australian agencies also map what they consider the most likely terror attacks in the future (low cost, locally financed, using readily acquired weapons and relatively simple tactics). They also note emerging themes, such as the risk of opportunistic violence or civil disobedience through counter protesters. </p>
<p>In contrast, New Zealand intelligence agencies don’t share any of these considerations with the public. Nor do they elaborate on the threat of right wing terrorism to the extent of their counterparts. The failure of the previous ten years <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/385173/no-mention-of-right-wing-extremist-threats-in-10-years-of-gcsb-and-sis-public-docs">not to mention the risk of right-wing terror</a> cannot be repeated. While we now know the risk of extreme right terrorism exists, it is the responsibility of the security agencies to better monitor, analyse, prevent, and report on this risk than ever before.</p>
<p>After last year’s mosque shooting, if the intelligence agencies want to regain the trust of the public, they will have to do much better.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/131895/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexander Gillespie has recieved funding for the New Zealand Law Foundation for the study of terrorism. </span></em></p>In the wake of last year’s Christchurch mosque attacks, New Zealand’s intelligence agencies must become more transparent in their reporting on the risk of right-wing terrorism.Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of WaikatoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1250822019-10-15T02:53:43Z2019-10-15T02:53:43ZComprehensive gun register part of next stage of firearms law reform post Christchurch shootings<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296799/original/file-20191014-135529-1lcqno1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=65%2C0%2C5363%2C3499&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">New Zealand's PM Jacinda Ardern, police minister Stuart Nash (right) and the minister for Christchurch regeneration Megan Woods announcing stronger gun laws and the creation of a firearms registry.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/David Alexander</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Following the Christchurch mosque shootings, the New Zealand government’s first response was to ban the firearms the alleged gunman had used to murder 51 people.</p>
<p>Seven months later, the <a href="http://legislation.govt.nz/bill/government/2019/0177/latest/LMS256577.html">second tranche of this process</a> is underway. This new law which emphasises that the possession and use of firearms is a privilege (as opposed to a legal right), aims to ensure that people in lawful possession of their firearms act responsibly in the interests of personal and public safety.</p>
<p>To achieve these goals the proposed law will seek improvements in the licensing of shooting clubs. It will also refine who is “fit and proper”, with prima facie restrictions on, among others, gang members and people who show patterns of behaviour that exhibit or promote violence, hatred or extremism. In addition, the new law aims to improve general safety and compliance considerations, as well as stopping the flow of firearms being obtained by criminals, to which a comprehensive register of all firearms is mooted. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-nz-needs-to-follow-weapons-ban-with-broad-review-of-security-laws-114022">Why NZ needs to follow weapons ban with broad review of security laws</a>
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<p>This is the third time in recent history New Zealand has attempted to reintroduce a firearms register. If it is approved this time, it will give authorities better information to trace hundreds of thousands of legally owned weapons, solves crime and slow the flow of firearms to criminals. </p>
<h2>The impact of firearms</h2>
<p>If the firearms register is accepted, <a href="https://www.police.govt.nz/sites/default/files/publications/ir-01-19-7586.pdf">about 237,000</a> New Zealanders who are lawfully licensed to possess firearms but do not have to currently disclose what is in their possession will have to join some 7,500 licenced owners of restricted firearms who require registration because their guns present a higher risk. Before the current buy-back scheme, this included 13,294 military style firearms, 40,387 pistols, 4,930 machine guns and 1,262 other restricted firearms. </p>
<p>These 60,000 or so registered firearms, of which the authorities know their location, are a small subset of the (upper estimate) of <a href="https://www.police.govt.nz/sites/default/files/publications/14-sep-2018-ir-01-18-11101.pdf">1.2 million firearms in the civilian stockpile in New Zealand</a>. There is no certainty about where 95% of these other firearms are located.</p>
<p>It is necessary to keep a number of issues in perspective. New Zealand’s homicide rate was, until Christchurch, at a <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/107415102/murder-rate-hits-a-40yearlow-police-say">40-year low</a> (35 murders in 2017). Of these deaths, only <a href="https://www.police.govt.nz/sites/default/files/publications/homicide-victims-report-2017.pdf">one in ten involved the use of firearms</a>. Stabbing or cutting weapons were responsible for a quarter of all homicides. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, prior to the Christchurch attack, there were <a href="https://www.police.govt.nz/sites/default/files/publications/25-nov-2018-ir-01-18-17024.pdf">69 murders</a> between January 2008 and December 2017 that involved a firearm. 2018 appeared to show a spike in this trend with <a href="https://interactives.stuff.co.nz/2019/the-homicide-report/index.html">seven shootings with criminal or gang connections</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-overhauling-nzs-gun-and-terrorism-laws-alone-cant-stop-terrorist-attacks-113706">Why overhauling NZ's gun and terrorism laws alone can't stop terrorist attacks</a>
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<p>Of the firearms used (before the Christchurch shootings), two thirds of gun homicides were committed with .22 calibre rifles (30%) or shotguns (33%). The more tightly regulated (and registered) pistols (7%) and previously lawful military style semi-automatics (7%) are less common in homicides.</p>
<h2>Firearms in criminal offences</h2>
<p>It’s not just the worst case scenarios of murder by firearm that demand attention. Between March 2018 and 2019, there were <a href="https://www.police.govt.nz/sites/default/files/publications/ir-01-19-5842.pdf">3,043 instances</a> where police recorded an offence that involved the use of a firearm unlawfully. More specific evidence suggests <a href="https://www.police.govt.nz/sites/default/files/publications/5-dec-2018-ir-01-18-18031.pdf">97 instances</a> in the decade from 2008 to 2018 where firearms were used, or threatened, against law enforcement officers.</p>
<p>Most firearms offences are committed by people who are not licensed to be in possession of a gun. But a minority of these crimes is committed by people licensed to possess firearms. </p>
<p>A register of all firearms is one tool to deal with such offences. Some countries, including the United States and Canada, have opted to avoid a registry. Others, including Australia, Japan, South Africa, Germany, Norway, France, the Netherlands, Ireland and Britain have created <a href="https://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/compare/128/civilian_gun_registration/10,31,69,91,166,192,194,66,125,136">firearms registers</a>. </p>
<p>At the international level, such tools to help with the traceability of firearms have also become part of the <a href="https://treaties.un.org/doc/source/RecentTexts/18-12_c_E.pdf">toolbox to confront organised crime</a>. They also help meet some of the <a href="https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg16">sustainable development goals</a>.</p>
<h2>Gun register history</h2>
<p>For most of its history, New Zealand had a gun register. This emerged during the 1860s and the <a href="https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/new-zealands-19th-century-wars/introduction">Land Wars</a> when the government was trying to <a href="http://www.nzlii.org/nz/legis/hist_act/aa186024v1860n38188.pdf">control a free flow of firearms</a> into the country. But some 120 years later, in a very different context, the pre-computer registration system was unfit for purpose. Only about 7% of all registered firearms could be located. </p>
<p>The replacement <a href="http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1983/0044/latest/whole.html">Arms Act of 1983</a> did away with the general register and put more emphasis upon ensuring all firearms users were “fit and proper”. Only pistols and military style semi-automatics had to be registered.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/will-the-new-zealand-gun-law-changes-prevent-future-mass-shootings-113838">Will the New Zealand gun law changes prevent future mass shootings?</a>
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<p>Every new firearm imported into the country (<a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12210546">52,000 in 2018</a>) has an identification number, which is <a href="http://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/1992/0346/latest/DLM169114.html">recorded as part of the importation process</a>. But unless these are highly controlled firearms (such as pistols, and previously lawful military style firearms) this record ends at the point a dealer sells it to a lawful purchaser. </p>
<p>This approach was criticised following the <a href="https://nzhistory.govt.nz/david-gray-kills-13-aramoana">1990 Aramoana mass shooting</a>, in which 13 people were murdered. In 1997, Justice Thorpe recommended a reintroduction of a firearms register because “<a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10621822">total reliance on personal vetting does not meet the reasonable needs of our society</a>”.</p>
<p>In 2016, the Law and Order Committee inquiry into issues relating to the illegal possession of firearms in New Zealand came to a similar conclusion. They also recommended the law be amended to require <a href="https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/sc/reports/document/SCR_72851/inquiry-into-issues-relating-to-the-illegal-possession">police to record the serial numbers of all firearms</a> possessed by licensed holders upon renewal of their licence or inspection of their premises.</p>
<h2>Benefits of gun registration</h2>
<p>Both times, politicians rejected the recommendations for comprehensive gun registration. Had gun registration been obligatory, the police would have known what type of firearms the alleged Christchurch shooter had lawfully acquired. They would have also known how many he had, where he obtained them and the frequency with which he was acquiring them. </p>
<p>We can’t know whether this information would have raised a red flag, but it does highlight the possibility that such information may be useful to the authorities. Potential benefits could arise during normal police business. Similarly, when a firearm licence expires, police could identify any associated firearms of the former licence-holder and make sure they are taken out of circulation correctly. </p>
<p>The second reason gun registration is beneficial is that it helps solves crime. When a firearm can be traced to a particular owner, the forensic results can prove instrumental in a conviction or exculpation for either the crime or wrongful supply of the firearm.</p>
<p>The third reason a comprehensive gun register would be valuable is that it will help the authorities begin to understand the pipeline of firearms to criminals. If authorities know where all firearms are to begin with and can trace them, they can then start to work out when and where they are being stolen, lost or diverted. </p>
<p>It is for reasons of accountability, traceability and safety that we register <a href="https://www.nzta.govt.nz/vehicles/licensing-rego/">vehicles</a>, <a href="https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/dogs-animals/register-your-dog/Pages/register-dog-first-time.aspx">dogs</a>, <a href="https://www.mpi.govt.nz/growing-and-harvesting/livestock-and-animal-care/national-animal-identification-and-tracing/">some livestock</a> and even over-the-counter <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10621822">pharmaceuticals such as pseudoephedrine</a> in New Zealand.</p>
<p>In the case of firearms, the necessity to understand how criminals are obtaining their firearms is critical. As it stands, the best estimate for illegal firearms in New Zealand is 25,000. However, that guess is over 20 years old, and does not match what we currently know, and what we do know if filled with more gaps than answers. For example, although the <a href="https://www.police.govt.nz/sites/default/files/publications/ir-01-18-559.pdf">theft of firearms</a> (the most likely pipeline for criminals) from licensed holders has been growing, the current number of reported thefts of military style firearms, shotguns, rifles and pistols (623 in 2018) is <a href="https://www.police.govt.nz/sites/default/files/publications/ir-01-19-1195.pdf">less than half of what the police seized</a> (1,335) in the same year. </p>
<p>Unless this most basic information is available for the authorities, in the form of a gun register for all firearms, we will be living in a society where criminals have access to weapons we cannot account for; where the tools for solving crimes are limited, and information which may be useful to the police is kept invisible.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/125082/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexander Gillespie receives funding from the New Zealand Law Foundation, with regards to the study of terrorism in New Zealand.</span></em></p>A register of all firearms is part of the next stage of New Zealand’s gun law reform, following the Christchurch mosque shootings.Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of WaikatoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1217362019-08-13T20:05:24Z2019-08-13T20:05:24ZSurvey reveals a third of NZ gun owners distrust gun lobby<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287797/original/file-20190813-9429-qkh8c8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=95%2C246%2C5203%2C3281&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In a recent survey, New Zealand gun owners reported more trust in other gun owners than people who don't own guns, but lower levels of trust in the pro-gun lobby.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The terrorist attacks on the Christchurch Muslim community on 15 March this year resulted in a political response that was decidedly different from what usually follows mass shootings in the United States. </p>
<p>The speed of legislative action, banning military-style semi-automatic weapons (MSSAs) within days of the attack, was remarked on both at home and <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/385287/world-reacts-to-military-style-semi-automatic-weapons-ban-in-new-zealand">around the world</a>. Some gun owners began handing over their MSSAs <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/385043/christchurch-mosque-terror-attacks-gun-owners-voluntarily-handing-over-semi-automatic-rifles-to-police">to police voluntarily</a> after the attacks, and <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/394906/over-2000-guns-handed-in-at-buyback-events-this-weekend">hundreds of guns have been handed in</a> during government buyback events throughout the country. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-nz-needs-to-follow-weapons-ban-with-broad-review-of-security-laws-114022">Why NZ needs to follow weapons ban with broad review of security laws</a>
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<p>But there was another group who considered the <a href="https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/firearms-bill-make-criminals-immediately-250k-people-gun-group-argues">government response an over-reaction</a> and an infringement of gun owners’ rights. </p>
<p>Given these diverging views, which story truly reflects gun owners? Do gun owners trust the government to do what’s right? And do they trust other gun owners or the pro-gun lobby that purports to represent them?</p>
<p>These are questions we can now answer from our <a href="https://www.victoria.ac.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/1762562/trust-publication-2019.pdf">recent survey</a>.</p>
<h2>Gun owners are middle-class European Kiwis</h2>
<p>Our team runs an annual survey asking a nationally representative sample of New Zealanders about their trust in people and institutions. The <a href="https://www.victoria.ac.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/1762562/trust-publication-2019.pdf">2019 survey</a> was carried out just prior to the attacks, but we decided to run it again in April, primarily to see whether this tragedy had an impact on trust. We also asked respondents whether they were a gun owner or living in a household with someone who owned a gun - and we asked about trust in gun owners and the pro-gun lobby.</p>
<p>Overall, 15% of respondents reported owning a gun (7.7%) or living in a household with someone who owned a gun (7.5%). Among those who said they owned a gun, 88% were men, but among those who said they didn’t personally own a gun but there was one in the home, 81% were women. In short, men own guns. </p>
<p>People in gun-owning households were somewhat more likely to be New Zealand European (84% vs 74% in the general population) and were more likely to be between 45 and 60 years old, compared to those who did not own guns (34% vs 25%). </p>
<p>Household gun owners reported moderately lower levels of education, with 32% having a university degree compared with 37% of non-gun owners. They were more likely to report middle-class household incomes between NZ$50,000 and NZ$150,000 (60% vs 52%) and less likely to live in big cities (21% vs 47%). </p>
<p>These statistics paint the profile of gun-owning households as fairly average, middle-class, New Zealand European Kiwis, with men primarily the owners.</p>
<h2>Gun owners trust themselves</h2>
<p>Perhaps surprisingly, gun owners are only a little different from others in thinking the government is generally doing the right thing. Controlling for the things that differentiate gun owners from those who don’t own guns, we found a statistically significant, but not very meaningful difference. Survey respondents were asked:</p>
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<p>How much trust do you have in the government to do what is right for New Zealand? </p>
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<p>On a scale of 1 to 4, where 1 is “very little/none” and 4 is “a great deal”, gun owners reported an average of 2.6 vs 2.7 among those who did not own guns.</p>
<p>If gun owners seem like the group who stood to lose through this legislation, why aren’t there bigger differences between those who do and do not own guns in their trust in government? One explanation could be that gun owners are actually more similar than different from the rest of New Zealand when it comes to their views on guns. </p>
<p>In addition to asking about trust in groups such as police, medical practitioners and corporations, we asked people how much trust they had in gun owners and the pro-gun lobby to do the right thing. This scale ranged from 1 (no trust at all) to 5 (complete trust). Unsurprisingly, gun owners reported a higher average trust level in other gun owners: 3.4 compared with 2.7 among those who did not guns – a moderate to large effect size. </p>
<p>When looking at trust in the pro-gun lobby, gun owners still reported higher levels of trust than non-gun owners – 2.7 vs 2.2. But the overall levels of trust were much lower than in gun owners generally. Gun owners tended to rate the gun lobby similar in trust as corporations and politicians. Those who don’t own guns rated the gun lobby as only more trustworthy than bloggers or online commentators. </p>
<h2>Gun owners’ distrust in pro-gun lobby</h2>
<p>It suggests that gun owners have trust in themselves to do the right thing, but far less trust in the pro-gun lobby to represent their best interests. But is it just that gun owners are apathetic to the gun lobby – they neither trust nor distrust it - or is it actual distrust in the lobbyists? </p>
<p>The data suggests it may be a bit of both. Over a third of gun owners distrust the gun lobby compared with only 9% of gun owners who don’t trust other gun owners. On the flipside, close to half of gun owners either have lots or complete trust in gun owners but only 23% can say the same about the gun lobby.</p>
<p>When this survey was conducted, the main legislative change announced was a <a href="https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/new-zealand-bans-military-style-semi-automatics-and-assault-rifles">ban and government buy-back of MSSAs</a>. For the average gun owner, this might have been seen as sensible. But as <a href="https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/new-emphasis-public-safety-firearms">more changes were announced</a> and the gun lobby began to mobilise, it is important to understand whether their views are widely shared by gun owners.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-zealand-gun-owners-invoke-nra-style-tropes-in-response-to-fast-tracked-law-change-114430">New Zealand gun owners invoke NRA-style tropes in response to fast-tracked law change</a>
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<p>Although gun owners report higher trust in gun owners and the pro-gun lobby, breaking this down by political ideology shows that most of the higher levels of lobbyist trust are concentrated among those gun owners to the political right. For example, among those on the political left, there is no statistical difference in trust in gun owners and the pro-gun lobby by whether you own a gun or not. The difference in gun trust among gun owners and those who don’t own guns is widest on the centre, centre right and right. </p>
