Can any God forgive the murder of Aylan Kurdi?
One would argue there are no degrees of death. But the image of the drowned Syrian toddler washed up on the Turkey beach makes you believe otherwise. This death is unacceptable. It leaves you with inconsolable grief for it is untimely, unnatural, and brought upon by the irresponsibility of us adults and our agendas.
The tiny body, in a red T-Shirt and shorts had not dressed that day to be found, lying face down on a beach, dead. No doubt, the image has got itself etched in our hearts as a symbol of our shame and guilt as insensitive, selfish adults.
There is a fair chance, that nature gloved in the waves, washed the body of the three-year-old Aylan Kurdi ashore to make us see the deterioration of our humanity, the degeneration of our purpose, the devastation of our future - all at our own hands. And a big thank you to social media for making it go viral to land a rude knock on every compassionate soul that viewed it.
His family was one of the tens of thousands of Syrians fleeing the war in their homeland, descended on Turkey to board boats to Greece which, to them, could be their gateway to the European Union and also a chance for a normal future.
True, his is not the only life that has been cut short due to strife and war. But his is a death that inspires a gnawing pain and guilt for he had no role to play in bringing the world to this pass. He was neither fighting for the Islamic State nor was he with the Kurdish regional forces. He was just a toddler trying to survive strife and he failed! And in him, we all failed.
The image is a clarion call for all us "thinking adults" on how our children may end up paying for our failures. According to the UNHCR, so far this year, more than 2,500 people have died trying to cross the Mediterranean, many of them children and teenagers. And this is only one refugee statistic.
If this does not shake us from our selfish slumber and inane political and religious agendas, God knows what will. Which God would forgive this murder?