布伦丹·考克斯（Brendan Cox）是英国工党议员乔·考克斯（Jo Cox）的遗孀。2016年6月22日，在乔的42岁生日这一天，布伦丹在伦敦参加了一场活动，缅怀逝去的妻子。
Brendan Cox, the widower of murdered UK Labour MP Jo Cox (pictured), speaks at an event in London on 22 June 2016, on what would have been Jo’s 42nd birthday. Moments like these can reinforce our divisions or remind us of what we stand to lose when hatred and intimidation are allowed to brutalise our democracy It’s never a good sign when you turn on your phone to find a dozen messages asking if you are OK.
这样的时刻往往会加剧社会的分裂，或者让我们意识到：当仇恨与恐吓肆虐民主制度时，我们将会失去什么。当你打开手机，看到大量询问你是否安好的消息时，这绝不是一个好兆头……出于某些原因，我只有在遭遇不幸事件后才会收到这类消息。
For reasons you will come to understand, I only get those messages when something awful has happened. So yesterday, when I came out of an all-day meeting on antisemitism and picked up the messages from friends, I clicked across to check the news with real dread.
昨天，结束了一场关于反犹太主义的会议后，当我收到朋友们的消息时，内心充满了恐惧。上一次收到类似消息，还是今年早些时候英国前议员安·威德科姆（Ann Widdecombe）遇害的时候。
The last time I’d received a similar barrage of messages was when former UK MP Ann Widdecombe was killed earlier this year. As I read the news about the alleged attack on Australian MP Helen Haines the dread I felt was followed by what I can best describe as a punch to the gut. A wave of shock.
当我读到关于澳大利亚议员海伦·海恩斯（Helen Haines）遇袭的新闻时，那种恐惧感立刻转化为一种强烈的冲击——一种深深的悲痛与绝望，因为又有一位民选代表遭到了如此残忍的伤害。
Deep sorrow. The despair that another elected representative had been so brutally injured. Jo Cox MP, my late wife, was murdered in 2016 in her constituency in Yorkshire, England by a far-right extremist as she went about her constituency work.
我的妻子乔·考克斯于2016年在英格兰约克郡的选区工作时，被一名极右翼极端分子杀害。海伦的故事让我想起了乔的遭遇；这两起事件都发生在远离权力中心的小镇上。海伦和乔一样，都与自己的社区有着深厚的联系……她们的名字也有相似之处（乔的名字本是“海伦”（Helen），但她始终以“乔”作为自己的名字使用）。
Helen’s story reminded me of what happened to Jo. Both incidents took place in a small town far from the corridors of power. Helen, like Jo, clearly has a deep connection with her community. Even their names connected them (Jo’s first name was Helen – though she always used Jo as her main name).
一张乔·考克斯与丈夫布伦丹在伦敦唐宁街10号外的合影，与那些献给乔的花束一同陈列在那里。乔于2016年6月16日被杀害。
A photograph of UK Labour MP Jo Cox and her husband Brendan outside 10 Downing Street in London sits beside floral tributes to Jo, who was murdered on 16 June 2016.
每当发生这样的悲剧时，人们难免会回想起自己失去亲人的那一刻。昨天的第一反应就是衷心祈祷海伦能够活下来……我清楚地记得，当初听到乔遇害的消息时，自己也是这样祈祷的。
When something like this happens it’s impossible not to feel yourself back in the moment of your own loss. My immediate reaction yesterday was to hope to God she survives – I remembered how I prayed the same as I heard the news about Jo’s attack.
我立刻为她及其家人感到担忧，同时也想到了这件事对自己家庭可能造成的影响。
I quickly worried about her family, the impact on them, and immediately recalled the impact on mine.
当然，我们也会担心这件事对整个国家、其民主制度以及支撑这些制度的价值观会产生怎样的影响。
And then of course you worry about the impact on the country, its democracy and the values that underpin it.
实际上，除非你是她的医疗团队的一员，否则大多数澳大利亚人能够为海伦提供的帮助其实非常有限；甚至连安慰她的家人也很难做到（尽管公众的团结确实非常重要）。但我们至少可以参与到应对这一事件的行动中。
Practically – unless you are part of her medical team – there is not much that most Australians can do to help Helen directly. Or even to comfort her family (though public solidarity really does matter). But what you can do is be part of the response.