<p>As New Zealand goes through the process of reforming gun laws to make our country safer and reinforce <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/christchurch-shooting/114411129/firearms-register-among-second-raft-of-gun-law-reforms-announced-by-pm">gun ownership as a privilege rather than a right</a>, one thing is important: the views of the average gun owner are not co-opted by a fringe view of gun ownership.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121736/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New Zealand police is running gun collection events throughout the country as part of the government’s amnesty and buyback scheme.Kate C. Prickett, Director of the Roy McKenzie Centre for the Study of Families and Children, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of WellingtonSimon Chapple, Director, Institute for Governance and Policy Studies, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of WellingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1189172019-06-21T01:02:26Z2019-06-21T01:02:26ZWhat the not guilty pleas mean for the trial of alleged Christchurch mosque gunman<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279921/original/file-20190617-118535-1c571ma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C62%2C2946%2C1886&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The man accused of the Christchurch mosque attacks appeared in court last week as part of a procedural hearing.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Martin Hunter</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The man accused of the Christchurch mosque attacks appeared in court last week. Through his lawyer, he pleaded not guilty to 92 charges of murder, attempted murder and terrorism. </p>
<p>The court appearance was a “callover” procedural hearing as part of the judge managing the case prior to trial. </p>
<p>It clarified issues around the accused’s fitness to stand trial and set a timetable towards a trial in May 2020. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-the-additional-terrorism-charge-means-for-mosque-attack-trial-117815">Explainer: what the additional terrorism charge means for mosque attack trial</a>
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<h2>Charges and not guilty plea</h2>
<p>In total, 92 charges have been laid against the alleged perpetrator of the mosque attacks. The death of an additional person since the last court hearing meant one attempted murder charge was converted to a murder charge. There are now 51 murder charges. Two other attempted murder charges were laid, bringing this to 40. And, as <a href="https://www.police.govt.nz/news/release/further-charges-filed-following-march-15-attack-christchurch">the police had indicated</a> last month, a terrorism charge was added to the murder and attempted murder charges. </p>
<p>The lawyer for the accused entered not guilty pleas on his behalf. As a preliminary to this, it was indicated two appropriately qualified people had assessed the accused and found him fit to stand trial. Under the <a href="http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2003/0115/latest/DLM223818.html">Criminal Procedure (Mentally Impaired Persons) Act 2003</a>, there cannot be a criminal trial to assess guilt if the accused cannot participate. </p>
<p>In such a situation, the courts are limited to a lesser inquiry of whether the person committed the alleged acts. This does not investigate their state of mind at the time of the offence, which is an essential part of most criminal trials. Fitness to stand trial turns on the current state of mind of the accused. </p>
<p>Insanity at the time of the offences is a very different question. It is for the defence to demonstrate at trial if they wish to raise it and have the relevant evidence.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/establishing-fitness-to-stand-trial-as-the-first-step-in-christchurch-attack-court-process-118587">Establishing fitness to stand trial as the first step in Christchurch attack court process</a>
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<p>Defendants are entitled to require the prosecution to prove their guilt. It is a matter that can be taken into account at sentencing if guilt is established, as a person who pleads guilty will almost always receive a discount. Since a murder conviction invariably results in a life sentence, there is a limited carrot available, relating to the time that must be served before a parole application is made. </p>
<p>The law does allow for a life sentence without any prospect of parole. A person who expects this outcome, even if they pleaded guilty, has no real incentive to do so. </p>
<p>It is also worth noting that until the prosecution has completed the process of disclosing all its evidence, defence lawyers are not in a position to give the best advice on whether the prosecution will be able to prove guilt. </p>
<h2>Trial expected in May 2020</h2>
<p>A tentative date has been fixed for the trial, starting on May 4 2020. The trial is expected to take six weeks, although the defence has suggested it might be longer. </p>
<p>The trial length is affected by the decision to bring a charge in relation to each victim rather than to proceed on representative charges, as well as by the added terrorism charge, which introduces complexities into what has to be proved. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/charging-the-christchurch-mosque-attacker-with-terrorism-could-be-risky-but-its-important-117513">Charging the Christchurch mosque attacker with terrorism could be risky – but it's important</a>
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<p>If the trial does indeed begin in May 2020, that will represent some 14 months from arrest to trial. This is not consistent with the need for a speedy trial. But it is not an unusual delay in New Zealand, which has had an <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12234304">underfunded criminal justice system</a> for some time, including in terms of judges and courtrooms. The delays in such a high-profile trial, and the inevitable anguish for victims, highlight the consequence of inadequate funding.</p>
<p>All court appearances to date have been in Christchurch, with the alleged perpetrator appearing by video link from prison in Auckland. Jurisdiction lies with the court local to where the offence occurred. But an application for transfer to another place for trial might be made in due course, partly based on the difficulty of finding jurors without a link to the witnesses or victims.</p>
<h2>Restrictions lifted</h2>
<p>Other developments were in relation to some matters of reporting. The names of attempted murder victims had been suppressed, but that has lapsed. The names of child victims and witnesses are automatically suppressed by statute. </p>
<p>In addition, while the judge did not allow any supplemental images of the accused to be recorded, an image from his first court appearance, which had his face pixelated, can now be used without the pixelation. It is a matter for individual news agencies to decide whether to name the accused (who never sought to have his name suppressed) or to use the image that reveals his face. </p>
<p>Of course, public curiosity may often be harmless, but the alternative view is that a possible desire for notoriety can be countered by not mentioning names or reproducing photographs. The Conversation’s policy is not to name the alleged perpetrator.</p>
<p>The next hearing, also procedural, is due in August.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/118917/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kris Gledhill does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Through his lawyer, the alleged perpetrator of the Christchurch mosque attacks has entered not guilty pleas on 92 charges, including terrorism. A procedural hearing has found him fit to stand trial.Kris Gledhill, Professor of Law, Auckland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1178152019-06-21T01:01:20Z2019-06-21T01:01:20ZExplainer: what the additional terrorism charge means for mosque attack trial<p>A criminal trial for murder or manslaughter is the usual response to a criminal killing. Initially, the alleged perpetrator of the Christchurch mosque attacks, who The Conversation has chosen not to name, was charged with murder and attempted murder.</p>
<p>But last month New Zealand police <a href="https://www.police.govt.nz/news/release/further-charges-filed-following-march-15-attack-christchurch">announced</a> a charge of carrying out a terrorist act had been added. This followed discussion between the police, the crown solicitor for Christchurch and Crown Law, the government’s in-house legal firm headed by the solicitor-general.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/charging-the-christchurch-mosque-attacker-with-terrorism-could-be-risky-but-its-important-117513">Charging the Christchurch mosque attacker with terrorism could be risky – but it's important</a>
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<p>The offence of engaging in a terrorist act can only be prosecuted if the attorney-general consents, which explains why central government was involved. This is the first time an alleged terrorist faces trial in NZ.</p>
<h2>Terrorism charge adds complexity</h2>
<p>A terrorism act is criminal under <a href="http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2002/0034/43.0/DLM1106564.html">section 6A</a> of the <a href="http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2002/0034/55.0/DLM151491.html">Terrorism Suppression Act 2002</a>.
This law was introduced to implement New Zealand’s obligations under international treaties and decisions made by the United Nations, particularly in response to significant terrorist activity during recent decades. </p>
<p>In its original form, it created various terrorism-related offences, such as belonging to or supporting groups that committed terrorist acts, but did not make it criminal to carry out a terrorist act. This offence was added by the <a href="http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2007/0102/latest/DLM1034391.html">Terrorism Suppression Amendment Act 2007</a>.</p>
<p>Criminal offences usually involve a criminal act and also a criminal state of mind. The mass shooting is the basis for the allegation of a terrorist act. For the necessary criminal mindset, two things are required: an intention to induce terror, and a purpose of advancing an ideology or political or religious cause.</p>
<p>This is more complex than the original murder and attempted murder charges. While the criminal act is essentially the same, the mindset question is different. In murder and attempted murder charges, the question is whether there was an intention to kill, which is much narrower. </p>
<p>TV homicide dramas, particularly those from the USA, often have a focus on the motive or purpose of a defendant. But a motive is usually just a way of allowing the prosecutor to show the killing must have been deliberate. In a terrorism charge, it becomes central.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/establishing-fitness-to-stand-trial-as-the-first-step-in-christchurch-attack-court-process-118587">Establishing fitness to stand trial as the first step in Christchurch attack court process</a>
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<h2>Risk of grandstanding</h2>
<p>The additional terrorism charge does not add to the maximum sentence available. It is life imprisonment for murder and for engaging in a terrorist act. The <a href="http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2002/0009/143.0/DLM135342.html">Sentencing Act 2002</a> requires a life sentence for murder unless exceptional circumstances make that manifestly unjust. </p>
<p>A life sentence is usually a sentence with two parts, one being a minimum that has to be served for punishment and a second based on the risk of further offending. In short, the person remains in prison for at least the punishment period and thereafter until the Parole Board thinks they are safe to be released. This can be never. </p>
<p>For a murder conviction, the minimum term must be at least 17 years if it was a murder committed as part of a terrorist act. The same applies if there are two or more murder charges. The punishment period may also be the rest of the life of the accused person, meaning that release is never considered. Multiple murders in a terrorist context will be an obvious candidate for such a sentence.</p>
<p>What, then, are the justifications from a prosecution perspective for adding the terrorism charge? The thought pattern is likely to have been along the lines of simply being accurate about what the prosecution thinks the evidence shows. </p>
<p>There is a solid democratic basis for this in that parliament has decided that it is appropriate to criminalise a terrorist act, including when it involves murder. Prosecutors should therefore look to identify and prosecute a case that fits the description set out in the statute.</p>
<p>What of the risks? First, it will likely extend the length of the trial, without adding to the sentencing options. Second, by requiring proof of motive and ideology, there is a risk of providing a platform for grandstanding. </p>
<p>The issues in relation to murder and attempted murder are very focused and the judge can control any efforts to go beyond them. The same should apply to the terrorism charge. There is no defence that the ideology was justified. Nevertheless, having to prove the motivation will inevitably mean the exposure of hateful ideas.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/117815/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kris Gledhill does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>An additional charge of terrorism has been laid against the man accused of the Christchurch mosque shootings. This poses a risk of providing a platform for hateful ideas.Kris Gledhill, Professor of Law, Auckland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1185872019-06-12T01:08:32Z2019-06-12T01:08:32ZEstablishing fitness to stand trial as the first step in Christchurch attack court process<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278817/original/file-20190611-32335-1ux2etw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=105%2C157%2C4275%2C2784&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A gunman killed worshippers at the Al Noor and Linwood mosques in Christchurch on 15 March. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Mick Tsikas</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The first question that will have to be answered before the case against the alleged perpetrator of the Christchurch mosque attacks can proceed is whether he is fit to stand trial. </p>
<p>When there is no debate about whether a specific person carried out an act of mass murder, the question of whether they are mad or bad provokes difficult discussions. </p>
<p>But the conclusion matters. While the insane are not legally responsible for what they do, the sane are. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-how-a-royal-commission-will-investigate-christchurch-shootings-116122">Explainer: how a royal commission will investigate Christchurch shootings</a>
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<h2>Terrorists are often not crazy</h2>
<p>When mass murderers are not part of any political group and are killed in their attack, such as the Las Vegas shooter who killed 59 unarmed civilians in 2017, many may have nodded in agreement when President Donald Trump described him as a “<a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/trump-las-vegas-shooting-suspect-was-a-very-sick-individual">very, very sick individual</a>”.</p>
<p>Others will be sceptical of such classifications, especially when there is no history of mental illness and the attacks reflect a degree of sophistication and planning. The sceptics will also point out that a label of mad, as opposed to bad, helps put a paper wall between the killers and other members of society who may, in fact, not be that dissimilar. </p>
<p>Often these debates are not necessary as the killer is clearly part of a recognised terrorist group or ideology. In these situations, the label of bad fits easier. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/inside-the-terrorist-mind/?redirect=1">reasons why some people become terrorists</a> are often associated with a toxic mix of political, social and personal dynamics. At the core are often feelings of alienation, offset by an offer of identity, purpose and significance within a new community that nurtures them against a perceived enemy that is threatening them, their culture or the political worldview they aspire to. These killers then belief that direct actions involving extreme violence against unarmed civilians is legitimate, as the existing political systems have failed them. </p>
<p>These people understand the implications of their decisions. But they come to conclusions which are the antithesis of what the majority of people believe. This is not to suggest that the killers are psychopaths. Mass murderers often do have a conscience and feel empathy, but in very limited circles. Fundamentally, they are not mad. </p>
<p>Of course, much of what is written about the psychology of mass murder is guess work. Terrorists and mass murderers don’t usually volunteer as experimental subjects, and questions to the the killers are often impossible as they are also killed during their acts of violence. This means that the psychology in this area is marked more by theory and opinion than by good science. </p>
<h2>Making psychology fit into Law</h2>
<p>Unfortunately, this conclusion is not satisfactory for the courts in the few instances where defendants have been captured and have left behind clear links to a political ideology, such as a manifesto. These people must have their psychological conditions forced into legal definitions, as a way of attributing responsibility, or not. </p>
<p>The first stage of the legal process, when the question of whether an accused is mad or bad is asked, is when they are examined to see if they are “<a href="http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2003/0115/13.0/DLM223825.html">unfit to stand trial</a>”. In New Zealand, this means a defendant may avoid trial if they are unable, due to mental impairment, to conduct a defence or to instruct their counsel to do so. </p>
<p>This includes those who are unable to understand the purpose or possible consequences of the proceedings. Mental impairment is taken to include both <a href="http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1992/0046/latest/whole.html#DLM262181">mental disorder</a> (a state of mind characterised by delusions or by disorders of mood or perception to such a degree that it poses a serious danger to that person or others) and <a href="http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2003/0116/latest/DLM225179.html#DLM225179">intellectual disability</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-trial-of-alleged-perpetrator-of-christchurch-mosque-shootings-115041">Explainer: trial of alleged perpetrator of Christchurch mosque shootings</a>
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<p>It was this stage of the comparable legal proceedings that caused such difficulty with a Norwegian far-right terrorist, who in 2011 killed 77 people and left behind a manifesto which was emailed to over 1000 addresses 90 minutes before the attack. Psychiatric experts initially classified him as unfit to stand trial because he was found to be “psychotic” during the attack. Following a public outcry, a second report, in which the murderer cooperated, came to the opposite conclusion. It found that although he may have had a personality disorder, he was not psychotic at the time of the attack. This meant he proceeded to trial.</p>
<p>A possible finding of mental impairment or a personality disorder does not mean that the accused is legally insane. The <a href="http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1961/0043/latest/DLM328219.html">insanity</a>, as in law of New Zealand, signifies a severe mental illness producing significant incapacity to understand the factual or moral quality (having regard to the commonly accepted standards of right and wrong) of one’s actions. While many legally insane offenders may also be mentally impaired, not all mentally impaired people are insane. These people may retain sufficient mental capacity to be held <a href="https://www.adls.org.nz/for-the-profession/news-and-opinion/2014/2/21/mentally-impaired-offenders-whats-in-a-name/">legally responsible for their actions</a>.</p>
<p>But even if someone is fit to stand trial, the option of pleading insanity remains. However, such an option is often not popular with people accused of terror or mass-murder. The man known as the Unabomber, who also left behind a manifesto, examined this option at his hearing after his lawyers recommended pleading insanity as a way to avoid the death penalty when he was tried in the United States. He refused to go along with this defence strategy, preferring to plead guilty, rather than let posterity think he was of unsound mind.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/118587/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>I have received funding from the NZ law Foundation, and the Francqui Foundation in Belgium, both for the study of terrorism and law.</span></em></p>Before proceedings against the alleged perpetrator of the Christchurch terror attacks can go ahead, the court will have to establish whether he is fit to stand trial.Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of WaikatoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1175132019-05-22T01:55:06Z2019-05-22T01:55:06ZCharging the Christchurch mosque attacker with terrorism could be risky – but it’s important<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275794/original/file-20190521-23817-mv128v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The gunman in the mosque attacks had already faced 50 murder charges before a new terrorism charge was brought against him this week.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mick Tsikas/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>On Tuesday, the gunman in the Christchurch mosque shootings was <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-21/christchurch-attacks-accused-brenton-tarrant-facing-new-charges/11134784">charged with committing a terrorist act</a>. The new charge came more than two months after the massacre. </p>
<p>The gunman, who the author and The Conversation have chosen not to name, had already faced 50 charges of murder and 40 charges of attempted murder stemming from the attacks. An additional murder charge was also brought on Tuesday, bringing the total to 51.</p>
<p>So, why was the terrorism charge added at this later stage? And why is it significant? </p>
<h2>Difficulties using the terrorism law</h2>
<p>The terrorism charge is unprecedented because the offence of committing a terrorist act has never been prosecuted successfully in New Zealand. The offence is found in <a href="http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2002/0034/43.0/DLM1106564.html">Section 6A</a> of the Terrorism Suppression Act 2002 (NZ), which was enacted by the New Zealand parliament in response to the 9/11 terror attacks in the US. </p>
