„Odium numquam bonum est” Spinoza 

 

     Some time ago, while visiting my hometown in Poland, I went to a Jewish cemetery. There lies a mass grave of 200 Jews murdered by Germans during World War II. Suddenly, the sunlight filtering through the treetops began to draw what looked like human faces on one of the tombstones. I fell into deep thought.

     We all know Dostoevsky's famous claim that if God does not exist, everything is permitted. The modern inversion, popularized by Lacan and Žižek, holds that if God does not exist, then everything is forbidden. Looking at those fleeting faces reflected on the graves, a different thought struck me: if God truly does not exist, is there any greater cruelty than depriving another human being of their life—which is, in fact, their everything?

     The geopolitical storms defining our current times give this question a tragic, universal relevance. It serves as a stark reminder that no nation is chosen, and no one holds a license to kill.