is senior managing editor for the German edition of The Herald of Christian Science. He spoke from Berlin with the Christian Science Sentinel—Radio Edition about a healing response to terrorism.
It's not easy to think rationally after a terrorist attack, because the first thought might be to hate people or to look for revenge, and sometimes this seems very natural. But the more I think about it and the more I compare previous terrorist activity in Europe with recent terrorist attacks, the more I've concluded that hatred is not natural. People who act hatefully surely must have had experiences that motivated them to act this way. Hatred can't be innate. Somehow, it must have been learned.
Once I understood this, I realized that I could exchange the violent thoughts I've had toward terrorists with peaceful thoughts. But this is something that has to be done individually. It's not something the military or the government can do for me. Instead of wondering why terrorists are so different and why I can't understand them, I can turn away from prejudices and mistaken thoughts. I can calm down and try to see more of the good expressed in individuals. I can catch a glimpse of what is uniting humanity.