<p>The offence relies on a statutory definition of terrorism, which is found in <a href="http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2002/0034/43.0/DLM152702.html">Section 5</a>. To constitute a terrorist act, the conduct must include the following:</p>
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<li>be carried out for the purpose of advancing an ideological, political, or religious cause</li>
<li>be intended to induce terror in a civilian population, or to unduly compel or force a government or international organisation to do or abstain from doing any act</li>
<li>cause one in a list of specified harms, including death, serious bodily injury, a serious risk to health or safety, serious property damage, or serious interference with an infrastructure facility.</li>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/christchurch-mosque-shootings-must-end-new-zealands-innocence-about-right-wing-terrorism-113655">Christchurch mosque shootings must end New Zealand's innocence about right-wing terrorism</a>
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<p>On face value, it is clear the shootings at the two mosques in March, which left 51 people dead, amounted to terrorism. </p>
<p>The delay in bringing the terrorism charge was likely due to the fact New Zealand police and prosecutors needed sufficient time to ensure they could prepare a successful case. The definition of terrorism creates additional hurdles compared to a murder charge, and New Zealand authorities have faced difficulties using the Terrorism Suppression Act in the past. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275800/original/file-20190522-187165-1i4bmzb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275800/original/file-20190522-187165-1i4bmzb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275800/original/file-20190522-187165-1i4bmzb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275800/original/file-20190522-187165-1i4bmzb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275800/original/file-20190522-187165-1i4bmzb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275800/original/file-20190522-187165-1i4bmzb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275800/original/file-20190522-187165-1i4bmzb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">There are some concerns about giving the Christchurch a platform to espouse his white supremacist views in court.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Martin Hunter/EPA</span></span>
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<p>In 2007, for instance, New Zealand police arrested a group of environmental activists running military-style training camps in the Urewera forest on the eastern side of the North Island. The raids were known as “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvsNbaukAVY">Operation Eight</a>.” </p>
<p>No terrorism charges were brought in that case, even though there was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/22/world/asia/22iht-nz.1.7995448.html">evidence</a> that some members of the group intended to harm innocent people. The possibility of a terrorism charge was explored, but New Zealand’s solicitor-general <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7084734.stm">concluded</a> that the law was “unnecessarily complex, incoherent, and … almost impossible to apply.” Four of the 17 activists were eventually convicted of firearms offences.</p>
<p>More recently, two other cases – one involving <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11414980">letters laced with poison</a> and another involving the <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11634785">publication of jihadist material</a> – also could have been plausibly prosecuted as terrorism. However, likely <a href="https://www-tandfonline-com.libraryproxy.griffith.edu.au/doi/abs/10.1080/1057610X.2017.1287501">due to the solicitor-general’s previous advice</a>, the offenders were charged instead with criminal blackmail and disseminating objectionable material (a charge commonly used for child pornography).</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-trial-of-alleged-perpetrator-of-christchurch-mosque-shootings-115041">Explainer: trial of alleged perpetrator of Christchurch mosque shootings</a>
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<p>It is not clear why the solicitor-general considered the terrorism law so difficult to apply after Operation Eight, as most of the evidence is not publicly available. The definition of terrorism is very similar to that found in Australia, as both laws are based on UK legislation. However, there is a greater focus in the New Zealand law on international terrorism conventions, which may make it <a href="https://www.forbesadvocate.com.au/story/6146640/terror-charge-laid-over-nz-mosque-attack/">harder to apply</a> to domestic acts of terrorism. </p>
<p>More likely, it may have been difficult in that case to fit environmental activism within the definition of a political, religious or ideological motive because there is a presumption against legitimate protest falling within the law. In addition, there were significant <a href="https://putatara.net/2015/10/21/failure-of-command/">concerns around police use of force and racial motives</a> against the mostly Maori offenders.</p>
<p>Prosecutors will not likely face the same difficulties in applying the terrorism laws to the Christchurch massacre, where the intention to cause harm and the attacker’s motivations (as outlined in his manifesto) are obvious.</p>
<p>However, the prosecution may still be risky if it <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018696145/terror-charge-for-christchurch-shooter-legal-analysis">gives the gunman a platform</a> to espouse his extremist views. He would still be able to do this while facing a murder charge alone, but a terrorism trial will carry added weight and the prosecutors will need to admit evidence about his ideological motives.</p>
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<h2>Why is a terrorism charge important?</h2>
<p>There is no added practical benefit to charging the gunman with terrorism in addition to murder. A maximum penalty of life imprisonment was already possible with the murder charges. </p>
<p>However, the choice to bring a terrorism charge is not simply a practical one. The criminal law is said to have two purposes: a practical one (to put dangerous people in prison) and a moral one (to denounce conduct that is morally unacceptable).</p>
<p>Adding this charge signals to the wider community that the massacre was an act terrorism and will be punished as such. This may give victims, too, some degree of closure, if the offender is sent to prison for committing a terrorist act. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-christchurch-call-is-just-a-start-now-we-need-to-push-for-systemic-change-117259">The 'Christchurch Call' is just a start. Now we need to push for systemic change</a>
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<p>Labels are also particularly important in this case given that it was an act of terrorism by a white supremacist against Muslim worshippers. Had prosecutors only pursued the murder charges, they may have been criticised for a <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-hypocritical-media-coverage-of-the-new-zealand-terror-attacks-113713">double standard</a>. Acts of violence by Islamist extremists are commonly treated as terrorism, even if they result in far fewer fatalities.</p>
<p>In other words, bringing a terrorism charge is a trade-off: there’s a risk of giving the gunman a platform, but also a need to denounce the massacre for what it was – an act of terrorism.</p>
<p>This charge sends a clear signal that political or religious violence against innocent people is abhorrent and will be punished as terrorism, no matter its colour or ideology.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/117513/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Keiran Hardy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New Zealand’s terrorism law has never been prosecuted successfully since it was enacted nearly 20 years ago. So, why are prosecutors bringing a terrorism charge against the Christchurch shooter?Keiran Hardy, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Griffith Criminology Institute, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1172592019-05-16T08:04:41Z2019-05-16T08:04:41ZThe ‘Christchurch Call’ is just a start. Now we need to push for systemic change<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/274826/original/file-20190516-69186-15si7o9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=73%2C172%2C3421%2C2389&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and French President Emmanuel Macron at the "Christchurch Call" summit, which delivered an agreement signed by tech companies and world leaders.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Charles Platiau</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The “Christchurch Call” <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/christchurch-shooting/112693273/live-jacinda-arderns-christchurch-call-summit-in-paris">summit</a> has made <a href="https://www.noted.co.nz/tech/tech-companies-and-17-govts-sign-up-to-christchurch-call/">specific progress</a>, with tech companies and world leaders signing an <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6004545-Christchurch-Call.html">agreement</a> to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online. The question now is how we collectively follow up on its promise.</p>
<p>The summit in Paris began with the statement that the white supremacist terrorist attack in Christchurch two months ago was “unprecedented”. But one of the benefits of this conversation happening in such a prominent fashion is that it draws attention to the fact that this was not the first time social media platforms have been implicated in terrorism. </p>
<p>It was merely the first time that a terrorist attack in a western country was broadcast via the internet. Facebook played a significant role in the genocide of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, as covered in the Frontline documentary “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T48KFiHwexM">The Facebook Dilemma</a>”. And this <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3082972">study</a> demonstrated a link between <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/21/world/europe/facebook-refugee-attacks-germany.html">Facebook use and violence against refugees</a> in Germany. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/its-vital-we-clamp-down-on-online-terrorism-but-is-arderns-christchurch-call-the-answer-117169">It's vital we clamp down on online terrorism. But is Ardern's 'Christchurch Call' the answer?</a>
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<h2>Better than expected outcome</h2>
<p>I hope attention now turns to the fact that social media platforms profit from both an indifference to harassment and from harassment itself. It falls within the realms of corporate responsibility to deal with these problems, but they have done nothing to remedy their contributions to harassment campaigns in the past. </p>
<p>Online communities whose primary purpose is to terrorise the people they target have existed for many years, and social media companies have ignored them. <a href="https://feministfrequency.com/author/femfreq/">Anita Sarkeesian</a> was targeted by a harassment campaign in 2012 after drawing attention to the problems of how women are represented in videogames. She <a href="https://feministfrequency.com/2015/01/27/one-week-of-harassment-on-twitter/">chronicled the amount of abuse</a> she received on Twitter in just one week during 2015 (content warning, this includes threats of murder and rape). Twitter did nothing.</p>
<p>When the summit began, I hoped that pressure from governments and the threat of regulation would prompt some movement from social media companies, but I wasn’t optimistic. I expected that social media companies would claim that technological solutions based on algorithms would magically fix everything without human oversight, despite the fact that they can be and are gamed by bad actors. </p>
<p>I also thought the discussion might turn to removing anonymity from social media services or the internet, despite the evidence that many people involved in online abuse are <a href="https://www.wired.co.uk/article/real-name-policies-anonymity-online-harassment">comfortable doing so under their own names</a>. Mainly, I thought that there would be some general, positive-sounding statements from tech companies about how seriously they were taking the summit, without many concrete details to their plans.</p>
<p>I’m pleased to be wrong. The discussion has already raised <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6004545-Christchurch-Call.html">specific and vital elements</a>. The New Zealand Herald <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12231337">reports</a> that:</p>
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<p>… tech companies have pledged to review their business models and take action to stop users being funnelled into extremist online rabbit holes that could lead to radicalisation. That includes sharing the effects of their commercially sensitive algorithms to develop effective ways to redirect users away from dark, single narratives.</p>
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<h2>Algorithms for profit</h2>
<p>The underlying business model of social media platforms has been part of the problem with abuse and harassment on their services. A great deal of evidence suggests that algorithms designed in pursuit of profit are also fuelling radicalisation towards white supremacy. Rebecca Lewis highlights that <a href="https://datasociety.net/output/alternative-influence/">YouTube’s business model</a> is fundamental to the ways the platform pushes people towards more extreme content.</p>
<p>I never expected the discussions to get so specific that tech companies would explicitly put their business models on the table. That is promising, but the issue will be what happens next. Super Fund chief executive Matt Whineray has said that an international investor group of 55 funds, worth a US$3.3 trillion will put their <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/389297/tech-companies-and-17-govts-sign-up-to-christchurch-call">financial muscle to the task of following up these initiatives</a> and ensuring accountability. My question is how solutions and progress are going to be defined.</p>
<p>Social media companies have committed to greater public transparency about their setting of community standards, particularly around how people uploading terrorist content will be handled. But this commitment in the <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6004545-Christchurch-Call.html">Christchurch Call</a> agreement doesn’t carry through to discussions of algorithms and business models. </p>
<p>Are social media companies going to make their recommendation algorithms open source and allow scrutiny of their behaviour? That seems very unlikely, given how fundamental they are to their individual business models. They are likely to be seen as vital corporate property. Without that kind of openness it’s not clear how the investor group will judge whether any progress towards accountability is being made. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/as-responsible-digital-citizens-heres-how-we-can-all-reduce-racism-online-114619">As responsible digital citizens, here's how we can all reduce racism online</a>
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<p>While the Christchurch Call has made concrete progress, it is important to make sure that we collectively keep up the pressure. We need to make sure this rare opportunity for important systemic changes doesn’t fall by the wayside. That means pursuing transparent accountability through whatever means we can, and not losing sight of fundamental problems like the underlying business model of social media companies.</p>
<p>One example of a specific step would be more widespread adoption of best ethical practice for <a href="https://datasociety.net/output/oxygen-of-amplification/">covering extremist content in the news</a>. There is evidence that <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/2018687741/to-name-or-not-to-name-the-evidence">not naming the perpetrator</a> makes a difference, and the <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/christchurch-shooting/112352367/christchurch-terror-attack-how-new-zealand-media-will-report-the-trial">guidelines New Zealand media adopted</a> for the coverage of the trial are another step in the right direction. A recent <a href="https://www.digitaldemocracy.nz/">article from authors</a> investigating the impact of digital media on democracy in New Zealand also points out <a href="https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/16-05-2019/the-christchurch-call-is-a-small-welcome-step-heres-what-needs-to-come-next/">concrete steps</a>.</p>
<p>The Christchurch Call has made excellent progress as a first step to change, but we need to take this opportunity to push for systemic change in what has been a serious, long-term problem.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/117259/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kevin Veale does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>While the “Christchurch Call” summit has made concrete progress, we need to keep up the pressure on social media companies to become more transparent and accountable.Kevin Veale, Lecturer in Media Studies, Massey UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1161222019-05-07T05:26:12Z2019-05-07T05:26:12ZExplainer: how a royal commission will investigate Christchurch shootings<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272911/original/file-20190506-103078-1imn2q4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=274%2C227%2C4958%2C3138&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">As part of the New Zealand government's response to the Christchurch mosque attacks, a Royal Commission of Inquiry will investigate the specific circumstances leading up to it.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Joseph Johnson</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The trial of the man accused of the murders and attempted murders in the Christchurch mosque attacks is one small but important legal process. </p>
<p>Another one has now started. A Royal commission of inquiry, to be led by the senior judge, <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/christchurch-shooting/111870063/details-released-around-royal-commission-of-inquiry-into-christchurch-terror-attacks">Justice William Young</a>, and an as yet unannounced second person, will look into the <a href="https://www.dia.govt.nz/Royal-Commission-of-Inquiry-into-the-Attack-on-Christchurch-Mosques">specific circumstances leading up to the shootings</a> on March 15 that left, as of now, <a href="https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/chch-terror/388345/turkish-man-wounded-in-christchurch-mosque-attacks-dies">51 people</a> dead. </p>
<p>The commission will investigate whether police or intelligence services could have done more to prevent the atrocity, but its terms of reference do not allow it to look into the role of social media.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-trial-of-alleged-perpetrator-of-christchurch-mosque-shootings-115041">Explainer: trial of alleged perpetrator of Christchurch mosque shootings</a>
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<h2>Duty to protect life</h2>
<p>Coroners exist to investigate the circumstances of a death and to make recommendations designed to reduce the risk of further deaths. However, mass deaths, whether in a disaster or atrocity, may call for a different process. The investigation then needs to have a focus on systematic matters. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2013/0060/48.0/DLM1566106.html">Inquiries Act 2013</a> refers to three different types of wider inquiry: a Royal commission (which is formally a matter of the Royal Prerogative), a public inquiry (established by the Governor-General) and a government inquiry (established by a minister). There is a hierarchy, with royal commissions at the top. </p>
<p>Recent examples of incidents that involved significant loss of life and merited a Royal commission include the <a href="https://pikeriver.royalcommission.govt.nz/Final-Report">Pike River coal mine</a> explosion and the failures of buildings during the <a href="https://canterbury.royalcommission.govt.nz/">Canterbury earthquakes</a>.</p>
<p>There is an important international human rights dimension. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (<a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/ccpr.aspx">OHCHR</a>) 1966, binding on New Zealand since 1978, obliges the New Zealand government not to take life arbitrarily and to protect life. </p>
<p>This duty to protect is in focus here. The question that requires a Royal commission is whether officers of the state, most obviously in the police and intelligence services, failed in their duty to protect the victims by preventing the atrocity from occurring in the first place. </p>
<p>Answering this question is part of an implied further duty on the state to investigate possible fault on its part. As duties are by definition owed to someone, fixing this as part of the right to life reveals that it is owed to the families of the deceased victims, and those whose right to life was put at risk, and their families. They must be at the centre of the investigation. They have the clearest stake in needing to know whether more could and should have been done to prevent the atrocity. </p>
<h2>Focus of the inquiry</h2>
<p>Naturally, the desire of those most directly affected to get to the truth is a powerful tool for ensuring that an investigation is kept on track. The rest of us have an obvious interest as well, because we all want to have any necessary changes made to reduce the risk of similar atrocities occurring. But the personal interest adds to this.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.dia.govt.nz/diawebsite.nsf/Files/T-O-R-for-the-Royal-Commission-into-the-Attack-on-Christchurch-Mosques/$file/T-O-R-for-the-Royal-Commission-into-the-Attack-on-Christchurch-Mosques.pdf">terms of reference</a> for the Royal commission have been released, and should be interpreted in light of this international human rights obligation. But the place of the victims is not prominent. At most, paragraph 4 refers to the expectation that the inquiry will “connect with the Muslim community” in its work, and paragraph 16 has a similar reference and a note about appointing a liaison person or persons. </p>