我不知道针对海伦的袭击究竟是出于什么动机（相关调查仍在进行中），我也不太关心具体的动机是什么。无论动机如何，这种行为都会损害民主制度。而唯一的正确应对方式就是共同努力，加强我们的民主体系。
I don’t know what motivated the alleged attack on Helen, which is still under investigation. And I’m not sure I care. Whatever the motivation, it damages democracy. And there can only be one appropriate response: to work together to strengthen it.
从惨痛的经验中我明白：这样的时刻可能会成为转折点——它们要么加剧我们的分歧、激化我们的愤怒，让我们更加彼此恐惧；要么让我们意识到：如果让仇恨和恐吓主导我们的公共生活、破坏我们的民主制度，我们将会失去什么。
I know from bitter experience that moments like these can become turning points. They can reinforce our divisions, fuel our anger and make us more fearful of one another. Or they can remind us of what we stand to lose when hatred and intimidation are allowed to shape our public life and brutalise our democracy.
乔遇害后，人们展现出了非凡的善意与团结精神。那些从未见过她的人纷纷站出来，纪念她的生命以及她所代表的价值观。他们跨越了政治、宗教和文化的界限，拒绝让仇恨的行为占据上风。那种团结精神在当时非常重要，如今依然如此。
After Jo was killed, I saw extraordinary acts of kindness and solidarity. People who had never met her came together to celebrate her life and the values she represented. They reached across political, religious and cultural divides. They refused to let an act of hatred have the final word.
周三，在旺加拉塔（Wangaratta）的海伦·海恩斯（Helen Haines）的选区办公室外，人们为她献上了悼念之词。海恩斯的病情依然十分危急。照片来源：James Ross/AAP在世界各地的民主国家中，政治辩论的氛围正变得越来越敌对。反对者不仅被视为持有错误观点的人，更被视为必须不惜一切代价击败的敌人。在网络上，人们对对手的蔑视行为被视作“正常现象”，威胁言论也变得司空见惯；人们被煽动去看到他人最阴暗的一面。我们应该对此感到警觉。但仅仅感到警觉是不够的。
That response mattered then, and it still does today. Tributes left for independent federal MP Helen Haines outside her electoral office in Wangaratta on Wednesday. Haines remains in a critical condition. Photograph: James Ross/AAP Across democracies, political debate is becoming more hostile. Opponents are increasingly portrayed not merely as people who are wrong, but as enemies who must be defeated at any cost. Online, contempt is rewarded, threats are normalised and people are encouraged to see the worst in one another. We should be alarmed by that. But alarm alone is not enough.
我们无法挽回乔遭遇的悲剧。我们无法消除澳大利亚所谓袭击事件受害者的痛苦。但我们可以决定，要建设一个什么样的社会来回应这一切。
We cannot undo what happened to Jo. We cannot take away the pain of those affected by the alleged attack in Australia. But we can decide what kind of society we build in response.
我们可以任由暴力让我们更加分裂、更加猜忌、更加恐惧。也可以利用这一时刻，重申我们对民主、体面以及我们共同拥有的价值的承诺。
We can allow violence to make us more divided, more suspicious and more fearful. Or we can use this moment to reaffirm our commitment to democracy, decency and what we have in common.
衡量一个社会的标准，不在于它经历了何种冲击，而在于它如何回应。澳大利亚人无法撤销已成的事实，但你们依然可以塑造它的意义。
The measure of a society is not what shocks it experiences, but how it responds. Australians cannot undo what is done, but you can still shape what it means.
布伦丹·考克斯是“团结联盟”的联合创始人，该联盟担任“社区与凝聚力独立委员会”的秘书处。他还是“乔·考克斯基金会”、“反恐幸存者组织”以及“共同点更多”的联合创始人。
Brendan Cox is the co-founder of the Together Coalition, which acts as the secretariat for the Independent Commission on Community and Cohesion. He’s also co-founder of the Jo Cox Foundation, Survivors Against Terror and More in Common