The sun over Bondi Beach is usually a symbol of Australian openness, a place where the ocean washes away the distinctions of class and creed. But yesterday, that sand is stained with the blood of the innocent.
As reports confirm at least 11 dead at a Hanukkah celebration, turning a festival of lights into a scene of utter darkness, we are forced once again to confront a terrifying reality. We are watching the destructive power of unchecked ideology.
In the aftermath of this horror, I find myself meditating on the nature of the beliefs that direct men to take human lives. We must stop dancing around the issue. We must look directly at the absurdity of religious extremism and the societal weakness that allows it to fester.
The Great Absurdity
There is a profound contradiction at the heart of fundamentalist violence, whether it is the Christian fundamentalists of the past or the Islamic extremists of today.
It is absurd that a human being would agree to kill in the name of his god. Consider the logic: You are killing for a god you have never seen. You are killing for a god you have never heard from directly. You are killing for a god who was introduced to you by other men.
Most damning of all, this is often a god who never came to save you from your own distress. Yet, in a twist of arrogant irony, you believe you are the one who must save this god from insults. You believe you must defend the Almighty.
If a deity is truly Almighty, omnipotent and sovereign, he does not need a mortal with a gun to protect his reputation. Violence in the name of god is not an act of faith; it is an admission of doubt. It suggests that your god is too weak to fight his own battles, so you must step in as his executioner. This is not religion; it is ego wrapped in dogma.
The Failure of Virtue Signaling
For too long, the West, and particularly Europe, has responded to this rising tide not with law, but with virtue signaling.
In an effort to be tolerant, societies have begun to “cuddle” extreme ideologies. We have seen the invention of terms like “Islamophobia,” weaponized not to protect people from harassment, but to shield dangerous ideas from necessary criticism.
We have created a hierarchy of feelings that supersedes the hierarchy of safety. When we are more afraid of being called “intolerant” than we are of preventing massacres, we have lost our way. The result is the Bondi tragedy. When you tolerate intolerance, you do not get peace; you get emboldened radicalism.
Blind Justice is the Only Cure
How do we tame these extreme ideologies? It is undeniably difficult, but the first step is the rigorous enforcement of the rule of law.
Justice must be blind. It must be universal. There cannot be special laws for special groups, and there cannot be “cultural context” discounts for hate and murder.
If an ideology – religious or political – teaches its adherents that they have a divine mandate to kill those who disagree with them, that ideology is fundamentally incompatible with a free society. It should not be coddled; it should be prosecuted the moment it crosses the line into incitement.
A Return to Humanity
It is time to strip away the labels that divide us and embrace our primary identity: human.
The Golden Rule remains the only viable constitution for a diverse world: Do unto others as you would want them to do unto you.
The victims at Bondi were not just “others,” they were fathers, mothers, and children. They were fellow citizens of the world. To the extremists, I say: Your god does not need your protection, but your fellow man needs your humanity.
We must stop making excuses for the inexcusable. The law must apply to everyone equally. Until we value human life above the fragile egos of angry men and their silent gods, this cycle of blood will not end.
