I Am No Longer Afraid

In Berlin, twelve people were brutally murdered yesterday. They wanted to quickly enjoy a mulled wine at the Christmas market with friends. Maybe buy a gift. Or even dare to flirt with the new colleague?

Then the man in the truck came and killed them. These twelve people will not return to their families today. They will soon be cremated or buried. Somewhere in Berlin, other people are now sitting and crying for them. Dozens of seriously injured people are in the hospital. Can we call what they had „luck“? Their lives will never be the same again, even if they fully recover – which we wish for them so much!

The „crime“ of these people was wanting to enjoy Monday evening. To be in the moment. To be human. That was all. Then the murderer came.

There are different ways to cope with the incomprehensible. Some become speechless, others mourn loudly. Some are angry at „those up there.“ Religious people struggle with God. Political people struggle with the government. All legitimate, all human.

And then there is a very special kind of reaction. Some are so consumed by ideology that they are not disturbed by the dead, but by the „political benefit“ for the opponent.

I want to say it very clearly: When people are torn from life, but someone’s greatest concern is that this brutality could „benefit“ a party, then that person brings everything needed to be called a psychopath. They place ideology, party politics, and language rules above human lives and humanity.

Let us finally shake off the yoke of language and thought controllers today. Their time is up; they have prevented us from asking important questions and seeking honest answers. The fact that we have neglected this for too long will cost us dearly for a long time.

I have questions. For example: What does it practically mean that hundreds of thousands of people from the most dangerous regions of the planet came to Germany without security checks? We control the import of dog food for harmful substances, but we forgo identification for travelers from areas where terror resides. Allegedly, because it „discriminates“ and raises suspicion. Yet these linguistic formulas suppress a simple truth: that control is occasionally helpful. Why are there actually no terrorist attacks in the Czech Republic or Poland? What does it mean for me when my counterpart considers me an „infidel“? Whose idea was all this?

Dear thought police and language controllers, I am no longer afraid of you. If I ever was, today it is gone. You can insult me. I know, I know: Whoever adds 2 and 2 together and arrives at 4 is a „populist,“ a „hater,“ or, for all I care, an „alien“ – who cares what you say? Your words mean nothing anymore. All your predictions were wrong. You do not know what you are talking about.

You want to maintain your ideology. I want to live my life in peace, see my children grow up, and do so in harmony with all other people on this planet. Yes, I want security and order. My life is more important to me than your worldview. If I ever had fear of your language controls and thought prohibitions, that is over. I am no longer afraid.