<p>But nothing in the terms of reference prevents the families being at the centre of the process, and the statutory power of the commission to regulate its own process allows it to do what it considers as proper in this regard.</p>
<p>The scope of the commission’s investigation is a mixed bag. In paragraph 7 of the terms of reference, which sets the scope of the inquiry, the first six points are directly about the activities of the accused person. The final three, which relate to state sector agencies, are phrased as sub-points to the activities of the individual. But the investigative duty must focus on the potential failures of state officials to fulfil an obligation. It will be important that this is construed appropriately by the commission.</p>
<p>Paragraph 8 (relating to findings needed) and paragraph 9 (relating to recommendation to be made) suggest that defaults by state agencies and changes that should be made are central. This is reinforced by the introductory comments, which also have a suitable focus on state agency default and required changes. The problematic paragraph 7 can be interpreted accordingly.</p>
<h2>What the commission will not do</h2>
<p>Paragraph 13 of the terms of reference makes it clear that the commission will not investigate arms laws. Separate action has already been taken in changing New Zealand’s <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/christchurch-shooting/111950732/new-zealands-new-gun-law-what-you-need-to-know">gun laws</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-nz-needs-to-follow-weapons-ban-with-broad-review-of-security-laws-114022">Why NZ needs to follow weapons ban with broad review of security laws</a>
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<p>Nor will the commission investigate non-state operators such as media organisations, or the police response once alerted to the atrocity. These two limitations are unnecessarily narrow. </p>
<p>It may be that the response of the police was incredibly professional and appropriate. If so, that should be recorded. But if more could have been done, the commission is prohibited from even raising the thought. </p>
<p>As for media platforms, if part of the problem is that governments have failed to regulate the hate-filled corners of the internet, that is part of what we should know in order to protect us from similar acts. </p>
<p>While the government might have been concerned to delay the commission’s findings, which are due by 10 December 2019 and can be supplemented by interim findings, it would have been possible to create a timeline that required the commission to conduct an inquiry in several parts with different dates. The problematic part of paragraph 13 requires governmental reconsideration.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/116122/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kris Gledhill does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A Royal commission of inquiry has been set up to look into circumstances that led to the Christchurch mosque attacks. It will investigate intelligence services, it not the role of media.Kris Gledhill, Professor of Law, Auckland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1158732019-04-29T10:44:50Z2019-04-29T10:44:50ZIs there a ‘feminine’ response to terrorism?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271097/original/file-20190425-121224-7ms9p4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern wore a headscarf to comfort mourning family members after the Christchurch mosque shootings.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Muslims-Labelling-Terrorism/6754ed57839a4320be098f111b5b6ea7/54/0">AP Photo/Vincent Thian, File</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>After a terrorist shot and killed 50 people in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in March, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern responded <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/jacinda-ardern-has-rewritten-the-script-for-how-a-nation-grieves-after-a-terrorist-attack">differently</a>
than most leaders have after similar attacks. </p>
<p>Usually, history shows, presidents and prime ministers <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/our-rational-president/2015/12/21/977dcd56-a6cf-11e5-8318-bd8caed8c588_story.html">try to appear rational</a> after terrorism. They reassure people that the situation is under control, thank police and other first responders and offer updates on the investigations. Other world leaders, most of them male, have reacted by launching <a href="https://www.vox.com/2015/6/2/8701499/patriot-act-explain">mass surveillance of the public</a>, <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/2017/04/21/russia-st-petersburg-bombing-strengthening-putin-581681.html">repressing civil liberties</a>, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13504630.2016.1271740">strengthening law enforcement</a> or calling for a “<a href="https://www.history.com/topics/21st-century/war-on-terror-timeline">war on terror</a>.” </p>
<p>Ardern demonstrated a more compassionate and empathetic handling of the Christchurch shootings. </p>
<p>She <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/03/22/five-ways-that-new-zealand-showed-solidarity-with-its-tiny-muslim-community-this-week/?utm_term=.7a8a88ae2995">wore a headscarf when comforting</a> Muslim victims and mourners. She cried. Her government <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-zealand-mosque-shootings-country-helping-pay-christchurch-shooting-victims-funerals-regardless-immigration-status/">offered to pay all funeral costs</a> for the victims, regardless of immigration status. And Ardern responded forcefully on the legislative front, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-47647786/christchurch-shootings-new-zealand-to-ban-military-style-weapons">pushing new gun control measures</a> through parliament, banning military-style assault weapons in New Zealand. </p>
<p>Arden has been almost universally <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/03/new-zealand-jacinda-ardern-lesson-leadership/585475/?fbclid=IwAR0nhW_UXP0CrtGE6p86k7dtgH0-2ZVSvZd3Cuwtx4aE4XWGzWkEZToEXGw">praised for her leadership through this crisis</a>, which some have identified as a “<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01463379509369982?journalCode=rcqu20">feminine</a>” management style. Her <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2019/04/15/world/asia/15reuters-newzealand-politics-ardern.html">approval ratings</a> are the highest since she took office. </p>
<p>We wanted to understand how, exactly, Ardern acted differently than a man when facing down terrorism – if in fact she did.</p>
<h2>Our study: Categorizing leadership style</h2>
<p>To assess Arden’s “feminine” approach to terrorism, we have compared her rhetoric to that of other world leaders in the immediate aftermath of similar mass shootings – that is, lone wolf attacks that resulted in two or more deaths and were <a href="https://theconversation.com/white-nationalism-born-in-the-usa-is-now-a-global-terror-threat-113825">motivated by right-wing ideology</a>. </p>
<p>Six shooting incidents over the past 50 years meet all these criteria. They are: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Norway_attacks">Norway’s Utøya shooting</a> in 2011; the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisconsin_Sikh_temple_shooting">Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting</a> in 2012; the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charleston_church_shooting">Charleston, South Carolina, United Methodist Church shooting</a> in 2015; <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_City_mosque_shooting">Canada’s Quebec mosque attack</a> in 2017; last year’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh_synagogue_shooting">Pittsburgh synagogue shooting</a>; and the Christchurch mosque shooting. </p>
<p>Our analysis therefore covered five different leaders’ reactions to domestic terrorism: Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, U.S. President Barack Obama, U. S. President Donald Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and New Zealand Prime Minister Ardern. </p>
<p>For each leader, we analyzed every sentence of their immediate post-attack statements – both spoken and written – and noted whether it focused on the perpetrator, the victims, both parties or neither. In total, we coded 314 sentences in this manner.</p>
<h2>Men lament victims, too</h2>
<p>Arden made headlines after Christchurch for talking about the victims and refusing to say the attacker’s name, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/3/19/18272635/new-zealand-mosque-shooting-name-notoriety">denying him notoriety</a>. </p>
<p>We found that all the male leaders in our sample also expressed empathy with the victims and, to a great extent, focused on the dead and injured rather than the perpetrator. Two actually focused their post-attack comments more strongly on the victims than Ardern, who devoted about 40% of her comment to the Christchurch victims.</p>
<p><iframe id="Vh37q" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Vh37q/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Nearly 44% of Prime Minister Stoltenberg’s sentences centered on victims, and he did not mention the terrorist at all. Stoltenberg said he was “<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/07/23/norway.pm.transcript/index.html">unable to express with words</a>” the depth of his feelings about the 77 people killed on Utøya island, many of whom were children at summer camp. </p>
<p>Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – who <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/01/29/512373761/two-people-arrested-following-multiple-shooting-deaths-at-quebec-city-mosque">mourned Quebec’s slain Muslim worshippers</a> as “brothers, uncles, fathers and friends” – followed, focusing 41% of his statement on the victims.</p>
<p>The two U.S. presidents in our analysis least emphasized the victims. </p>
<p>Obama, who shared his “<a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2015/06/18/statement-president-shooting-charleston-south-carolina">deep sorrow over the senseless murders</a>” of black worshippers in South Carolina, spoke about shooting victims in just 18% of his post-attack statements. Trump dedicated less than 5% of his speech after the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/10/27/18032692/trump-pittsburgh-shooting-synagogue-semitism-murder">Pittsburgh synagogue shooting</a> to the dead.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271099/original/file-20190425-121228-11p6sjr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271099/original/file-20190425-121228-11p6sjr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271099/original/file-20190425-121228-11p6sjr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271099/original/file-20190425-121228-11p6sjr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271099/original/file-20190425-121228-11p6sjr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271099/original/file-20190425-121228-11p6sjr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271099/original/file-20190425-121228-11p6sjr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271099/original/file-20190425-121228-11p6sjr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">President Barack Obama at a memorial service for the United Methodist Church worshipers killed in South Carolina in 2015.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Obama-Charleston-Shooting/a5dcafab79ad45b88b491846e4233fcf/6/0">AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster</a></span>
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<p>Both Obama and Trump spoke much more about the criminal investigations underway, the law enforcement response and how their government was handling the situation. </p>
<p>This emphasis on power – and, by implication, the strength of the nation’s leader – appears to be something of a male response to mass shooting. All the men in our sample dedicated at least half of their post-attack reactions to such topics. </p>
<p>Ardern, a woman, was the only leader in our sample who focused more than half of her comments on the human beings involved in the terrorist attack.</p>
<h2>When stereotypes work for women</h2>
<p>Ardern’s response to terrorism differed, too, in how openly she expressed her <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/i-m-deeply-sad-jacinda-ardern-opens-up-about-christchurch-attack-20190325-p517hk.html">sadness</a>.</p>
<p>Crying in public can be a <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1017/s0022381611000053?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contentsStudies">political liability for both male and female politicians</a>, according to Dartmouth professor Deborah
Jordan Brooks. When President Obama in 2016 <a href="https://www.salon.com/2016/01/06/obama_cries_and_the_right_whines_conservatives_mock_president_for_his_tears_proving_again_theyre_heartless_fools/">struggled to hold back tears</a> after the Sandy Hook school shooting, for example, Fox News <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2016/01/05/fox-host-mr-president-do-you-think-isis-sees-yo/207781">mocked him</a>. Research shows that women leaders are <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1048984316000151">penalized particularly harshly</a> for showing emotion.</p>
<p>Ardern, however, has not been judged for crying in Christchurch. Traditional gender roles <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1065912917738579">depict women</a> as “emotional.” Perhaps, in this time of tragedy, social expectations actually worked in her favor.</p>
<p>Another <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-does-social-science-say-about-how-a-female-president-might-lead-61255">stereotypically female characteristic</a> – empathetic caring for the needs of others – was also on display after the Christchurch attack. </p>
<p>Ardern’s use of the <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2019/3/22/18277189/new-zealand-call-to-prayer-headscarf-haka-christchurch-hagley-park">Muslim headscarf when visiting the scene of the crime</a>, for example, was more than cultural sensitivity. It visually conveyed that Muslims are welcome in New Zealand. Muslim leaders worldwide <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-47630129">praised the prime minister</a> for her compassionate gesture, and many non-Muslim women in New Zealand soon <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/new-zealand-women-wear-headscarves-to-support-mosque-shootings-victims-2011076">followed her lead</a>.</p>
<p>Even the Ardern government’s policy responses were arguably driven by empathy. Her government offered to pay funeral costs and made tax-free “survivor grants” available for the partners, children and dependents of the victims. </p>
<p>Research shows that women experience indirect but disproportionate <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3877825?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">harms when male heads of households die</a> from violence. The survivor grants indicate that Ardern considered women’s specific needs in planning government assistance.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2007-05-01/let-women-rule">Worldwide</a>, research shows, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1111/juaf.12066">female leaders</a> are most likely to champion these <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781135800758">kinds of social welfare policies</a> when in office.</p>
<p>After armed conflicts, <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/691056">female leaders</a> also tend to shift resources from military spending to social welfare, prolonging peace.</p>
<h2>Women being women</h2>
<p>There are, of course <a href="https://theconversation.com/female-presidents-dont-always-help-women-while-in-office-study-in-latin-america-finds-91707">notable exceptions</a> to the idea that female leaders are more compassionate, nurturing or nonviolent leaders.</p>
<p>As U.S. secretary of state, Hillary Clinton <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/07/27/hillary-the-hawk-a-history-clinton-2016-military-intervention-libya-iraq-syria/">advocated for a U.S. military involvement</a> to conflicts in Libya and Syria. <a href="https://qz.com/1115269/would-the-world-be-more-peaceful-if-there-were-more-women-leaders/">British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher</a> also started war while in office, and famously <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/apr/09/margaret-thatcher-policies-poor-society">slashed government funding for Britain’s social welfare services</a>. </p>
<p>Ardern’s willingness to embrace an openly female leadership style is a relatively new phenomenon. In the past, many women have felt the need to adopt traditionally masculine traits to succeed in the male-dominated world of politics.</p>
<p>In doing so, Ardern has showed the world that feminine leadership isn’t just acceptable – it is also, in times of trouble, a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/30/opinion/women-leadership-jacinda-ardern.html">powerful force</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/115873/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>After the Christchurch mosque shootings, New Zealand’s prime minister didn’t start a war on terror. She covered her head, cried, paid for funerals and passed gun control. Is it because she’s a woman?Mona Krewel, Assistant Professor, Department of Government, Cornell UniversitySabrina Karim, Assistant Professor, Department of Government, Cornell UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1155562019-04-26T03:09:33Z2019-04-26T03:09:33ZWhy New Zealand needs to translate its response to Christchurch attacks into foreign policy<p>During his two-day royal visit this week, Prince William has met with survivors of the Christchurch mosque shootings and has <a href="https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/387812/live-coverage-prince-william-visits-christchurch">praised New Zealand’s response</a> to the attacks. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>To the people of New Zealand and the people of Christchurch, to our Muslim community and all those who have rallied by your side, I stand with you in gratitude to what you have taught the world in these past weeks.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Earlier, Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan described New Zealanders as “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqjMECg6Psk">citizens of the future</a>”.</p>
<p>Globally, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s response to the attacks is seen as a new way of reacting to violent extremism. With an emphasis on what unites people, communities in different countries were motivated to express solidarity across religious and cultural divides. </p>
<p>In contrast, the opportunistic linking of the Easter Sunday <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/23/world/asia/sri-lanka-bombing.htm">terrorist attacks</a> in Colombo, Sri Lanka, with Christchurch will once again serve to divide humanity.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/islamic-state-has-claimed-responsibility-for-the-sri-lanka-terror-attack-heres-what-that-means-115915">Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the Sri Lanka terror attack. Here's what that means</a>
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<h2>Solidarity at home</h2>
<p>Domestically, the terrorist attack on Muslim worshippers in Christchurch was met by a display of unity. A heartfelt exchange of respect between the country’s leadership and the minority Muslim community characterised the days and weeks following the attack. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-mahometan-to-kiwi-muslim-history-of-nzs-muslim-population-114067">From Mahometan to Kiwi Muslim: history of NZ's Muslim population</a>
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<p>A renewed rejection of racism in all its forms, including Islamophobia, led to a public discussion of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/playing-in-overtime-why-the-crusaders-rugby-team-is-right-to-rethink-brand-after-christchurch-attack-114826">Crusaders rugby team’s name</a>. The government took decisive action by <a href="https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/new-zealand-bans-military-style-semi-automatics-and-assault-rifles">tightening gun laws</a> and instituting a <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/christchurch-shooting/111532549/royal-commission-of-inquiry-after-the-christchurch-terror-attacks">royal commission of inquiry</a> into New Zealand’s security and intelligence agencies.</p>
<p>But the question now is whether New Zealand can translate its new-found domestic cohesion and goodwill into foreign policy. </p>
<h2>Support for Palestinian sovereignty</h2>
<p>The Israel-Palestine conflict is a good place to start. If solidarity at home is to influence global understanding and cooperation across cultures, Palestinian sovereignty must be a foreign policy priority. </p>
<p>The international community’s failure over the past 72 years to find a just and sustainable solution to the “<a href="https://www.un.org/unispal/history/">Palestine question</a>” is an ongoing source of discord between Muslims and non-Muslims. </p>
<p>Shortly after its establishment, the UN Alliance of Civilisations (<a href="https://www.unaoc.org/">UNAOC</a>) <a href="https://www.unaoc.org/resource/alliance-of-civilizations-report-of-the-high-level-group-13-november-2006/">noted</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The Israeli military occupation of Palestine has been perceived in the Muslim world as a form of colonialism and has led many to believe, rightly or wrongly, that Israel is in collusion with the “West”. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Palestinian <a href="https://www.ochaopt.org">casualties, dispossession and suffering</a> due to the occupation fuel resentment and radicalisation in the Muslim world. The impunity an American veto allows Israel further enhances the perception of Western hypocrisy. The US and Israel’s disregard for the legal status of Jerusalem as <a href="https://www.un.org/unispal/document/arab-states-regret-usa-uk-decision-to-present-credence-in-jerusalem-corpus-separatum-transmittal-to-unccp-by-sg-letter-to-the-secgen/"><em>corpus separatum</em></a> undermines both the potential for peace between Israelis and Palestinians and an international rules-based system.</p>
