Horror and Humiliation in Gaza

Tablet ^ | 4/8/24 | David Goldman

[EnderWiggin1970]

Like the Nazis, Islamist terrorism weaponized horror to demoralize the West. Christianity has a soft underbelly: It struggles to reconcile belief in a God who so loved the world that He sacrificed Himself for its salvation with the suffering of innocents. That was the nub of Voltaire’s attack on theodicy after the Lisbon earthquake killed 12,000 in 1755, as well as Ivan Karamazov’s protest that “if the sufferings of children go to swell the sum of sufferings which was necessary to pay for truth, then I protest that the truth is not worth such a price.”

The post-Christian world, which eschews the mystery of Divine Providence in favor of a squeamish urge for earthly salvation, is all the more vulnerable to the theater of horror. The post-Christian West has become paralyzed by the fear that the world is beset by forces hostile to humankind, which J.R.R. Tolkien called “the black breath.”

All too well have the Western-educated, multilingual leaders of Hamas gauged the spiritual state of the West, and invented an atrocious way of conducting war in order to psychically paralyze it. Hamas cannot win a war against Israel, but it has sufficient power to force Israel to fight a war that cost many civilian lives. Whether the civilian death toll is the 32,000 that Hamas claims or the 18,000 estimated by pro-Israeli analysts is of minor importance.

[EnderWiggin1970]

I'm not Jewish, but always appreciate the thoughtful pieces they put out at Tablet, even where I partly or mostly disagree with them. Good reading to mull over on the self-extinction of Western cultures.

[Albion Wilde]

Salvation is for life in eternity, not creature comforts in this speck of time on earth. Salvation is the assurance that God will accept you into His kingdom forever, no matter how much you have suffered in this fallen realm of sin, and what you have been accused of on earth. Your misfortunes are not the worth of your baptized, repentant soul. They are the measure of your tormentors.

[Lurker]

Western civilization will never be able to coexist peacefully with islam. Their entire belief system forbids it.

L

[Paul R.]

The Kurds’ numbers on civilians killed in Mosul are far worse, BUT, the Kurds also stated that the higher numbers were killed by ISIS directly.

[Paul R.]

Pretty good article, actually. It doesn’t take into account the enormous amount of social media propaganda ongoing in this (Gaza) conflict, coming from the Russia / Iran / China side, however, compared to the battle in Mosul. (None of those countries favored ISIS - huh.)

[SaveFerris]

Yes

[b4me]

wow. thanks for posting that comment, speaks to some things happening lately for many I know.