Black and white flag

Aftermath

As we pick up the pieces, we are left wondering if an untrained deranged 50 year old can bring our major city to a halt what could a real terrorist cell do? So before the bigots accuse me of being un-Australian and draw a long bow to convict me of insulting our national security, let me snap that bow in their face and ask: do they still not understand, that there is no military solution?

The future of this nation is to0 precious to be determined by demagogueryterrorising this nation into a collective amygdala hijack, suspending rationality. It is too precious to be led by a suicidal foreign policy of an ailing superpower. A superpower with a proud past, but one that has deviated from the traditions of its own forefathers. A glimpse of which can been seen in US Supreme Court, the highest judicial court in the US which in its proud tradition has risen above prejudice and bias honouring the Prophet of Islam on the walls of its building as one of the greatest lawgivers in human history - a nail in the coffin for those screaming Sharia law.

A trip to the library of the US congress, the bicameral legislature of the nation will give you another glimpse of this honoured past. Looking up at the main dome, Islam is honoured as one of the great epochs of civilisation that have contributed to the country's heritage. So enough of the clash of civilisations!

The world has seen too much pain, with too many divisions of the recent past and this must be a time for healing. The question is not whether we have the right to be bigots, but whether we can afford to be bigots. The price is civilisation itself.

They say the motive of a crime becomes apparent in the aftermath. The recent siege has seized our minds, leaving us with a siege mentality. It has polarised Australians and desecrated the holiest icon in Islam. In the eyes of the bigots it has the confirmed a suicidal foreign policy that has brought nothing but pain and suffering to the world and for the extremists it has provided for more recruitment fodder. That is the aftermath, one can't help but wonder whether that was also the motive.

In a world with infinite shades of grey, is a black and white flag all that we can see?