On the afternoon of Friday October 23 2026, a truly horrific scene unfolded in the city of Karak, in the Kingdom of Jordan. While the community of St. George Greek Orthodox Church mourned the death of a lifelong parishioner, three gunmen jumped out of a van, machine guns loaded, and opened fire on the procession. All of this occurred within the grounds of the church, and the massacre reportedly lasted several minutes. Hardly an act of random violence, the motive of the gunmen was clear: to murder as many people as possible in a short amount of time; and to strike terror into the hearts of all present, and all who may hold similar beliefs in the nation of Jordan and beyond. All told, seven souls were lost in the immediate aftermath of the massacre, while two succumbed to injuries several hours later. An additional 40 were wounded, some in critical condition. Hearing this story, and writing this commentary from several thousand miles away in Minneapolis, Minnesota, it brings to mind painful memories of a similar and equally tragic incident where a lone gunman opened fire during morning mass at Annunciation Catholic School in late August 2025. Two students passed away, dozens more were injured, and members of the local community is still processing the grief in our own individual ways. So having a small taste of that scene in Jordan in mind, I know it had to have been incomprehensible to experience, and I pray for the repose of the deceased. I pray also for those who survived the incident, yet are no doubt permanently scarred by it. But what I find interesting and worthy of commentary from the perspective of the Orthodox Christian is both the immediate and delayed response of King Abdullah II, the monarch of the Kingdom of Jordan. Before I say anything further, I want to note that I always do my best to assume the best of everyone in their actions and intentions, regardless of background or belief system. I also want to note this article/podcast is not a simple commentary on what occurred. It is an examination of whether or not Christians, specifically Orthodox Christians in the Middle East should approve of the King’s response, both in words and action. The King’s Words Within hours, King Abdullah II publicly condemned the attack, promising the “harshest retaliation” and declaring that Jordan would respond with an “iron fist.” He visited wounded survivors who were in the hospital that very day and, on October 24, chaired a National Security Council meeting, emphasizing that the safety of Jordanian citizens was nonnegotiable. I want to share Abdullah’s response on X in full, because there are several parts of it that merit scrutiny: The terrorist attack against Karak will be met with the harshest retaliation. Those who delude themselves into thinking that they can divide Jordanians with their bullets have no chance in the face of our unity. All Jordanians, from north to south, are partners in land and fate, and nothing stands between them. Our deepest condolences to the families of the martyrs and we wish a speedy recovery to those injured.Every Jordanian life is precious, and we will strike with an iron fist against those who dare to threaten our nation. I was relieved that the ruler of the nation used such strong language in his post. He made it abundantly clear that these gunmen did not represent his government, and that every effort would be made to ensure they are held accountable for their actions, and quickly. Yet I admit I winced a little bit when I read the words, “harshest retaliation,” as well as, “strike with an iron fist.” The king was no doubt extremely emotional when he wrote that, and it is well established within the psychology community that those who have been aggrieved, no matter how legitimate the grievance, are ever in danger of committing similar or even worse offenses while supposedly exacting retribution for the offense (for reference, see We’re All Victims Here). First, let’s examine this situation from the perspective of King Abdullah. What could be his motive for sharing such a forceful response for all the world to see on X? There are a couple of considerations: * Abdullah is the head of a predominantly Muslim nation, yet it has long been the official doctrine of the Kingdom of Jordan to promote religious inclusivity, including the roughly 3% of Jordanians who are Christians. This act of terrorism directly threatened this long-held peace and unity among Jordanians. Thus anything other than a very public response, with the strongest possible rhetoric risked appearing to be sympathetic with Muslims, at the expense of minority religions. * It made his government vulnerable to criticism and even retaliation from the international community and media. To put it bluntly, the promotion of terrorism is bad PR. Absent a stern response, he risked severe criticism from outside nations, even combat action against Jordan. While all this is well and good, what I want to focus on is what could be an appropriate Christian response to this tragedy, and whether or not this response might be either aligned with or opposed to King Abdullah’s. From the perspective of the Orthodox Christian, two passages from St. Paul are appropriate here. First, is Romans 12:19. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. The other is Romans 13:4, speaking about civil governing authorities: For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. So here we have two mentions of the word vengeance. On the one hand, should a Christian suffer an injustice of any sort, St. Paul’s guidance is to not plan retribution like some sort of mafioso who’s just had one of his henchmen killed. God — the Creator and Master of the Universe — will avenge the injustice. And then on the other hand, it appears that Paul is saying that the “governing authority” i.e the government, is the instrument by which said vengeance will occur. Assuming this is an accurate interpretation of St. Paul’s words — and that’s admittedly an arrogant assumption — let’s apply it to this situation regarding this Orthodox community in Jordan. These members of St. George’s Orthodox Church in Karak were murdered, wounded and utterly traumatized during a funeral procession honoring one of their beloved members who had reposed the previous day. Even if not physically wounded, the people present will carry those emotional wounds and scars for the rest of their lives, and will possibly pass it on to their children via what is called intergenerational trauma. If anyone has a right to feel the need to partake in an act of vengeance, it is this community of human beings. But we have one of the most preeminent Fathers of the Church saying not to do so! God will take vengeance for you. The very act of not avenging this atrocity is in itself an act of great faith. And taking the above scriptures at face value — again, a risky act for purposes of a commentary such as this — it appears that God is taking vengeance rather quickly, for His minister, King Abdullah vows to retaliate on these perpetrators “with an iron fist.” So…what actually happened? The King’s Actions We know that that very day, just after making this X post, Abdullah visited wounded survivors of the attack while dressed in a military combat uniform and carrying a loaded pistol in a holster (which is highly symbolic for a number of reasons). We also know that three alleged perpetrators of the attack were arrested by Jordanian special operations forces two days after the incident. So Abdullah’s rhetoric was not empty. Meaningful action was taken swiftly. It appeared that the men responsible for carrying out the attack will soon face the music for their despicable actions. All appears to be well, and were I a member of the St. George community, I would likely be than… Get full access to James D. Newcomb at jamesdnewcomb.substack.com/subscribe