<p>New Zealand needs to be more vocal in international forums in criticising Israel’s <a href="https://www.ochaopt.org/">occupation policies</a>. </p>
<h2>Challenging Islamophobia</h2>
<p>Islamophobia, or an anti-Muslim bias that incorrectly presents Muslims as a dangerous monolithic group, is both a domestic and global concern. The real danger is that Islamophobia becomes the norm. </p>
<p>Politicians, such as Hungarian Prime Minister <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/hungary-general-election-viktor-orban-latest-christianity-nationalism-muslims-migrants-europe-racism-a8293836.htm">Viktor Orban</a>, promote the notion of a clash of civilisations when they present Muslims as a threat to Christian Europe. The United Kingdom’s security strategy in response to the terrorist attacks in London on July 7 2005, called <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/government-counter-radicalisation-plan-not-even-tony-blair-went-this-far-in-alienating-a-community-10381826.html">Prevent</a>, is an example of anti-radicalisation policies that target people based on their faith, specifically Muslims. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/terror-muslims-and-a-culture-of-fear-challenging-the-media-messages-77170">Terror, Muslims, and a culture of fear: challenging the media messages</a>
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</p>
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<p>Islamophobia also finds expression in conflating radical and moderate Islamists. These groups may share the pursuit of an ideal state, based on Islamic teachings, but they differ drastically in their methods and interpretation of Islam. Autocratic governments in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/03/29/arab-regimes-are-the-worlds-most-powerful-islamophobes/">fuel Islamophobia</a> when they dismiss these differences in order to demonise their moderate Islamist opposition. </p>
<p>This can be explained by the fact that moderate Islamism offers an authentic alternative to authoritarianism. For example, Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad and his late father, Hafez al-Assad, have a <a href="https://d2071andvip0wj.cloudfront.net/146%20Anything%20But%20Politics%20-%20The%20State%20of%20Syrias%20Political%20Opposition.pdf">history</a> of demonising and repressing the moderate Islamist Syrian Muslim Brotherhood (<a href="https://carnegie-mec.org/diwan/48370?lang=e">SMB</a>) to ensure the regime’s political survival. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation in the wake of the 2010-11 <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/syria/2012-01-24/arab-spring-on">Arab uprisings</a>, which threatened autocrats across the MENA region. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/competing-foreign-interests-trump-syrian-aspirations-for-political-change-95918">Competing foreign interests trump Syrian aspirations for political change</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<h2>A rules-based international system</h2>
<p>The UAE and Saudi Arabia are key markets for New Zealand. They are also members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (<a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/gcc">GCC</a>), our <a href="https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/trade/free-trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements-concluded-but-not-in-force/gcc/">eighth-largest trading partner</a>. In equating moderate Islamism with terrorism to contain domestic dissent, these states contribute to international disunity and hate.</p>
<p>New Zealand needs to resist pressure from these partners as well as from some other member countries in the <a href="https://www.nzsis.govt.nz/our-work/working-with-other-organisations">Five Eyes intelligence alliance</a> to view Islamists as monolithic. It also needs to enhance support for initiatives that strengthen global understanding and cooperation between non-Muslim and Muslim-majority countries such as the UNAOC.</p>
<p>At the UN General Assembly in September 2018, Ardern signalled a clear direction for foreign policy by calling for <a href="https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/09/jacinda-ardern-s-full-speech-to-the-un-general-assembly.html">kindness, collectivism and an international rules-based system</a>. This is in stark contrast to US President Donald Trump’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaHBuzZoYKQ">portentious rejection of globalism</a>. </p>
<p>New Zealand’s response to the Christchurch terrorist attack showed the world values that, in Ardern’s words, “<a href="https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=national+remembrance+service+christchurch&&view=detail&mid=8CF9C1FDD539A80417898CF9C1FDD539A8041789&&FORM=VRDGA">represent the very best of us</a>”. The expectation remains that our foreign policy will follow through.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/115556/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hanlie Booysen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New Zealand’s response to the Christchurch mosque attacks is seen as a new way of reacting to violent extremism. The challenge now is how to translate domestic cohesion into foreign policy.Hanlie Booysen, Lecturer, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of WellingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1119892019-04-25T20:13:42Z2019-04-25T20:13:42ZFriday essay: how Western attitudes towards Islam have changed<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270589/original/file-20190424-19269-9rstod.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Muslim clerics and members of the Pakistani Christian minority light candles to commemorate the victims of this week's bomb blasts in Sri Lanka. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attacks.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rahat Dar/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Less than a week after the attack on the Twin Towers in New York on 11 September 2001, US President George W. Bush gave <a href="https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010917-11.html">a remarkable speech</a> about America’s “Muslim Brothers and sisters”. “These acts of violence,” he declared, “violate the fundamental tenets of the Islamic faith.” After quoting from the Quran, he continued, “The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. That’s not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace.”</p>
<p>This speech is remarkable, not only for its compassion towards Muslims in the face of the attack on the US, but also because Bush was contradicting what has been, since the beginnings of Islam, the standard Western perception of this religion – namely that it is, at its core, a religion of violence.</p>
<p>Since its beginnings in the Arabia of the 7th century CE, the religion of Muhammad the prophet had pushed against the borders of Christendom. Within 100 years of the death of Muhammad in 632 CE, an Arabian empire extended from India and the borders of China to the south of France. Militarily, early Islam was undoubtedly successful.</p>
<p>Since that time, for the Christian West, regardless of the Islamic precept and practice of religious tolerance (at least as long as non-Muslims did not criticise the prophet), Islam has remained often threatening, sometimes enchanting, but ever-present. Indeed, the West created its own identity against an Islam that it saw as totally other, essentially alien, and ever likely to engulf it.</p>
<p>Thus, from the 8th century to the middle of the 19th, it was the virtually unanimous Western opinion that Islam was a violent religion whose success was due to the sword.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/in-spite-of-their-differences-jews-christians-and-muslims-worship-the-same-god-83102">In spite of their differences, Jews, Christians and Muslims worship the same God</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>That Islam is, at its core, a violent religion is an attitude still present among some today. In the aftermath of the horrific murder of 50 Muslims in Christchurch by an Australian right wing nationalist, the conservative Australian politician Fraser Anning <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/new-zealand-attack-muslims-immigration-racism-1364132">declared</a> (straight out of the West’s medieval playbook), “The entire religion of Islam is simply the violent ideology of a sixth century despot masquerading as a religious leader, which justifies endless war against anyone who opposes it and calls for the murder of unbelievers and apostates.” Any violence against Muslims, he suggested, was therefore their own fault. </p>
<p>Anning has been roundly condemned for his statements by both sides of politics. He is clearly wildly out of step with mainstream public opinion in Australia. A <a href="https://www.change.org/p/the-prime-minister-remove-fraser-anning-from-parliament">change.org petition</a> with more than 1.4 million signatures has been delivered to Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Australia’s first Muslim senator. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270570/original/file-20190423-175535-1wz27r4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270570/original/file-20190423-175535-1wz27r4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270570/original/file-20190423-175535-1wz27r4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270570/original/file-20190423-175535-1wz27r4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270570/original/file-20190423-175535-1wz27r4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270570/original/file-20190423-175535-1wz27r4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270570/original/file-20190423-175535-1wz27r4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270570/original/file-20190423-175535-1wz27r4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young speaks during a censure motion against Independent Senator Fraser Anning (on right) as he walks out of the Senate chamber at Parliament House in Canberra on April 3.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mick Tsikas/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Clearly, blaming innocent people at prayer for their deaths at the hands of a right wing zealot crossed all the boundaries. But Anning’s view of Islam does echo an historic Western emphasis on the use of force in Islam as an explanation for its success.</p>
<p>This was, of course, part of an argument about the relative truth of Christianity and Islam. According to this, the success of Islam was due solely to the sword. The success of Christianity, having renounced the sword, was due to divine favour. The one was godly, the other Satanic.</p>
<p>This Western image of a benign, peaceful Christianity against a malevolent, violent Islam was a mythical one. With few exceptions, its proponents ignored both the violence that often went along with the spread of Christianity and the religious tolerance that often accompanied the extension of Islam. But the myth did reflect the deep-seated Western horror, always potent in the collective imagination, of being literally overrun by the fanatical hordes.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270612/original/file-20190424-19276-1umefec.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270612/original/file-20190424-19276-1umefec.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270612/original/file-20190424-19276-1umefec.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270612/original/file-20190424-19276-1umefec.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270612/original/file-20190424-19276-1umefec.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270612/original/file-20190424-19276-1umefec.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270612/original/file-20190424-19276-1umefec.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270612/original/file-20190424-19276-1umefec.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 14th century miniature depicting Crusaders at The Battle of Wadi al-Khazandar (Battle of Homs) of 1299.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Ripe for colonialism</h2>
<p>In the 19th century, however, attitudes did begin to change. Muhammad was, on occasion, imagined not as the ambitious, profligate impostor of old but as a “silent great soul”, a hero who spoke “from Nature’s own heart”, as Thomas Carlyle called him. The Dublin University Magazine described him in 1873 as “one of the greatest ever sent on earth”.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270581/original/file-20190424-19283-1fnbas4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270581/original/file-20190424-19283-1fnbas4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270581/original/file-20190424-19283-1fnbas4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=887&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270581/original/file-20190424-19283-1fnbas4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=887&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270581/original/file-20190424-19283-1fnbas4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=887&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270581/original/file-20190424-19283-1fnbas4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1115&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270581/original/file-20190424-19283-1fnbas4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1115&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270581/original/file-20190424-19283-1fnbas4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1115&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Grigory Gagarin. Muhammad’s Preaching (circa 1840-1850)</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Islam too now came to be seen more benevolently. The increasing cultural and global political power of the West rendered obsolete the traditional fear of being overwhelmed by Islam. The “religion of force” was now meeting a greater secular force, that of the imperial West. Islam no longer looked as threatening as it once had. The doctrine of Jihad (holy war), declared The Quarterly Review in 1877, “is not so dangerous or barbarous a one as is generally imagined”.</p>
<p>Islamic cultures now came to be seen as spheres of Western patronage, secular and religious. The image of a vibrant, active, progressive West against a passive, inert Islam was congenial to colonial enterprise. Ironically, the religion of aggressive action now came to be viewed as passively stagnant, decadent and degenerate, ripe for domination by an assertive West.</p>
<p>The inability of Western commentators in the 19th century to endorse a newly submissive Islam arose from a deep-seated Western incapacity to treat Islam on equal terms. Indeed, the greater value of the West over all those it variously characterised as backward, degenerate, or uncivilised was a central feature of most discussions of non-Western forms of life.</p>
<p>In short, Islam and progress were incompatible. And there was a strong tendency throughout the Victorian period to blame Islam for all the imagined ills of Oriental societies – the moral degradation of women, slavery, the physical and mental debilities of men, envy, violence and cruelty, the disquiet and misery of private life, the continual agitations, commotions, and revolutions of public life.</p>
<h2>Contemporary times</h2>
<p>Cut to the 21st century and a post-imperialist age, and Muslim nationalisms are again on the rise, not only in the Middle East and North Africa, but in Indonesia, India and Pakistan. The West once again feels under threat. The myth of Islam as essentially violent has re-surfaced. But, interestingly, it has done so in a different way.</p>
<p>On the one hand, the growth of terrorism has moved the imagined military threat of Islam from the borders of the West to its very centres – to London, Paris, New York. </p>
<p>On the other hand, Islam is now seen as a cultural threat as much as a military one. Even at its most benign, it is perceived as threatening Western values by virtue of the Muslims in its midst, stubbornly refusing to acquiesce to Western values. Thus the need to keep Muslims out. In December 2015, to the outrage of many Americans, then presidential candidate Donald Trump called for <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jimdalrympleii/trumps-statement-calling-for-a-ban-on-muslims-entering-the">a ban on Muslims entering the US</a>. Better the enemy kept outside the wall than the enemy within.</p>
<p>The refusal of the UK to allow Shamima Begum, the school girl who left London in 2015 to join ISIS, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/mar/20/shamima-begum-family-challenge-sajid-javid-over-citizenship-decision">to return to England</a> is the most recent example of the fear of home-grown terrorism and the enemy “within”. That she appears to endorse a violent Islam and is lacking in remorse has not helped her cause. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270569/original/file-20190423-175532-kyep05.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270569/original/file-20190423-175532-kyep05.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270569/original/file-20190423-175532-kyep05.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270569/original/file-20190423-175532-kyep05.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270569/original/file-20190423-175532-kyep05.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270569/original/file-20190423-175532-kyep05.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270569/original/file-20190423-175532-kyep05.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270569/original/file-20190423-175532-kyep05.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Shamima Begum leaving Gatwick Airport, southern England, 17 February 2015.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">London Metropolitan Police/EPA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In addition, a new discourse has emerged of Islam as having failed to have a Reformation and an Enlightenment as did the West. Thus, for example, former Prime Minister of Australia Tony Abbott <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-35048128">declared in December 2015</a> that Islam has never had its own version of the Reformation and the Enlightenment – the two events that seem to symbolise for Abbott the transition from barbarism to civilisation. </p>
<p>“It’s not culturally insensitive,” he declared, “to demand loyalty to Australia and respect for Western civilisation. Cultures are not all equal. We should be ready to proclaim the clear superiority of our culture to one that justifies killing people in the name of God.”</p>
<p>Does Islam need an Enlightenment like Europe had in the 18th century? Well yes, in the sense that European governments finally legislated freedom of religion to stop Catholics and Protestants slaughtering each other. Like Christianity in Europe in the 17th century, Islam in the 21st is as much at war with itself (especially in the conflict between Sunnis and Shiites) as it is at war with the West.</p>
<p>So, in the light of this history of Western attitudes to Islam, what are we to make of President Bush’s claim that Islam really is a religion of peace and that Muslim terrorists are, as a consequence, not true Muslims? </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270586/original/file-20190424-19303-18s8cn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270586/original/file-20190424-19303-18s8cn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270586/original/file-20190424-19303-18s8cn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=902&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270586/original/file-20190424-19303-18s8cn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=902&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270586/original/file-20190424-19303-18s8cn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=902&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270586/original/file-20190424-19303-18s8cn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1133&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270586/original/file-20190424-19303-18s8cn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1133&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270586/original/file-20190424-19303-18s8cn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1133&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Malcolm Turnbull in 2017: emphasised inclusivity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lukas Coch/AAP</span></span>
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<p>At its simplest, it is a recognition that there are vast numbers of Muslims, indeed the majority by far, both inside and outside the West, who endorse the virtues of tolerance, compassion, kindness and – simply put – just getting on with each other and with others.</p>
<p>It is also a recognition that multicultural and multi-religious societies thrive on unity and not divisiveness. As then Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/mar/07/malcolm-turnbull-stresses-inclusion-after-donald-trump-signs-revised-travel-ban">put it in March 2017</a>, “What I must do, as a leader, and what all leaders should do in Australia, is emphasise our inclusivity, the fact that we are a multicultural society where all cultures, all faiths are respected and that is mutual. So, trying to demonise all Muslims is only confirming the lying, dangerous message of the terrorists.”</p>
<h2>Many religions under one name</h2>
<p>It is foolish to deny that there is a violent edge to Islam, as there is to Christianity and Judaism. In all these traditions, there is the tension between the idea of a God whose will is always good and a God whose will is always right. </p>
<p>And where God is seen as a being whose will can transcend the good (as he is in Islam, Christianity and Judaism), evil acts committed in his name can abound. Both peace and violence can equally find their justification in the Muslim, Christian and Jewish idea of God. </p>
<p>The willingness of the Islamic State group <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/23/pressure-builds-on-sri-lankan-officials-as-isis-claims-easter-attacks">to accept reponsibility</a> for the horrific bombings in Sri Lanka indicates their belief that such acts are in accord with the will of God. </p>
<p>That said, the question of whether Islam is <em>essentially</em> violent is not one that any longer makes much sense (if it ever did). The supposed fundamental oppositions between the West and Islam fail to map on to any reality.</p>
