I mourn for the dead. I sympathize with their families and friends and express my deepest condolences to them. And... I contemplate on the nature of people who are able to end the lives of innocent people. I can't understand what can create so much hate in someone to do this. Is it fear? Is it misunderstanding?

Over 150 people are no longer among us. It is the night now, but how will people react in the morning? The last few months have been difficult for the whole European civilization. Islam in Europe has been a hot topic for several years, white it has been further intensified in recent months by the incoming mass of refugees. The public debate is intense. How does what just happened in France contribute to it?

“I said so. Look at! These are your “peaceful” Muslims! That's what you want in Europe?” Comments like this will be here this morning. And I'm thinking how to answer them. In recent months, I have been quite opened that I want to help people in need who are fleeing their country in a situation that many of us (including me) cannot even imagine. Therefore, I also know that nothing I said had any effect on people with the opposite opinion. Now I want to think from another perspective on the issue of terrorism, and what actually causes our society.

The aim of terrorism is to spread fear. By causing suffering. By killing innocents. Using threats. And it is quite effective in that. One does not need to be a neuroscientist to understand the power of fear. I remember that I first began to perceive terrorism after 9/11. It was then that I really became aware of it, but also the world became aware of what it really means.

Security checks of an unprecedented scale. Closure of previously publicly available public authorities and institutions to the public. Or at least a significant restriction on access. Repeated restrictions on Internet privacy. Terrorist attacks have hit our society more than we may be able to realize.

We might see that the core of the problem are not attacks themselves. It's about our reactions to them. Under the weight of fear, we were willing to give up many of the freedoms we took for granted. We gave up on many rights that we had. What we mean by rule of law and democracy changed. We have begun to attack even the most basic rights of individuals such as the right to life, the prohibition of torture, the right to a fair trial.

We began to exchange all this for a feeling of safety. Yes, I really think it's just a feeling.

I consider the fight against terrorism a very important task. The safety and lives of people are the most valuable we have. And this is also the importance of their protection. But before we begin to further restrict the rights of all of us in the name of protecting our security and our lives, let us remember two things.

One commonly used arguments against accepting refugees is that our ancestors fought for our country and defended it. They shed their blood. Many people do not like this argument. I do not count among them. I appreciate everything that the previous generations have built. What they managed to achieve. But what is usually no longer heard in discussions - democracy, human rights - is also what our ancestors fought for. What they were willing to die for. Not only in the Czech Republic, but throughout the world, people sacrificed themselves for something larger than they were. For their state, for the community around them, for their friends and family, but even for some intangible idea - which could be equality, freedom, self-determination.

So when we think about protecting what our ancestors have entrusted to us, let us not just look at the land on which we are currently standing. Not just the buildings we use. Let's not forget that part of our heritage are also our values. That is what our society, our whole civilization, is standing on. Our values ​​are respect for others' lives, altruism, compassion and understanding. Who knows me knows very well that I am not a religious person. But I will not deny that Christianity have affected me and our whole culture.

Fear has always pushed us and is pushing us even now to forget our values ​​for a moment. To look away for a while before the situation solves itself. Or before someone solves it for us. But I am afraid of the view we would have when we would open our eyes again. History has shown us how simply we can be deprived of our freedoms. How quickly and easily we are convinced that we do not really need any freedoms. That we do better without them. And even if someone does not like the situation, at some point, there is nothing he can do about it by himself.

The worst are the creeping changes that we don't even notice until we see them as a whole when looking back. The world has changed beyond recognition in more than a decade that passed since 9/11. It is not the subject of this article to discuss whether what we gave up has been excessive, or whether it was reasonable and necessary.

Its subject is - where do we want to go now? There are voices from society to find the "Muslim solution". We are witnesses of violence against them. Not because of their actions as individuals. But because of the actions of people who are they reminding us of too much. Generally, we do not mind hurting people who are poorer, weaker, in need, who are different from us. Whatever the emotions behind it - fear, disgust, hatred - we do not realize that with every attack on any of these groups, with every violation of their right, we are not only harming these people. We are hurting ourselves. We are hurting our society.

We have the illusion that there are only a few problematic groups in the society. And by dealing with these groups, these problems will disappear. But is it really so? People are different. There will always be groups of people that we will be perceived as different from us - be they rich, poor, old, young, conservatives, liberals, aggressive, passive. We always find someone who is not like the majority at the moment. But our ancestors were dying and fighting just to ensure that people were protected regardless of whether they were currently part of the majority or whether they were (by their fault or without) on the fringes of society.

These values ​​are part of our society. They are given to us by our Christian history, the experience of the hard times we had to go through.

Every restriction of freedoms brings its price. Maybe not now, but we will have to pay it one day. When I write these lines, I remembered a quote: "With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."

Islam does not equal terrorism. Terrorism has no religion. The desire to hurt other people is not human nature. In these hours pain of loss and anger, but let's make sure that our wrath does not fall on people who are not responsible. Perhaps we are all the same for terrorists - and that they perceive us as a united mass of infidels and oppressors. But the situation is not that simple. For us, their view is absurd - but only because we have a deeper insight and know how our society looks like.

It's about knowledge. About understanding. Before we ignite our hatred and let it fall on those who are responsible, let us try to understand a culture that is different from ours. But at the same time not as much as different. It is not monolithic, but consists of individuals with different opinions. Different backgrounds. Every member of this culture is different - just as each member of ours is.

Today, 150 people died. I mourn them. I sympathize with their families and friends. I don't know what the coming days will bring. But one thing I know for sure. Our values ​​are what is important now. To punish those responsible, but not to harm the innocent. Defend ourselves, but do not sell ourselves out.

I think again about the nature of people who are able to harm innocent people. Fear, disgust, hatred. This is exactly how suffering begins.