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Church condemns killing as an 'offence against God'
The United
Reformed Church has condemned as "an offence against God" the
assassination of Gayle Williams, a Christian aid worker in Kabul, and
the chilling comments of those who killed her. Taliban insurgents said
"This woman came to teach Christianity to the people of Afghanistan. Our
leaders issued a decree to kill her. This morning our people killed
her".
The Revd John Marsh, Moderator of the General Assembly of the United
Reformed Church said: "It is deeply sad and sickening that Gayle
Williams has been deliberately targeted as a Christian, and gunned down
in the streets of Kabul. She had been welcomed into Afghanistan, and was
working with Serve Afghanistan, a trusted organisation, bringing skilled
assistance to people with disabilities".
He promised that the Church would pray for her family and colleagues.
"We will also pray for the families and individuals in Kabul who
delighted in and depended upon her skills, and the people who actually
killed her and those who support them explicitly or implicitly. We pray
with all Christians, Muslims and people of faith everywhere, for whom
this is an offence against God and a violation of all that their
spiritual traditions mean".
The Revd Peter Colwell, convenor of the URC’s inter-faith relations
committee said: "Like Christians, the vast majority of Muslims abhor
this kind of violence. Some Taliban factions operate far outside
mainstream views and actions. The Taliban are not a single united
entity".
When news of the killing broke, Peter Colwell was attending an
ecumenical consultation in Geneva, reflecting upon Christian attitudes
to Islam. The keynote address was given by Catholicos Aram, head of the
Armenian Apostolic Church, who said that prevailing misperceptions and
polarisations between Muslims and Christians, which are hijacked
by ideological agendas, could be transformed only through a shared life in
community. |
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