<p>“Islam” and “the West” are no longer helpful banners behind which any of us should enthusiastically rally. There really is no clash of civilisations here, not least because the notion of “civilisation”, Islamic or Western, really doesn’t have any purchase in a globalised world.</p>
<p>Moreover, we now know that it is difficult to identify the essence of any religion and futile to search for one. Any one religion is really many religions under the one name. So there are many Islams – Sunni and Shiite, but also Indonesian, Albanian, Malaysian, Moroccan, Pakistani, all culturally nuanced in quite different ways. This was evident in the many nationalities of those at prayer in the Christchurch mosques. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270585/original/file-20190424-19272-16wq5rm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270585/original/file-20190424-19272-16wq5rm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270585/original/file-20190424-19272-16wq5rm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270585/original/file-20190424-19272-16wq5rm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270585/original/file-20190424-19272-16wq5rm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270585/original/file-20190424-19272-16wq5rm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270585/original/file-20190424-19272-16wq5rm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270585/original/file-20190424-19272-16wq5rm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Worshippers pray at a makeshift memorial at the Al Noor Mosque in Christchurch on March 19.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mick Tsikas/AAP</span></span>
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<p>So too, there are many Christianities, often so different as to be hardly recognisable as parts of the same tradition – think Pentecostal snake handlers in the American south, Catholic peasants in Sicily devoted to the Virgin Mary, or cool Lutherans in Scandinavia.</p>
<p>The fault line in modern religion doesn’t go to a clash between civilisations or even to a clash between religions so much as to a struggle within religions and within cultures, between theologies, ethics, political ideologies, ethnicities, exclusivism and inclusivism.</p>
<p>It is a struggle between liberals and conservatives, fundamentalists and moderates, reason and revelation. It is a battle within theologies between a God who is thought to be knowable through nature, man and history and a God who is thought to be only knowable through the revelations contained in the inerrant pages of the Torah, the New Testament or the Quran.</p>
<p>It is a struggle within all religions between those who believe there are “many paths to Heaven”, endorse freedom of religion, encourage tolerance and support mutual respect against those who believe there is only “one way to Paradise” and desire to impose this on everyone else, whatever it takes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/111989/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Philip C. Almond does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>For centuries, Westerners viewed Islam as an inherently violent religion. But the struggle today, for all religions, including Christianity, is between liberals and conservatives, fundamentalists and moderates, reason and revelation.Philip C. Almond, Emeritus Professor in the History of Religious Thought, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1140822019-04-17T23:24:43Z2019-04-17T23:24:43ZHow old ideas about tolerance can help us live more peacefully today<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/266042/original/file-20190327-139345-s5djws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=13%2C13%2C2982%2C1980&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pierre Bayle said all peoples’ beliefs and rituals should be tolerated out of respect for their fundamental humanity.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Joshua Earle/Unsplash</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It is telling that the greatest early modern philosophical defender of tolerance was a refugee. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.iep.utm.edu/bayle/">Pierre Bayle</a>, a Protestant, fled his native France in 1681. He would lose several family members in the persecution of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huguenots">the Huguenots</a> after Louis XIV revoked the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edict_of_Nantes">Edict of Nantes</a> in 1685.</p>
<p>Largely forgotten, Bayle’s writings were among <a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/2016/08/tolerant-philosopher-why-pierre-bayle-forgotten-figure-enlightenment">the most widely read</a> of the 18th century. </p>
<p>In the wake of the tragic attack in Christchurch, and the wider rise of anti-liberal forces globally, we face urgent questions surrounding the reasons for and limits of tolerance.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/where-to-start-reading-philosophy-51745">Where to start reading philosophy?</a>
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<p>Bayle’s writings defending this value are newly timely today.</p>
<h2>What did Bayle say about tolerance?</h2>
<p>Bayle’s first statement on tolerance, his 1682 <a href="https://feralphilosophy.com/2018/09/25/how-a-huguenot-philosopher-realised-that-atheists-could-be-virtuous/">Various Thoughts on the Occasion of a Comet</a>, is arguably his most radical. </p>
<p>Bayle claimed a society would need to protect religious beliefs if those beliefs decisively shaped and improved people’s conduct. </p>
<p>But history shows this is not the case. </p>
<p>People of all orthodoxies and faiths don’t behave as their faith would dictate, and exhibit the same human traits:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>ambition, avarice, envy, the desire to avenge oneself, shamelessness, and all the crimes that can satisfy our passions are seen everywhere.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Bayle would point to crusaders, such as those presently being heroised by many on the far and alt-right. <a href="https://books.google.by/books?id=0Q-CaF9tZK8C&hl=ru">He believed them</a> to be evidence, of how even Christianity, a religion of divine love, has been invoked to sanctify “the most frightful disorders ever heard of”.</p>
<p>Bayle concludes all people should be tolerated based on what they do, not what they say. This means even <a href="https://qrius.com/how-a-philosopher-realised-that-atheists-could-be-virtuous/">a society of atheists</a>, with good laws, could be as virtuous as a society of religious believers.</p>
<h2>Why were his ideas controversial?</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265540/original/file-20190325-36267-17ljb94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265540/original/file-20190325-36267-17ljb94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=772&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265540/original/file-20190325-36267-17ljb94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=772&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265540/original/file-20190325-36267-17ljb94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=772&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265540/original/file-20190325-36267-17ljb94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=970&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265540/original/file-20190325-36267-17ljb94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=970&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265540/original/file-20190325-36267-17ljb94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=970&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Pierre Bayle by Louis Ferdinand Elle.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">wikimedia</span></span>
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<p>Bayle’s Various Thoughts caused predictable outrage. For this extraordinary text contains <a href="https://www.suhrkamp.de/buecher/tolerance_in_conflict-rainer_forst_29282.html?d_view=english">the first distinctly secular justification</a> of multicultural tolerance.</p>
<p>It does so by critically distinguishing the basic dignity of a person and their religious, cultural identity. He says all peoples’ beliefs and rituals should be tolerated, out of respect for their fundamental humanity.</p>
<p>This distinction, which we often take for granted today, was far from universally accepted.</p>
<p>And in the current political climate, it can seem we are increasingly accepting the idea that different groups can only ever criticise their opponents, never their own side.</p>
<p>By contrast, Bayle, a Christian, draws on specifically Christian arguments for toleration, at the same time as he criticises the actions and beliefs of other Christians.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/after-charlottesville-how-we-define-tolerance-becomes-a-key-question-83793">After Charlottesville, how we define tolerance becomes a key question</a>
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<p>As a Protestant, for instance, Bayle claims that is as deeply <em>wrong</em> as it will be ultimately <em>fruitless</em> to try to force people to renounce their freely-formed beliefs, even if they are heretical. This would mean compelling them to go against their God-given consciences, a sin against both God and man.</p>
<h2>The limits of tolerance</h2>
<p>Yet Bayle grasps the limits of justifying tolerance for different faiths by recourse to specifically Christian, Protestant claims. By appealing to the inviolability of people’s consciences, he brooks a graver problem. </p>
<p>This problem has been recently, horrifically exemplified by the tragic events in Christchurch. </p>
<p><a href="https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/v/voltaire/dictionary/chapter199.html">Fanatics</a> like the alleged Christchurch terrorist (whom The Conversation has chosen not to name) are honestly convinced of the righteousness of their actions, even when these actions involve indiscriminate slaughter of anyone belonging to another group.</p>
<p>The argument respecting freedom of conscience by itself suggests we should tolerate such “<a href="https://www.academia.edu/6663192/The_Necessity_of_Conscience_and_the_Conscientious_Persecutor_The_Paradox_of_Liberty_and_Necessity_in_Bayles_Theory_of_Toleration">conscientious persecutors</a>”. An argument that was intended to protect the vulnerable in this way ends by condoning the most odious extremists.</p>
<p>To combat this outcome, and underscore the limits of tolerance, Bayle finally introduces a further argument which would, via Voltaire, <a href="https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/v/voltaire/dictionary/complete.html#chapter452">become central</a> to the enlightenment period. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/tolerance-is-more-than-putting-up-with-things-its-a-moral-virtue-31507">Tolerance is more than putting up with things – it's a moral virtue</a>
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<p>Bayle’s argument both starts from and sanctifies a liberal, almost “postmodern” acceptance of irreconcilable cultural differences between groups. </p>
<p>The sheer diversity of religious creeds in the world suggests no one group can know the deepest truths about the human condition with enough certainty to license suppressing, exiling or killing others who do not share their customs and opinions. So <a href="https://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/bayle-a-philosophical-commentary-on-these-words-of-the-gospel#lfBayle_div_185">Bayle writes</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>difference in Opinions seems to be Man’s inseparable Infelicity, as long as his Understanding is so limited, and his Heart so disordered; we should try to reduce this Evil within the narrowest limits: and certainly the way to do this is by mutually tolerating each other.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>A difficult strength, not a weakness</h2>
<p>From Bayle forwards, tolerance was never a weak “anything goes” affair. </p>
<p>Those who believe they are entitled to be violently intolerant, however deeply convinced they are of their zealotry, should not be tolerated.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/indulge-me-this-how-not-to-read-daniel-dennetts-comments-on-philosophy-and-self-indulgence-65099">Indulge me this: how not to read Daniel Dennett’s comments on philosophy and self-indulgence</a>
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<p>For Bayle, such people claim their creed is the only absolute truth, despite the limitations of human understanding and the many different creeds in the world. They believe they hold a moral superiority which is only warranted by egoism and force.</p>
<p>Despite its myriad critics, tolerance demands a difficult strength. </p>
<p>If Bayle is right, respect for difference above all rests upon recognising <em>our own</em> limitations; limitations we share as finite human beings with others whom it is always simpler to dismiss, exoticise, or demonise as wholly alien. </p>
<p>This is neither flattering, nor easy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/114082/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Sharpe works for Deakin University, where he teaches philosophy. He has also written on political and critical theory, and the history of ideas. He'd like to thank Mr. Benjamin Walters for the continuing discussions on these and related issues.</span></em></p>Pierre Bayle, one of the most widely read philosophers, said tolerance should be based on humanity, not on faith.Matthew Sharpe, Associate Professor in Philosophy, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1151182019-04-14T19:14:31Z2019-04-14T19:14:31ZEveryday racism fuels prejudice and hate. But we can challenge it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268902/original/file-20190412-44785-j5kxnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=21%2C203%2C4659%2C2884&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Establishing relationships with people who are different from ourselves is one of the best approaches to reducing prejudice. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AAP/Jono Searle</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the aftermath of the Christchurch terror attacks a month ago, New Zealanders are grappling with difficult, albeit necessary, questions about discrimination and casual racism. </p>
<p>The response to the horrific attack has been heartwarming. Tens of thousands of people from different backgrounds offered support to the Muslim community and paid their respects to those senselessly killed and wounded. The response of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has been similarly refreshing, and has become a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/06/jacinda-ardern-intuitive-courage-new-zealand">global talking point</a>. This gives us hope for a better future. </p>
<p>But lurking behind news articles and commentary proclaiming that this is “not us”, debate is growing about what this atrocity also tells us that we have been <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/hypocrisy-zealand-claim-190319104526942.html">reticent to acknowledge</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-challenge-racism-by-listening-to-those-who-experience-it-113909">How to challenge racism by listening to those who experience it</a>
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<h2>Everyday racism links to extremism</h2>
<p>In some ways, both of these narratives ring true. On the one hand, we have bought into New Zealand’s <a href="https://www.socialprogress.org/?code=NZL">high global ranking for tolerance and inclusion</a>. On the other hand, New Zealand’s Human Rights Commission (<a href="https://www.hrc.co.nz/">HRC</a>) and those of us who research prejudice and bigotry <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277953611007143">routinely find evidence for everyday experiences of casual racism</a>. These experiences give extremism the space it needs to breathe. </p>
<p>One in three of the complaints received by the HRC in New Zealand is about <a href="https://www.hrc.co.nz/news/give-nothing-racism">racial discrimination</a>. In 2017, the commission launched a <a href="https://givenothing.co.nz/">Give Nothing to Racism</a> campaign fronted by acclaimed film director <a href="https://www.nzonscreen.com/person/taika-waititi">Taika Waititi</a>.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The New Zealand Human Rights Commission launched a campaign in 2017 to highlight everyday racism.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Everyday, or “casual” racism and bigotry can appear relatively subtle or blatant. It may include comments such as complimenting someone who doesn’t fit the dominant group for being “well-spoken”, calling someone a “good” Muslim/Māori/Asian, excusing race-based jokes or comparisons as “just joking”. These seemingly benign comments are often accompanied with more blatant experiences of ethnic slurs, being told to go back to one’s country, or managers admitting they do not hire people with “foreign” sounding names (a violation of New Zealand law). </p>
<p>Compounded with such day-to-day experiences is research spanning decades and using a variety of tools (including neuroscience methods, reaction-time measures, and behavioural measures) to show bigotry lies on a <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-handbook-of-the-psychology-of-prejudice/07E1499F3EFD03B6551AD3131F1F3248">continuum from blatant to subtle</a>. </p>
<p>It’s worth mentioning, even subtle biases contribute to <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0149206313506466">negative outcomes for minority groups</a>’ health, well-being and participation in wider society. And even subconsciously perceiving minorities as “less civilised” can fuel intergroup conflict and <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2008-00466-008">violence towards minority groups</a>, as shown by <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev-psych-010213-115045">decades of research</a></p>
<p>While terrorism may represent the actions by a small number of extremists, they are fuelled by <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0022-3514.82.3.359">social norms</a> that allow these ideologies to take root and propagate. As acclaimed French theorist <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/baudrillard/">Jean Baudrillard</a> observed in <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/232655/the-spirit-of-terrorism-by-jean-baudrillard/9781781680209/">The Spirit of Terrorism</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>terrorism merely crystallizes all the ingredients in suspension.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Social norms shape attitudes</h2>
<p>This does not imply that communities themselves are responsible for acts of terrorism, but rather that terrorism reflects what circulates in geopolitics, national politics, normative beliefs of those around us, the media and the influence of other ideological and social forces. <a href="https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/the-wireless/375128/hear-that-dog-whistle-how-to-spot-signs-of-white-supremacy">Global context</a> is, of course, important, but New Zealand now needs to reflect on how <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1047840X.2017.1335568">social norms within our own community</a> can inadvertently promote hate and prejudice.</p>
<p>In Christchurch, and New Zealand more generally, extremist groups have been <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/christchurch-shooting/111417426/small-town-new-zealand-not-exempt-from-white-supremacists">omnipresent for decades</a>. Just last year, there was a white supremacist march down a main street in Christchurch that received numerous car horn toots of support. Students in Auckland have reported an <a href="https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/386887/white-supremacist-movement-growing-at-auckland-uni-students-say">increase in extremist group messaging on campus</a>, even after the disbanding of a controversial European student association. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/christchurch-mosque-shootings-must-end-new-zealands-innocence-about-right-wing-terrorism-113655">Christchurch mosque shootings must end New Zealand's innocence about right-wing terrorism</a>
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<p>More broadly, data from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Survey (<a href="https://www.psych.auckland.ac.nz/en/about/our-research/research-groups/new-zealand-attitudes-and-values-study.html">NZAVS</a>) show that 28% of New Zealanders are willing to express negative <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0174606">feelings toward Muslims</a>. Fortunately, this is where all of us may be able to contribute to reinforcing the inclusive and tolerant society we tout in international rankings.</p>
<h2>Where to from here</h2>
<p>Well-intentioned and fair-minded people are often unaware of everyday experiences of members of minority groups. They often dismiss them as unrepresentative because the majority has a psychological investment in believing it “doesn’t happen here”. But such experiences do happen here as empirical research consistently finds, and these experiences cannot be undone simply through a similar number of positive experiences. People have a <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1037/1089-2680.5.4.323">“negativity bias”</a>, which means that negative events are weighed more heavily than positive ones. And if we have limited opportunities to forge meaningful close connections with people from other groups, then all it takes is a handful of negative experiences to wash away the benefits of other positive interactions and create distrust and social distancing between groups. <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ejsp.2052">Research shows</a> although positive experiences are more common, negative experiences influence our attitudes more strongly. </p>
<p>Even as we work in increasingly diverse workplaces, our social circles tend to be fairly homogenous. Data from the <a href="https://www.psych.auckland.ac.nz/en/about/our-research/research-groups/new-zealand-attitudes-and-values-study.html">NZAVS</a> show that as recently as 2017, 64% of White New Zealanders report that they did not spend any time in the last week socialising with someone Māori. Some 83% say the same about socialising with someone Pasifika, and 77% report spending no time with someone Asian, suggesting that for many of us, our social networks are largely homogenous. </p>
