The grisly logic of hatred

Was Gayle Williams, the Christian charity worker murdered as she walked to work in Kabul, a missionary? The Taliban claim so, as if that were a justification for killing her. Her organisation, Serve Afghanistan, denies it. But there is an awful twist to this argument. The most effective and attractive representatives for Christianity are those who do not proselytise. They may not even make any converts. But a believer who is attractive, brave, decent and honest casts a lustre over their own beliefs which no strange or offensive doctrine can tarnish. In their vile and twisted way, the Taliban are right to shoot aid workers before straightforward missionaries because the nurse who works for the love of humanity is more attractive than one who works for the love of her religion. But when they do, they leave a martyr whose memory will bring others forward in her place.