T

he bombers of the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta last week made the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of their faith.

Talking about faith will always bring us to two different perspectives. We could say what the bombers did was wrong, evil, brutal, ferocious and against humanity. We could condemn the attacks as well as curse the bombers. But, should the bombers still be alive and we could ask them why they did it, they would firmly say that they did it as an exalted act.

They dedicated their whole life to religion, or even to God Almighty. They let themselves be killed as martyrs because it was a stairway to heaven. Why? Because they believed their faith demanded it as a holy duty. Who could have told them they followed a deviated path and why they should have turned to the right path, such as ours? Who could have convinced them that what they believed was wrong, and conversely that our beliefs were right?

We could have opened any religious book and shared our principles with them, then convinced them that terror was against all religions' principles, but, believe me, they also had their own principles to which they were wholeheartedly devoted. We could have asked them for repentance but they would have defended their faith at any cost because faith is the highest entity of any religion and people are willing to die for it.

We may have enough faith to move mountains, but if we do not have love, we are nothing. We could give away all of our possessions, even hand over our body to be burned, but without love, we actually gain nothing. This advice came from a man who was initially vicious but then repented due to the touch of love.

We can practice our faith without love, but love may never be practiced at the same time as hatred. We can practice our faith with selfishness, but love rejects selfishness since love always gives sincerely. We often practice our faith while judging others, but Mother Teresa said: "If you judge people, you have no time to love them."

The bombers breached the two hotels' tight security perfectly. They accomplished their holy duty according to their faith, for which they deserved martyrdom status, but was their devoted militancy inspired by love? They never knew the bomb they detonated would create such deep misery for all the victims. They never knew a baby boy was born fatherless because his father, Evert Mocodompis, the banquet chef of the JW Marriott hotel, had been killed by the bomb that day.

So whatever we do, whatever our faith requires us to do, should it contradict the principle of love? How could we claim to be practicing the faith while doing violence at the same time? "Non-violence is the article of faith," said Mohandas Gandhi. It means if faith walks together with violence, it is doubted as true faith because true faith and love spring from one source, i.e. God who is also love.

Faith, again, can always be seen from two different perspectives, but love can only be seen from a single perspective because love is universal. We, regardless of our religion, will agree that love heals and does not injure, love forgives and does not punish, love revives and does not kill, love creates peace and does not detonate bombs.

Now the bombers have already gone, gone where we will never know, but the mastermind may be watching TV today and smiling with pride because they succeeded in breaching security and killing those who they judged infidels. Although they continue to spread fear among people, we do not need to bow down to terror and be paranoid. Life should go on as usual because our paranoia will grant them victory.

The bombers gained praise as martyrs from their supporters, the victims gained love as ordinary people from their families, relatives and sympathizers. If I could, I would choose to have love rather than praise, although I am only an ordinary man today, and will die someday still an ordinary man. Why? Because love lasts forever, while praise only until death.