<p>While this is similar to patterns elsewhere in the world, these homogenous networks create psychological distance between “us” and “them”. This also insulates us from hearing differing perspectives because minorities often fear that they will be <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0146167201272010">seen as complainers</a> if they share negative experiences in casual settings. </p>
<p>Instead, establishing relationships with people who are different from ourselves promotes <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2013-35832-004">positive intergroup contact</a>, which is one of the most well-established approaches to reducing prejudice. Similarly, promoting social environments that encourage <a href="https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-multiculturalism-and-interculturalism.html">dialogue and cooperation</a>, establishing common goals and providing opportunities for <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2012-22394-001">multicultural experiences</a> offer some starting points for how to move forward.</p>
<p>At a time when the UN estimates more than <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/publications/international-migration-report-2017.html">250 million people live outside of their country of birth</a>, cultural diversity is an inevitable reality. It means we must learn to live and work together, and at the very least <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1088868316640974">tolerate our differences</a>. If each of us works to remove everyday bigotry within our immediate environment, we make it that much harder for extremist ideologies to take hold.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/115118/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kumar Yogeeswaran receives funding from the Russell Sage Foundation for an unrelated project. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris G. Sibley receives funding from the Templeton Religion Trust (TRT0196) and the Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Fund </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marc Wilson receives funding from the Marsden Fund for an unrelated project. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Danny Osborne and Mike Grimshaw do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New Zealand’s response to the Christchurch terror attacks reinforced an image of an inclusive society, but we still have work to do.Kumar Yogeeswaran, Senior Lecturer in Social Psychology, University of CanterburyChris G. Sibley, Professor, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata RauDanny Osborne, Associate Professor of Political Psychology, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata RauMarc Wilson, Professor of Psychology, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of WellingtonMike Grimshaw, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of CanterburyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1150412019-04-11T02:30:13Z2019-04-11T02:30:13ZExplainer: trial of alleged perpetrator of Christchurch mosque shootings<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268512/original/file-20190410-2898-gqze6x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=49%2C49%2C2892%2C1908&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">During his first court appearance on the day after the attacks, the accused was named and media were given a video with his face blurred.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Martin Hunter</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The vicious targeting of the Muslim community in the Christchurch terror attacks has already had swift consequences. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/why-nz-needs-to-follow-weapons-ban-with-broad-review-of-security-laws-114022">Gun law reform</a> is underway, as is an investigation of <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/christchurch-shooting/111661809/hate-crime-law-review-fasttracked-following-christchurch-mosque-shootings">laws relating to crimes motivated by bigotry</a>. The government has also announced a <a href="https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/385528/prime-minister-jacinda-ardern-announces-details-of-inquiry-into-security-services">Royal Commission of Inquiry</a> into why the attack was not identified and prevented. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-nz-needs-to-follow-weapons-ban-with-broad-review-of-security-laws-114022">Why NZ needs to follow weapons ban with broad review of security laws</a>
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<p>At the centre of these various waves is the trial of the alleged perpetrator, accused (to date) of 50 murders and 39 attempted murders. The identities of the attempted murder victims are suppressed at the moment. </p>
<h2>Right to fair trial</h2>
<p>The accused, who The Conversation has chosen not to name, remains in custody at New Zealand’s highest security prison in Auckland. He has a right to a fair trial based on a presumption of innocence. The trial will be before a High Court judge and a jury of 12, who have to make decisions based on the evidence presented and found admissible in law. Discussions of the merits of the charges in the media or by politicians are to be avoided because of the risk of polluting the court verdict.</p>
<p>During his first court appearance at the Christchurch District Court on the day after the attacks, the accused was named. New Zealand allows defendants to have their names suppressed in various circumstances, but this accused did not seek that protection. Whether or not to name the accused is now a choice of each journalist or media organisation. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/christchurch-attacks-provide-a-new-ethics-lesson-for-professional-media-113840">Christchurch attacks provide a new ethics lesson for professional media</a>
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<p>New Zealand also allows photography and recording in court, subject to judicial control. A video of the accused with his face blurred was released from the first hearing, but Justice Cameron Mander declined applications to film and record the second hearing at the High Court in Christchurch last week. </p>
<h2>Murder charges carry life sentence</h2>
<p>At the second, procedural hearing, the accused did not appear in person but via an audio-visual link from prison. Until then, it was thought he would represent himself, but he has now hired two lawyers.</p>
<p>The main order made by Justice Mander was a request for medical reports under the <a href="http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2003/0115/latest/DLM223818.html">Criminal Procedure (Mentally Impaired Persons) Act 2003</a>. Such reports are designed to investigate whether a defendant might have been insane at the time of the offending or whether he has a current mental disorder that prevents him following a trial. They are commonly ordered for serious charges.</p>
<p>The prosecution may consider additional charges. The most obvious would be breaches of the <a href="http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1983/0044/latest/DLM72627.html">Arms Act 1983</a> or the <a href="http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2002/0034/55.0/DLM151491.html">Terrorism Suppression Act 2002</a>. Since murder charges carry a life sentence, the prosecution will no doubt weigh up whether additional charges add anything of value. </p>
<p>A terrorism charge, which also carries a life sentence, would require proof of motivation of the accused, which would allow evidence of ideology before the court. Murder and attempted murder charges focus on the narrower question of an intention to kill, and the only evidence allowed would be relevant to the identification of the accused as the perpetrator and his intention, not his motivation. </p>
<p>The only defence to a murder charge is self-defence from an ongoing attack by others. </p>
<h2>Speedy trial unlikely</h2>
<p>Before the next hearing, expected in June, the prosecution will be compiling evidence and disclosing that to the defence lawyers. This allows them to consider arguing about the admissibility or otherwise of evidence, which may affect when they can advise on the plea. In a complex case, several pre-trial issues are likely to arise and require a judicial ruling.</p>
<p>The length of the trial will depend on whether any charges are contested, how many facts are accepted by both the prosecution and defence, and the number of witnesses that have to be called to give evidence and be cross examined. </p>
<p>While a speedy trial is an accepted component of a fair trial, that is not a regular feature for trials of any complexity. Even if this case is given priority, if it involves trial (which it will unless there is a guilty plea to the charges brought), it is likely to be many months before it happens.</p>
<h2>Trial open to public</h2>
<p>Another question is where the trial should take place. So far, the courts in Christchurch have been involved, but cases have been transferred in the past because of difficulties of finding a local jury without a link to someone involved in the case. </p>
<p>The trial will be public. Judges have powers to require some evidence be heard without the public present, but media are allowed in those hearings unless there is a national security issue. Judges can also impose controls on the reporting of evidence, including to protect the interests of victims. </p>
<p>One of several verdicts may follow in any trial. An acquittal follows if there is inadequate evidence of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. If the medical evidence allows it, a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity may follow. Similarly, if there is evidence that shows a defendant is not fit to stand trial, the court then considers whether he committed the acts. </p>
<p>The fourth possible verdict, which is proper only if the evidence satisfies the jury beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused committed the offence with the necessary intent, is a verdict of guilty. Such a verdict on a murder charge invariably leads to a sentence of life imprisonment. A judge can order that the sentence has to be served without the prospect of parole.</p>
<p>Prisoners from overseas, including from Australia, usually serve their sentence and are deported at the end of it. New Zealand does not have standing arrangements for prisoners to be transferred to their country of origin to serve their sentence (nor for New Zealanders to return to serve their overseas sentence). But governments can make other arrangements in special circumstances.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/115041/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kris Gledhill does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The alleged perpetrator of the Christchurch terror attacks faces 50 charges of murder and 39 of attempted murder. His court appearance raises several issues, including whether media should name him.Kris Gledhill, Professor of Law, Auckland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1143692019-04-07T19:52:09Z2019-04-07T19:52:09ZWhat the data say about discrimination and tolerance in New Zealand<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267717/original/file-20190404-123397-14zdy0g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=26%2C98%2C2968%2C2160&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An analysis of population statistics shows that most New Zealanders, from any groups, don't report experiencing intolerance or discrimination.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP </span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Following the Christchurch mosque shootings, there has been considerable discussion of intolerance and experiences of discrimination in New Zealand.</p>
<p>For example, Anjum Rahman, a spokesperson for the Islamic Women’s Council, has expressed concerns about <a href="https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside/384911/islamic-women-s-council-repeatedly-lobbied-to-stem-discrimination">rising levels of discrimination</a> against the Muslim community. </p>
<p>This discussion has been driven by specific examples of discrimination or intolerance. Such anecdotes clearly prove wrong the idea that New Zealand is free of discrimination or intolerance, but they provide no evidence of societal prevalence of such experiences and attitudes. </p>
<p>My aim here is to consider data on the occurrence of discrimination and the extent of tolerance across New Zealand society, in aggregate and by different groups. This allows some generalisable conclusions about what we do and don’t know. </p>
<h2>Experiences of discrimination</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.stats.govt.nz/">Stats NZ</a>’s most recent <a href="https://www.stats.govt.nz/help-with-surveys/list-of-stats-nz-surveys/information-about-the-new-zealand-general-social-survey-gss/">General Social Survey</a> (collected between April 2016 and April 2017) allows a consideration of local discrimination and tolerance. It uses an officially collected and statistically representative population sample. It also enables an analysis by subgroups defined by migrant status, main ethnic category and region.</p>
<p>Aggregating across all experiences of discrimination (e.g. by ethnicity, age, gender, dress, language, religion, sexual orientation etc), and hence maximising reported discrimination, most New Zealanders (83.1%) report no discrimination in the previous year. There is little difference in reported discrimination between New Zealand-born people (83.5% report no discrimination) and long-term migrants (83.7%). However, while a large majority of recent migrants (74.3%) report no discrimination, the figure was smaller. </p>
<p>Across all major ethnic categories, the large majority report no discrimination. Of New Zealand Europeans, 85.4% report no discrimination. Rates for Pacific (80.1%), Māori (74.4%) and Asian New Zealanders (73.4%) are lower, but still high. </p>
<p>In terms of regional differences, 83.1% of Cantabrians (where Christchurch is) report no discrimination, identical to New Zealand-wide rates. On this evidence, Canterbury is not a local hotbed of discrimination.</p>
<p>How big are the observed difference in discrimination between groups reported above? The <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03610911003650383">standard social science approach</a> divides population differences into “small”, “medium” and “large”. On the basis of this division, the most elevated experiences of discrimination experienced by ethnic minorities and recent migrants are closest to small in size. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/can-religious-vilification-laws-protect-religious-freedoms-62283">Can religious vilification laws protect religious freedoms?</a>
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<h2>Tolerance of ethnic and religious diversity</h2>
<p>In terms of tolerance, the large majority of New Zealanders are comfortable or very comfortable with a neighbour with a different religion (87.4%). They feel the same comfort regarding a neighbour from a different ethnic group (88.7%). </p>
<p>The one case where only a small majority express comfort involves a neighbour with a mental illness. Only 53.2% of people are very comfortable or comfortable here. </p>
<p>There are no notable differences in tolerance by migrant status, ethnic category or region. Hence, with the exception of the mentally ill, all groups share a majority value of out-group tolerance, and harbour a similar small share of the intolerant.</p>
<p>There is no official data on discrimination experienced by Muslim New Zealanders compared to other groups. Equally, there is no official data on Muslim tolerance of other ethnic and religious groups as neighbours. </p>
<p>However, there is information from the <a href="https://www.psych.auckland.ac.nz/en/about/our-research/research-groups/new-zealand-attitudes-and-values-study.html">New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study</a> on negative attitudes, in the form of reported anger. People report on a 1 to 7 scale, where 1 is “No anger”, 4 is “Neutral”, and 7 is “Anger”. People report on anger towards several main ethnic categories, as well as Muslims, a religious group. In terms of the sampling approach, these data are less well suited for answering population questions than the official Statistics New Zealand data.</p>
<p>Bearing this caveat in mind, the survey shows a broad lack of out-group negativity. Most societal responses fall between “No anger” and “Neutral”. For example, 91.3% of non-Pacific people report “No anger” to “Neutral” attitudes towards Pacific people. Comparable out-group figures for Asians are 90.3%, for New Zealand Europeans 87.3% and for Māori 86.0%. </p>
<p>All these figures are basically identical. For Muslims the number is slightly lower at 81.9%. But in all cases the share of society in the “No anger” to “Neutral” zone is a large majority. Equally, differences between Muslims and ethnic groups are small. </p>
<p>Unfortunately there are no other religious groups where the anger question is asked. This means there is no benchmark to compare out-group anger towards Muslims. Data on anger towards Evangelical Christians, Hindus or Jews are not collected.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/after-charlottesville-how-we-define-tolerance-becomes-a-key-question-83793">After Charlottesville, how we define tolerance becomes a key question</a>
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<p>While discrimination experienced by minority groups, defined by migrant status and ethnic category, clearly exists, it is not the experience of a large majority of New Zealanders from any of these groups. Furthermore, group differences are small.</p>
<p>The large majority of New Zealanders also seem to be tolerant, including of different ethnic groups and religions, and are not angry, as far as one can tell, towards Muslims. </p>
<p>There appears to be, however, a small elevation in anger towards Muslims compared to ethnic groups. But whether anger is greater towards Muslims compared with other religious minorities remains unclear from the available evidence. It is worth observing that all religious groups, Muslim or otherwise, are minorities in New Zealand.</p>
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<p><em>Many thanks to Chris Sibley, at the University of Auckland, for making the data from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study available. Errors and opinions are mine alone.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/114369/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Chapple does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Many New Zealanders responded to the Christchurch terror attack with displays of unity and openness, and research into attitudes shows that tolerance is a widely held value.Simon Chapple, Director, Institute for Governance and Policy Studies, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of WellingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1144302019-04-05T03:09:28Z2019-04-05T03:09:28ZNew Zealand gun owners invoke NRA-style tropes in response to fast-tracked law change<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267247/original/file-20190403-177190-1ewixb6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C125%2C2973%2C1908&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Prime minister Jacinda Ardern announced a ban on military-style weapons within days of the Christchurch terror attacks.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Martin Hunter</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the wake of the Christchurch terror attack, and the <a href="https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/new-zealand-bans-military-style-semi-automatics-and-assault-rifles">subsequent ban on military-style semi-automatic weapons</a>, social media has provided a platform for gun owners.</p>
<p>Media have examined the <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12216973">influence of the American National Rifle Association</a> (<a href="https://home.nra.org/">NRA</a>) in New Zealand. But there is an aggressive home-grown gun culture online.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-nz-needs-to-follow-weapons-ban-with-broad-review-of-security-laws-114022">Why NZ needs to follow weapons ban with broad review of security laws</a>
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<h2>Protecting ‘our’ guns</h2>
<p>The comment sections on a range of New Zealand firearms community Facebook pages reveal that the culture of many gun users is more extreme than the gun lobby wants us to believe. There are disturbing norms operating in local gun culture.</p>
<p>On the day of the shooting, some people posting on firearms groups’ Facebook pages expressed shock and sorrow. Others were immediately concerned about how it would affect them as firearms users. Contributors on some sites openly discussed watching the shooter’s livestream. Some <a href="https://kiwigunblog.wordpress.com/">Kiwi Gun Blog</a> Facebook posters were interested in what firearms he used. </p>
<p>One posted: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Started with shotgun, then uses his AR15 to do the rest. </p>
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<p>Some contributors to the page mentioned the victims of the attack but many clearly prioritised the perceived harm to firearms owners. </p>
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<p>Very sad day. My condolences go out to the families. Only one group of people going down after this … is licenced firearm owners unfortunately. Watch the sale of semi’s [sic] go through the roof before the ban is announced. Bury your semi’s now before they get taken off you.</p>
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<p>Other users enthusiastically agreed. In response to a later post inquiring whether proposed gun law changes mean that “we would have to surrender our ar’s [firearms]”, a contributor replied “lose them in a safe place”. </p>
<p>Another said of police: </p>
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<p>… they will need a lot of search warrants and a team of people with spades. </p>
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<p>Yet another added, mixing an American NRA trope with The Lord Of The Rings: </p>
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<p>They will have to pull mine out of my cold dead hands. They will never get my precious. </p>
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<h2>A privilege, not a right</h2>
