More Powerful Than the Hate That Divides: A Response to the Laguna Woods Shooting on May 15, 2022

The Laguna Woods Shooting

Text messages went off on my phone rapidly on Sunday afternoon. News of the Laguna Woods shooting spread like wildfire. My initial thought was, “How sad! This kind of violence has come to our backyard. But these types of news have been all too common in recent years. I don’t have the energy to engage with the news. I am going to go on with my day.”

But out of curiosity, I googled the shooting. To my shock, it happened at the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church (ITPC). These are my Taiwanese people in my city!

Since the Taiwanese community is a small community, I was afraid that the victims would be people we knew. And sure enough, our church has many relatives who attend that church. You can imagine the shockwave this news sent through our Taiwanese communities in the U.S. as well as overseas.

Who would do such a thing? What kind of motive could the shooter possibly have by targeting Taiwanese elderly men and women? The shooter himself was a man in his 60s who was born in Taiwan. It made no sense. Then authorities revealed that it was a politically-motivated attack. The shooter was a pro-China activist, and he hated Taiwanese people who advocates for Taiwan’s independence.

The Dark History

I know this type of political conflict all too well. I heard the rhetoric of “deep blue” pro-China party¹ versus the “deep green” pro-independence party² all the time. I grew up in a “deep green” family. I was born in Taiwan. I immigrated to Orange County at the age of 8. I was taught from a child that I am “Taiwanese” and not “Chinese”—we are NOT the same.

Why did my parents and grandparents dislike the mainlanders so much? I didn’t understand until they told me their stories of suffering and oppression under the KMT reign in Taiwan in the early days. My paternal grandfather was almost captured and killed³ as a young man for being an intellectual. My pregnant grandmother (with my mom inside her stomach) was shot by a KMT soldier. As a result, my mom had to be delivered prematurely at 2 lbs. The doctors didn’t expect her to live. Fortunately for me, my mom survived. In addition, much of my maternal grandfather’s land was confiscated⁴ by the KMT in the name of patriotism.

From their point of view, my family has every reason to dislike mainlanders. They described the Chinese Civil War between the communists and KMT as “thug versus thug”—one dictator fighting another dictator. My family was attacked and taken advantage of. Thus began a never-ending cycle of political hatred: “Green” versus “Blue”.

Since I immigrated to the US at the age of 8, I didn’t really care too much about the distinction between Chinese and Taiwanese, but I was aware of my family’s stance and had to respect it. That was my identity: a Taiwanese son. “Don’t forget your roots. Don’t forget who you are and where you’re from. We don’t speak Mandarin at home, we speak only Taiwanese.”

A New Identity

In 1996, at the age of 16, I surrendered my life to Christ. I started regularly attending a Taiwanese church⁵. From that point on, I learned about the Word of God and the love of God. I grew to know about the sacrifice of Jesus for my sins and the sins of mankind. I studied God’s forgiveness toward us, and how He commands us to also forgive others. I read that Jesus forgave the soldiers who nailed him to the cross because “they know not what they do”(Luke 23:34)

Around the year 2000, there was a huge wave of immigration from mainland China to the United States. That was the first time I’ve ever met Mainlanders. I thought they talked with a funny Chinese accent. They probably thought I talked like a Chinese hillbilly. By that time, I didn’t know what to think of “them.” I didn’t dislike them. They were very normal people. But I didn’t see us as one and the same either. In fact, I was irritated to see young mainlanders driving luxury cars with their parent’s money—spoiled brats!

A few years later, I watched a powerful documentary called “The Cross—Jesus in China”⁶. It told the story of God powerfully at work in China, as he used Chinese believers who literally sacrificed their lives for the sake of the Gospel. Many believers were imprisoned and killed for their faith, but they never stopped preaching the Gospel. These Chinese believers went from village to village to share the love of Jesus Christ despite persecution. As a result, a great spiritual awakening spread all over China.

As I watched their stories, tears poured down my face, and something broke in my heart. I realized that, first and foremost, these are my brothers and sisters in Christ. They are God’s beloved children, loved by God, used by God, and many have gone to glory to be with the Lord. And I have no doubt that Jesus said to them, “Welcome home, my good and faithful servants.” I realized that as believers in Christ, the same blood of Christ flows through our veins. We are one in the family of God, no matter our race and politics. When we surrender our lives to Christ, we received a new identity. We received a new kind of citizenship.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body…” (Philippians 3:20-21)

My primary identity is no longer just a “Taiwanese Son.” My new identity is “a child of the Living God” and a “citizen of heaven.” And my allegiance is ultimately to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, not any political party. The Blue and Green parties are not my saviors. The Democrat and Republican parties are not my Lord. My life on this earth is temporary. When I go to be with Jesus there will be no political affiliations in heaven. The only “politics” we will find in heaven is “at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Philippians 2:10).

Ever since God broke my heart for the believers in China, I have been to China eight times for short-term mission trips, bringing teams to share the love of Christ. I can now honestly say that I love my brothers and sisters in China. They are some of the most humble and loving people I have ever met. The times I spent with them in those summer camps was like having fellowship in heaven. We all wished the camps would just go on forever.

What Now?

What do we do now? In the aftermath of the shooting, the news and media are telling the story and motive of the shooter from every angle. Certain channels are adding fuel to the fire and creating more hatred and division between the Taiwanese and Chinese. As people watch more news, they become angrier and even want revenge. They are now even more adamant with the rhetoric, “We are NOT the same”.

As God’s children, we must find a better way. Now, more than ever, let the Taiwanese and Chinese believers come together, hand in hand, standing together under the banner of Christ. Even though we will have different political stances, even though we disagree on many things, we can come together in love and unity because the blood of Christ runs through our veins.

We must stand together against hate and violence. We must show the world that there is a better way. Let us organize gatherings together. Let us fellowship with one another. Let us break bread together. Let us pray together. Let us share our pulpits with each other. Let our children play together. Let us be children of light in this dark world.

Let this be our declaration: The love of God and the blood of Jesus are more powerful than the hate that divides.