Terrorists: Zootopia

Shortly after the bombings in Paris on 11/13/15, I was sitting in the cafeteria at the community college I attend. I watched a young man walk in who to me looked nervous and "shifty." He also looked middle-eastern in origin. I kept an eye on him as he walked through the part of the cafeteria where they sell food. He walked around the area a couple times, but didn't buy anything (something I myself have done many times, which is a fact I didn't remember at the time). All these factors worked together to get me in quite the state of anxiety. And then...

Nothing happened. No bomb, no gun, no reason for any kind of worry at all. I was heartily ashamed of myself for steriotyping and for my prejudice.

I remembered this moment in my life when I watched the movie Zootopia for the first time.
(Photo retrieved from http://movies.disney.com/zootopia)

In Zootopia, there are two main groups of animals: Predators and prey. In general, there's a lot of prejudice against predators; speculation that they've never truly lost their historical hunting, killing instincts. Then that's all magnified when predators around the city start to "go savage."
(https://thedoublethumb.com/2016/03/17/zootopia-movie-about-adorable-animals-crack-cocaine/)

"Going savage" means that the predator becomes the animal that we all know it as, instead of the upstanding citizen it was before. So a lion, for example, starts attacking the prey around it with no evidence of rational thought.

When this is all unearthed, the prey animals start to get worried, and understandably so. Instead of limiting their prejudice to muttered comments or a dirty look, they start firing predators (they replace their lion mayor with a sheep), and advocating for things like relocating all the predators from the city.
(http://furriescentral.tumblr.com/post/137373991480/bearfrickker-lxlna-please-appreciate-my-son)
(https://ohmy.disney.com/movies/2016/03/05/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-zootopia/)

So how did this movie remind me of that day in the cafeteria? It was because that same fear that I felt that day was pulsing through the characters on my television screen: the prejudice and steriotyping that led to panic and descrimination.

The suggestion of completely removing the predators from their society also rang with the politicians and social media pages that suggest we remove Muslims from America. We never know which one will "go savage" next.

But the thing about the movie is, it ended up not being the predators' fault that they were becoming terrorists. They were being poisoned by someone who wanted them out of the picture.

That's where the comparison stops, right? After all, real-life terrorists know exactly what they're doing, and they signed up for it.

Well, maybe not. Remember what Jesus said on the cross? "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." (Luke 23:34). I don't think he was just talking about the Romans who hung him there. I think he was praying for everyone who persecuted him, as well as all those who would persecute us, his kids. And I don't think he expects us to do anything different when we are attacked and brutally murdered either. He was following his own command to "pray for those who persecute you." (Matthew 5:44).

But let's hone in on maybe why he said that "they" didn't know what they were doing.

Let's build a recipe for a terrorist:
1) They're slaves to sin, and are ruled by self-interest and pride.
2) Pride tells them that they're more important than other people.
3) False religion tell them that they're more righteous than other people as well.
4) Mix steps 2 and 3, and it's easy to conclude that anybody who isn't as important as them deserves to die. It's the same rationale that the Pharisees had when they dragged an adulturess before Jesus.
5) Kill everyone who isn't as righteous as them, and their religion rules the world.
Cook for several years while repeating lies and drilling the false religion deeper and deeper into their heads, and serve while hot. Congratulations, you have a religious radical who's ready to be unleashed into the world.

But they don't really know what they're doing, because everything they're listening to is a lie. That's the poison. They believe lies, and so they "go savage."

So what are we supposed to do? We don't have to look far to find out. In fact, we've already talked about it: Matthew 5:44 and Luke 23:34. Pray for those who persecute you, for they do not know what they are doing.

When I think about terrorists and the jealous anger of my Daddy in heaven, I feel nothing but pity for those guys who dare to touch his kids. But I also know that they hold a corner of God's heart that no one else does, and that deep down, what he really wants to do is save them (2 Peter 3:9). So that's why we ought to intercede for them. To use our status as God's beloved kids to appeal to that corner of his heart that wants to forgive and adopt, just as he did for us.

That way, perhaps predator can partner with prey, just as in Zootopia. We need to defeat the plot of the evil one, which is to take as many of us with him as possible. His fate is sealed, but the fate of the Muslim terrorists don't have to be. They are not the enemy. The enemy is the one with the poison in his hand.
(http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Judy_Hopps)