<p>The second amendment to the American Constitution has been interpreted as meaning that citizens have a right to bear arms, but in New Zealand owning guns is indisputably a privilege, not a right. The government has the right to <a href="http://legislation.govt.nz/bill/government/2019/0125/latest/LMS181180.html">ban high calibre semi-automatics, magazines and associated parts</a> and to demand that owners surrender these weapons.</p>
<p>A parliamentary select committee will hear oral submissions to the <a href="https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/arms-amendment-bill-passes-first-reading-in-parliament">Arms Amendment Bill</a> this week, and the bill is expected to <a href="https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/386085/new-gun-laws-expected-to-pass-by-end-of-next-week-minister">pass into law</a> by the end of next week, with limited exemptions including pest control, theatricals and farming.</p>
<p>The use of NRA discourses on New Zealand firearms sites reveals confusion, or perhaps a state of denial, about what is legally possible in New Zealand. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I would rather see people with the right to carry for self-defence … . If a handful of those worshippers had been packing [carrying guns] that could have stopped this tragedy in the early minutes. </p>
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<p>Owning a gun for self-defence purposes is not legal in New Zealand, but contributors frequently mention the concept along with variations on the right to own a gun. </p>
<p>We have found other NRA tropes on the <a href="https://www.deerstalkers.org.nz/">New Zealand Deerstalkers Association</a> Facebook page. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Guns don’t kill people. People do.</p>
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<p>Conspiracy theorists even raised claims that the shooting was a “false flag” event, staged specifically to discredit gun owners. </p>
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<h2>Firearms owners feeling threatened</h2>
<p>When Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the ban on semi-automatics, only days after the mosque shootings, the gun lobby responded quickly, <a href="https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/386146/nz-gun-lobby-says-law-will-make-criminals-of-all-firearm-owners">expressing a sense of victimisation</a>. The Facebook page of the Council of Licensed Firearms Owners (<a href="https://www.colfo.org.nz/">COLFO</a>), a firearms umbrella organisation, carried a pastiche of <a href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/martin-niemoeller-biography">Martin Niemöller</a>’s poem, portraying firearms owners as needing to protect themselves in the face of oppression. </p>
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<p>Since the shooting, new contributors arriving on the pages seem surprised by these discourses. One visitor unwittingly charged in with posts saying “ban all MSSAs [military style semi-automatics], cars need registration. Drivers need licences … why should guns be any different. What legitimate use do MSSAs have in civilian hands.” </p>
<p>The suggestion that guns should be registered just as their owners are licensed did not go down well with regular commenters, who responded: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>STOP terrorizing firearms owners! You extremist … you’re a disgusting human being. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Most comments come from men, judging by the names. This is unsurprising, given that 93% of licensed firearms owners in New Zealand are male. Violent misogyny appears on some of the pages, including many remarks about Ardern. </p>
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<h2>Threats resisted only because of the law</h2>
<p>Very few contributors make actual threats, but any threatening posts were rejected on grounds of the law, not because violent or misogynist suggestions were unacceptable.</p>
<p>After New Zealand Police Association President Chris Cahill referred to the “<a href="https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2019/03/christchurch-terrorist-attack-ignore-radical-gun-lobby-and-swiftly-change-the-law-police-association.html">radical gun lobby</a>”, one post said “if we were radical they’d be dead already”. </p>
<p>We did not find white supremacist sentiments, or overt racism on these public New Zealand Facebook pages. But there is almost no visible presence of Māori or non-Pākehā (non-white) people in the social media exchanges. </p>
<p>Senior gun lobbyists present licensed gun owners as sensible and responsible – the only legitimate voice on firearms. But these online posts reflect the culture within the group, whose voice has effectively <a href="https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2019/03/17/492692/nzs-ongoing-fight-over-gun-laws">stifled political debate and stymied changes</a> to firearms law for decades. </p>
<p>Former police minister and now opposition MP Paula Bennett appointed <a href="https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/independent-advisors-firearms-report">two advisors from the gun lobby</a> who encouraged her to <a href="http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1706/S00189/police-association-astounded-at-firearms-control-rejection.htm">reject 12 of 20 recommendations</a> from the 2017 bi-partisan select committee report on illegal firearms. </p>
<p>In 2018, following a public outcry about <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12006543">defence personnel taking military firearms into a school</a>, a Ministry of Education reference group developed <a href="https://education.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Firearms/Firearms-in-Schools-Guidelines-and-Tool-Kit.pdf">guidelines for schools</a>. The group initially included only government employees, educators and representatives from firearms groups. When challenged, one of us (Hera Cook) was added as a health representative and observed how firearms experts persuaded the ministry not to <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12021116">keep a list of schools with guns</a>. </p>
<p>Gun owners’ social media posts show us that many firearms owners are not sensible and reasonable people. Faced with a tragedy, their response is to insist on a non-existent right to own firearms and to express willingness to break laws that do not suit them. It is past time that the desires of ordinary New Zealanders for peace and safety determined firearms policy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/114430/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marie Russell received funding from Lotteries Health Research</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hera Cook received funding from Lotteries. </span></em></p>New Zealand’s gun lobby presents licensed gun owners as sensible and responsible, but the response to gun law changes reveals an aggressive online culture.Marie Russell, Senior Research Fellow, University of OtagoHera Cook, Senior Lecturer, University of OtagoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1137372019-04-04T22:56:12Z2019-04-04T22:56:12ZWhy it might be time for New Zealand to reconsider the legal definition of murder<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267699/original/file-20190404-123419-fwj8l8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=137%2C144%2C4242%2C2587&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">As New Zealand law currently stands, murder is the most serious charge, even for a terror attack or hate crime.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Mick Tsikas</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The man arrested over the Christchurch terror attacks has appeared in court today, <a href="https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/386349/christchurch-mosque-attacks-accused-to-face-50-murder-charges-police-confirm">facing 50 charges of murder and 39 of attempted murder</a>. </p>
<p>Although further charges relating to terrorism are possible, I argue, as I have <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/109839224/ranking-murder-call-for-new-nz-legal-approach-to-categorising-killings">previously</a>, that it is time to reconsider the way in which murder is defined in New Zealand. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/four-lessons-we-must-take-away-from-the-christchurch-terror-attack-113716">Four lessons we must take away from the Christchurch terror attack</a>
</strong>
</em>
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<h2>Sentencing does not always reflect condemnation</h2>
<p>Murders are not all equal in terms of maliciousness.</p>
<p>At the moment there is only one “<a href="http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1961/0043/137.0/DLM329311.html">degree of murder</a>” under the New Zealand Crimes Act, even if an offender is also charged with other terrorism offences. That means that someone who, say, kills their violent and abusive partner is labelled a murderer in the same way as someone who kills 50 innocent victims because of white supremacist views.</p>
<p>Under the <a href="http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2002/0009/latest/DLM135545.html">Sentencing Act 2002</a>, it is an aggravating factor when an offender commits an offence partly or wholly because of hostility towards a group of persons who have an enduring common characteristic such as race, colour, nationality, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, age or disability.</p>
<p>Some might argue that taking this into account in sentencing allows us to distinguish different types of murder, but I disagree. Just as the media correctly refer to the attack in Christchurch as a terror attack rather than a mass shooting, how we label the killings in a legal context reflects condemnation of that conduct. </p>
<p>Also, sentencing doesn’t determine the moral blameworthiness of the offender, only the extent of their punishment. </p>
<h2>Degrees of murder</h2>
<p>Some other countries, such as the United States, do recognise that there are <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_(United_States_law)">degrees of murder</a>. While there are differences in approach across states, generally first-degree murder involves a specific intent to kill and premeditation and deliberation. Some first-degree murders involve killings committed during another serious offence, or where a police officer is killed, regardless of the level of premeditation. </p>
<p>Second-degree murder is usually murder without these aggravating features. Third-degree murder is often the same as New Zealand’s manslaughter offence.</p>
<p>In 1996, Brian Neeson proposed a “degrees of murder bill” for New Zealand which would have redefined culpable homicide by classifying murder in the first, second or third degree. Murder in the first degree would have consisted of killings that were “particularly sadistic, heinous, malicious or inhuman”. But this bill was defeated in parliament and the law remains unchanged.</p>
<h2>The worst types of murder</h2>
<p>Certain features of some murders automatically make them more morally repugnant: premeditation, hate crimes, killings during the commission of other serious crimes, and torturous killings. </p>
<p>At the other end of the spectrum are the less morally blameworthy killings, where a defendant acts with a genuinely altruistic motive (to end a loved one’s suffering, for example), or where the violent conduct of the victim provokes the killing. The question is, should the law apply the same label – murder – to all killings on the spectrum? Or are some killings so reprehensible that they ought to be stigmatised by a more serious offence?</p>
<p>As the law stands, murder is the most serious offence anyone who kills another person can be charged with, even if they were perpetrating a terror attack or hate crime. Regardless of what sentence that offender might end up with, they are in the same category of offender as someone like <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11793291">Donella Knox</a>, who, in 2016, sedated her disabled 20-year-old daughter, Ruby, before suffocating her. </p>
<p>Ruby had severe autism spectrum disorder, was intellectually disabled and had other physical illnesses including spina bifida and hip pain. Before the killing Ruby had begun to act in violent and severely disruptive ways and was no longer being seen by the paediatric team because of her age. Knox was advised that nothing could be done for Ruby’s pain. </p>
<p>Knox pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment. The sentencing judge thought that sentencing her to life imprisonment would be manifestly unjust and <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/106705307/mercykilling-mother-donella-knox-to-be-released-from-prison">described the killing as part mercy and part self-defence</a>. </p>
<p>There are several other cases where a defendant has been labelled a “murderer” for far less serious conduct, including some young offenders who killed others without necessarily appreciating the consequences of their actions. Killing someone recklessly is vastly different from a premeditated terrorist attack. But we still call it murder.</p>
<p>Whatever name we give to terror attack murders does not retrospectively change the nature of that conduct. But language is important because it reflects the stigma and social reaction associated with the conduct.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113737/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brenda Midson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Under New Zealand law, murder is the most serious charge available to prosecutors. The Christchurch terror attack raises the issue of how murder should be defined to reflect hate crimes.Brenda Midson, Editor, New Zealand Law Journal; Senior Lecturer in Law, University of WaikatoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1148262019-04-04T03:46:52Z2019-04-04T03:46:52ZPlaying in overtime: why the Crusaders rugby team is right to rethink brand after Christchurch attack<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267478/original/file-20190404-160951-d0yzrw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=84%2C140%2C4518%2C2893&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Crusaders rugby club has announced an end to its pre-match entertainment of sword-wielding horsemen, as seen here ahead of last year's Super Rugby final in Christchurch.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/SNPA/Ross Setford</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://crusaders.co.nz/">Crusaders Super Rugby franchise</a>, with input from <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=12218936">New Zealand Rugby</a>, is <a href="https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/sport/385751/rugby-crusaders-name-change-discussions-already-underway">reconsidering its name</a> in the light of the Christchurch terror attack. </p>
<p>This news should be welcomed alongside indications that the Crusaders will consult with the Muslim community. The mooted consultation followed <a href="https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/sport/386274/opinion-crusaders-name-change-debate-becoming-sinister">fierce debate</a> and criticism of the team’s current branding. </p>
<p>It seems scarcely conceivable the name and brand will survive careful scrutiny and reflection. Ideally, the consultation should extend to input from other religious communities, including Christians. </p>
<h2>Disturbing connotations with branding</h2>
<p>The Crusades were a series of military expeditions initiated by the Pope and western European Christian powers in 1095 with the aim of retaking control of the Holy Land and various territories held by Muslims that had previously been in Christian hands. These conflicts lasted until at least the end of the 13th century. Whatever nuanced studies of this period might reveal, the <a href="https://www.history.com/news/why-muslims-see-the-crusades-so-differently-from-christians">contemporary resonances</a> of the Crusades remain steeped in images of violence and domination that are deeply disturbing and problematic. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/did-the-crusades-lead-to-islamic-state-54478">Did the Crusades lead to Islamic State?</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>Defenders of the name suggest the Crusader branding implies – or should imply – none of this, despite regular displays involving horses, knights and wielding of swords. In the wake of the Christchurch shootings, the club <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/super-rugby/111352359/super-rugby-crusaders-consider-new-name-in-wake-of-shooting-tragedy">quickly declared</a> its crusade was one of “peace, unity, inclusiveness and community spirit”. </p>
<p>Fortitude, determination and a daring spirit of adventure are touted among the aspirational Crusader rugby “virtues”. The club subsequently decided to distinguish its “crusade” from “<a href="https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/386241/crusaders-name-change-maintaining-the-status-quo-no-longer-tenable">the religious Crusades</a>” by ceasing theatrical displays of sword-wielding horsemen replete with Christian religious insignia.</p>
<h2>Use within Christian culture</h2>
<p>As the public comes to terms with this debate, it is worth remembering that Crusader imagery used to be very widely employed within New Zealand society. It was invoked for similar reasons, with no implication of brutality or particular connection to the Muslim world in mind. A key group that did so were the Christian churches, yet even they had mainly abandoned such usage well before the Crusaders franchise was even created.</p>
<p>In the late 19th century, churches joined with others in advocating various crusades for <a href="https://nzhistory.govt.nz/women-together/new-zealand-womens-christian-temperance-union">social purity</a>. Social improvement campaigns deployed similar terminology for years. There was also widespread Christian support for the first world war as a kind of crusade against Prussian barbarism. </p>
<p><a href="https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/5b53/burton-ormond-edward">Ormond Burton</a>, who became a Christian pacifist after the war, claimed in 1923 that his peers entered the Great War “in much the same spirit as that in which the finest chivalry of Europe followed Peter the Hermit to the Holy Land”.</p>
<p>Numerous war memorials, particularly stained glass windows, picked up on this imagery, depicting returned servicemen as modern crusaders. In a broadly Christian culture, this represented the sanctification of the fallen through heroic service and sacrifice. This iconography was not favoured after the second world war.</p>
<h2>Crusade metaphor for evangelists</h2>
<p>Evangelical forms of Christianity advanced crusading as a metaphor for the battle for souls. Among children and youth, the imagery had a distinctly heroic quality. The <a href="https://teara.govt.nz/en/interdenominational-christianity/page-3">Crusader Movement</a> was an interdenominational evangelical youth movement that operated in New Zealand from the 1930s. It took its name from a group that had used it in England since the turn of the century. </p>
<p>The instigator of the Crusader Movement here, Howard Guinness – himself a product of the British Crusader Bible Class movement – milked the military metaphor for all it was worth. Bible reading was “sword drill”, the call to evangelise was a “call to arms” and keen members were “good soldiers of Jesus Christ”. </p>
<p>Other groups used Crusade metaphors in support of evangelistic activity that aimed to make converts of nominal Christians and unbelievers alike. One early Pentecostal church took the name National Revival Crusade before becoming the Christian Revival Crusade in the 1960s. From 1949 to 1952, Methodists ran an outreach programme dubbed the Crusade for Christ and His Kingdom that aimed to increase the church’s membership by 5,000. </p>
<p>Perhaps most famously, the <a href="https://www.noted.co.nz/currently/history/when-evangelist-billy-graham-came-to-nz-and-wooed-the-nation/">Billy Graham Crusades</a> of 1959 and 1969, led by the famed US evangelist, had a major impact (particularly the <a href="https://nzhistory.govt.nz/page/evangelist-billy-graham-arrives-11-day-crusade">1959 outreach</a>) on New Zealand churches and society. </p>
<h2>Taking leave of the brand</h2>
<p>By 1973, the Crusader Movement had become the Inter-School Christian Fellowship, and in the 1990s, the Christian Revival Crusade rebranded to CRC. Even Billy Graham – by then elderly, but the exemplary revival preacher – began referring to his outreaches as “missions” in the wake of 9/11.</p>
<p>These changes were not merely a question of changing fashion. They occurred in large part because Christian communities became increasingly uncomfortable with Crusader language and motifs. </p>
<p>The reasons were manifold, but three are particularly notable. First, the image’s violent implications were seen as increasingly incommensurable with Christian ethical norms of peace and justice. Second, there was increased understanding of the offence of the language to many Muslims and people of other faiths. Third, a greater sensitivity to the harm and risk posed to Christian minorities in parts of the world where the Crusades were regarded not as past history but a symbol of ongoing Western (and by implication Christian) aggression and hostility to Islam. </p>
<p>In this context, Crusader language and imagery became positively embarrassing, if not repugnant. It was recognised as a significant impediment to improving relations between Christians and Muslims in many parts of the world. </p>
<p>While many supporters will use the Crusaders name with little thought to its origins and implications, it remains an anachronism and source of discomfort to many New Zealanders – Muslim, Christian, secular and others. If the Crusaders franchise and New Zealand Rugby chose, as they might, to consult with the Christian community, they are unlikely to find great enthusiasm for retaining the current name. Indeed, New Zealand Christians will probably be grateful to see it go.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/114826/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Geoff Troughton does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Crusaders rugby club has been embroiled in debate about its branding as the imagery, once widely used in New Zealand, has become embarrassing, even repugnant, following the Christchurch attack.Geoff Troughton, Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of WellingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.