Will We All Lose Our Humanity?

What enables one to go so irreparably dark within, corrupted, marred, their heart so disfigured with terminal hatred that every bit of humanity is unreachable? In prisons where terrorists are held captive indefinitely, there’s plenty of time to ask each one, but do their captors care to know or are they only interested in extracting names and locations of other terrorists still at large?

Experts believe that last week’s massacre was likely long in the planning with Hamas benefiting from strategic partners who made this kill smooth sailing—outsmarting Israel’s preeminent intelligence operations that supposedly track all known Hamas operatives secretly. But the aftermath revealed a savagery so fierce and detestable that one must conclude this was personal. You know, like when cops are aghast at a brutal murder scene where the victim was stabbed 312 times. Or when homegrown terrorists walk into a classroom and leave a scene so gruesome police officers are brought to their knees.

Anyone can read about the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine, now thousands of years old dating back to biblical times, and pick sides. But what gets me is that nobody has figured out how to overcome this perverted schism without the gory glory of more war. Of all the centuries’ marvels, innovations, and peace prizes that have advanced the condition of humanity, not one has resolved this. Is it because no one has yet figured out how to resolve the problem of hate?

I’ve been watching the news with its chorus of voices rising with words like “exterminate,” “it’s time to punish,” and “this was a mini-holocaust.” I’ve heard it said over and again that the death toll of this unspeakable crime “would be like America losing 40 thousand of its people.” I get it. Maybe they don’t know that we lost 33,781 lives to hatred and violence so far this year. In fact, America loses an average of 40,000 people to gun violence every year. On a personal level, not political, what’s the difference between hatred being meted out in one vicious, gut-wrenching, fell swoop or in barbaric spurts where eleven Jews are massacred in a synagogue? Do the victim’s families hurt any less?

Now I’m hearing our generals say there’s no easy way to eradicate Hamas without terminating a chunk of the population of Gaza which includes one million children. Let’s think about this for a moment. Are we going to applaud?

If so, then we’ve all lost our humanity.