Enough righteous anger, please

Christmas convoy.Credit: Vintage Cathy Wilcox

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LETTERS

Need reason, perspective
Reading The Age letters column, it is hard not to be struck by the difference in tone between the political commentariat and the majority of your correspondents.
The commentariat is full of righteous anger, shouting and finger pointing, such as reports of the leader of the opposition attacking the foreign minister – to what purpose one wonders.
In contrast, many correspondents have pointed out the problem with such righteous anger. It prevents us from hearing any voice but our own.
It is time to abandon visceral responses and listen to the voice of reason, as forensically presented by John Coyne (″⁣Quick fixes won’t make us safer″⁣, 22/12).
Until then, we will not be able to put the Bondi massacre in its true perspective, and see both the 15 innocent victims killed in Bondi and the thousands of innocents killed in Gaza.
Mike Sanderson, Drouin

Ley demeans office
At this time of immense tragedy, shock and grief we expect our leaders and opposition to stand together as one in solidarity and unity. To help us as a nation to feel connected and as one in our devastation and sorrow. Instead, we have a barrage of attack and blame from many in the conservative side of politics and some in the media fuelling anger, which threatens our increasingly fragile social cohesion.
Much of it is unfair, unwarranted and is becoming deeply personal with this latest attack by Sussan Ley on Penny Wong. It is unedifying and embarrassing to see Ley demean her position as the leader of the opposition.
Playing into hands of those who wish to further divide us at this time is reprehensible. Our community needs, expects and deserves much better.
Anne Moorhouse, Inverloch

Too much too soon
The contribution by John Coyne (22/12) sounded a usefully cautious note about responses to the horrific events at Bondi. The understandable desire for action following such an event and the perceived political imperative to respond quickly with new laws or security measures entails significant risks.
These include ineffective approaches and unintended consequences such as restrictions that impinge on the civil liberties of the wider population or amplifying existing divisions within our community.
A more thorough consideration of the circumstances leading up to this tragedy and of the evidence regarding effective responses will take more time but may ultimately deliver better outcomes for all.
Brendan O’Hanlon, West Brunswick

Attacking victims
Letter writers continue to link the Bondi massacre to events in Gaza (23/12). The linkage of Australian Jews to the Israeli government’s reaction to the horrific Hamas attacks is unfair and smacks of collective blame. It suggests somehow some Australian citizens brought Bondi on themselves and are responsible for their own massacre. They didn’t, and they aren’t.
Mourn the deaths in Gaza (and in the Hamas attack that started them), be angry with Israeli government policy, but don’t link that to Jewish Australian citizens.
Louise Kloot, Doncaster

History repeats
In 1968, at age 20, I was conscripted into the Army to fight in the war in Vietnam. During that time, the anti-war movement rose to prominence. Young men returned from that war, to find a large section of society had turned against not only the government that sent them there, but against us soldiers as well.
We were spurned, spat on, had red paint thrown our way. As one of these soldiers, I asked my wife and close friends never to mention that I had once served in the Vietnam war.
Now, Jews are spurned, spat on, have red paint thrown over their homes and synagogues, and have been slaughtered by radical Islamic extremists. My Jewish friends are asking their loved ones not to talk openly of their religious beliefs.
Such a sad case of history repeating itself.
David Hay, Greensborough