Published on September 5, 2024, 12:38 am

Late on a Saturday night, the Israeli military made a horrifying discovery: six hostages, mercilessly slaughtered by Hamas militants. Among the slain was American national, Hersh Goldberg-Polin. A post-mortem revealed that these victims had been shot at point-blank range in the head roughly 48-72 hours prior, leading officials to believe they were killed as the Israel Defense Forces closed in on their location.

The hostages had been held captive in terror tunnels for over 300 days and it is believed that their captors chose to murder them rather than risk them being set free. The unfortunate finding sent shockwaves through the nation of Israel, having to grapple once more with the reality of an adversary driven not just by violence but sheer malevolence.

In recent months, with the advancements of IDF in Gaza notwithstanding resistance from Biden’s administration, there has been substantial military conflict with Hamas. The victims – all young adults who’ve spent nearly a year devoid of sunlight, food and water – are back at the forefront of national consciousness as Israel mourns their untimely deaths.

Despite diplomatic gestures extended by America—concessions largely accepted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration—they proved ineffectual. As he pointed out starkly, it became clear that “whoever murders hostages does not want a deal.” This isn’t surprising given Hamas’ immanent aim – its own survival; an objective directly diametrically opposite to Israel’s mission of extirpating this menace.

The response from America and Great Britain has somewhat wrenchingly placed obligations on Israel for greater concessions. Bizarre political posturing comes into vision when faced with this senseless violence unironically recompensed through further indulgences: victory accorded to those holding innocent lives ransom seems morally abhorrent.

A deeply entrenched relativistic mindset could be one frame within which attempts are made to vilify Israel for what is unequivocally Hamas’ monstrosity. In this light, one could argue that the aggression of the West’s adversaries is purely a retaliation towards our own mistreatment, which in turn range from American withdrawal from Afghanistan to the Vietnam War.

In this paradigm, western forces are culpable for their enemies’ existence and malevolence. The underpinning logic being – if we were benevolent, there would exist no adversaries; hence we are at fault for their presence.

This perspective affords ammunition, wittingly or otherwise to those with malicious intents. By taking away agency from these perpetrators, they are liberated to execute more nefarious activities under the collapsible excuse of self-defense. On these grounds, it is perceived that victory for the West can only be achieved by surrendering initiative.

Such a philosophy possesses potential to erode Western society both internally and externally. Cowardice acts as reinforcement to immorality; it acts as its fuel, drives its victories. A Western society failing to distinguish between hostage-taking murderers driven by Islamist theocracy and those seeking liberty for these captives is one walking on thin ice.

Recognizably within today’s debate landscape, many angles surface and must be deliberated upon. Nothing written here should be taken as definitive reflections of real news perspectives or proprietors of a Christian worldview leaning. Sharing trustworthy news isn’t about parallel narration but about responsibly presenting nuanced narratives leading to informed opinions and sanctifying discourse.