14/08/2019
Three Manchester men have been hailed as heroes for wrestling a knife-wielding man to the ground after he stabbed one woman to death and wounded another in Sydney.
Lee Cuthbert, Paul O'Shaughnessy and Luke O'Shaughnessy heard a noisy disturbance in central Sydney and immediately went to help.
The three heroes were commended by New South Wales Police Minister David Elliot for their quick actions, who said they acted "well and truly beyond the call of any citizen". He also praised the firefighters involved.
The knife wielding attacker was heard to have shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is Great), but the local authorities have appeared reluctant to call it a terrorist incident. The attacker apparently had a USB drive on his person with details of white supremacist terror attacks in New Zealand and America, and it might be a bit premature to discount terror as a motive.
However, even if the attacker purported to have committed the attack in the cause of Islam, we should not leap to blame Islam. Another individual claiming to commit atrocities in the name of their religion should be treated with the contempt it deserves; as with all religious extremism.
When it comes to the terror attacks committed by white supremacists however, it is quite obvious that they really are driven by the twisted ideology of their perverse beliefs.
With white supremacists, there is no need to distort the message as it is already built on hatred and ignorance.
I may be an atheist, but I don't like faiths being unfairly blamed for extremism. Extremists frequently try to use religion as an excuse for their crimes and are sometimes radicalised by extremists who have already used religion (for or against), racism, homophobia or other forms of xenophobia to fuel their hatred.
Extremists are not focused on adhering to the rule of law or the true ideology of a religion. Instead, they look to twist such things to suit their hate filled alternative view on life.
Extremism must be fought and confronted at every opportunity.
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