Statement of the Synodal Council of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren regarding the events in

The Synodal Council of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren has followed the recent events in Norway with sorrow and regret. Apart from the events themselves, the victims and the suffering, it concerns us that the perpetrator of this terrible act proclaims himself to be a Christian. His thinking and actions have nothing to do with Christianity; they are a complete disparagement of what Jesus Christ asks of his followers. Not only as human beings, but also as Christians, we reject his actions, as well as his perspective about life and his view of coexistence with others.

Because we live in this small land and so far we have not experienced anything similar, close to us or of this magnitude, we are not able to comprehend the full scale of it, the meaning of this brutal attack on children, parents, and families, and what will be the consequences for a society for which the cornerstones of common life have been interpersonal trust, openness and respect for others.

Because the stream of information revealing more and more about the tragedy in Norway has not yet come to an end, we are unable to do anything more than be in solidarity at a distance with all those affected and pray for those who are deeply disillusioned by the fact that freedom can be abused so easily. We come together with a common resolve to prevent evil and violence from having such open access into the lives of individual people.

Although the enormous wave of solidarity cannot replace the lost lives and can never heal the wounds which were made by these events last week, we believe that the answer to this encounter with this form of human insanity, fanaticism and turpitude is to concentrate on developing everything that enriches life, even with the awareness that the vulnerability of the human community will still remain high.

However, because we know what the propagation of hateful, destructive and inhuman ideas and thoughts means, we are aware that a peaceful future for our children and the younger generation generally will depend solely on what one generation will pass on to those who will take their place. In this connection we are aware of our own shortcomings, because educating people to make sacrifices, to respect others, to humbly use the privilege of freedom and deal with the rights of people – all this no longer has such a significant place in the formation of the norms for future human life and the coexistence of people.

We send our sincere expression of sympathy to the families, Norwegian society and Norwegian Christians, whose sorrow we share. At the same time we hope that the sacrifices which were made involuntarily as a result of violence do not remain simply a warning of the considerable vulnerability of what has been achieved by human civilization. May the Lord God grant that the dozens of dead people will remind us of the high price of the gifts, which we should not take for granted, and which we have received just like those close to us, no matter what their confession, appearance, race or their position in society.

Prague, 26 July 2011

Synodal Council of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren

Lia Valková

Joel Ruml

Pavel Stolař

Daniel Ženatý

Eva Zadražilová

Pavel Kašpar