For years now I’ve always remembered that December 6 is also the anniversary of the Montréal Massacre. This year I forgot until I was reminded by the nightly news before I went to bed. On December 6, 1989 a man walked into an engineering classroom, separated the men from the women, then opened fire on the women saying he hates feminists. 27 people were shot, 13 survived leaving 14 dead. Year after year we hear the name of the murderer on the news. It’s good that the media continues to remember the massacre but we rarely, if ever, hear the names of the dead women.
I’m not going to mention the murderer’s name but I want to remember the women who died that day.
Anne St-Arneault, 23
Geneviève Bergeron, 21
Hélène Colgan, 23
Nathalie Croteau, 23
Barbara Daigneault, 22
Anne-Marie Edward, 21
Maud Haviernick, 29
Barbara Klueznick, 31
Maryse Laganière, 25
Maryse Leclair, 23
Anne-Marie Lemay, 22
Sonia Pelletier, 23
Michèle Richard, 21
Annie Turcotte, 21
Geneviève Bergeron, 21
Hélène Colgan, 23
Nathalie Croteau, 23
Barbara Daigneault, 22
Anne-Marie Edward, 21
Maud Haviernick, 29
Barbara Klueznick, 31
Maryse Laganière, 25
Maryse Leclair, 23
Anne-Marie Lemay, 22
Sonia Pelletier, 23
Michèle Richard, 21
Annie Turcotte, 21
2 comments:
Tom,
Thanks for a great post.
But I'm not sure I agree with you about not mentioning "his" name. That lets us off the hook too easily, as if he is an abboration.I think we have more in common with this fellow than we care to admit. We all have, as the Augsburg Confession puts it "evil lusts and inclinations" and its a daily struggle against these principalities and powers that mark us as people of God. Some days we fail - terribly - when we inflict our own violence, hatred, and anger at others. We may not use a gun, but the impact can be devastating.
Just some thoughts as we remember the victims of this horrific crime, which tells us -yet again- that we still wait for the saviour to come in his fulness.
kgp
I agree with you about our complicity and our shared sin. My reason for not naming "him" is that for years now I've heard his name over and over when this date and this topic came up. He's become almost something like a perverse celebrity while his victims have become a faceless, nameless blob of "14 women."
By leaving his name away perhaps it can accomplish what you suggest. He was a "man" (like you and me) whose "evil lusts and inclinations" led to the death of some much-too-young women. Does that let us off the hook?
Shalom
Post a Comment