Silence in the face of evil

Last night I shared this video on my Facebook timeline:
(Warning – graphic violence – link to video)

The video upset some people because of its graphic nature, so I added in a warning to alert people to its content. I was asked by a friend: “why post this violence, Jeremy?”

My answer was, “because it’s happening, and I don’t want it to happen.”

Unfortunately because of the barrier of language, I do not have a clear idea of the context of this video and the motive of the attack. The translation offer by Bing says: “Muslims attack a two jansh in Morocco.” But what occurs in the video, as a young woman tries to escape and shield herself from the relentless punches and kicks from more than a dozen young men, speaks for itself.

The Facebook page that it was initially shared from is one belonging to a blogger based in Tehran. My gathering from the page is that its purpose is to inform the world about the shocking violence and atrocities, and the oppression that is commonplace in the Middle East and Islamic culture. No doubt, if the authorities, or any number of Islamists got hold of this blogger because of what he exposes, he’d be in jail or a dead man.

These graphic videos are hard to watch, and we do not need to constantly expose ourselves to their violence at graphic content. But we do need to be informed.

I have little doubt that attacks such as this have happened in Australia, beyond the gaze of the authorities and the media. I have little doubt that these kinds of attacks will become more common, not only in the Middle East, but throughout the West and our own nation.

And we must be aware of what is going on. We must not ignore what is happening, just because it makes us feel uncomfortable. If we do, we turn a blind eye to the suffering of others, and we bear our own culpability in doing so.

One of my heroes is a man by the name of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. During the Second World War, Bonhoeffer was behind a plot to have Adolf Hitler assassinated. Bonhoeffer did not come to this position lightly, as it is worth pointing out that Dietrich Bonhoeffer was an ordained Christian minister.

In 1943, Bonhoeffer was captured by the Gestapo due to his involvement in the assassination plot, and was imprisoned for 18 months before being transferred to a Nazi concentration camp. Bonhoeffer wrote during his time in prison, and fortunately, he managed to have some of his manuscripts smuggled out. After a brief trial, Bonhoeffer was executed by hanging on 9 April 1945, just two weeks before Allied forced liberated the camp, and three weeks before Hitler’s suicide.

Bonhoeffer’s death, though tragic is utterly heroic. In his own words, Bonhoeffer said:

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil.
God will not hold us guiltless.

Not to speak is to speak.
Not to act is to act.”

We need courageous people like Dietrich Bonhoeffer to remind us that we cannot ignore or appease the violence that is being committed around the world. We must stand firm and resolute in the face of evil. We need to name it for what it is, and act against it.