Terrorism

[Storyteller.]

Terrorism
by Casey (Casey.)

Terrorism. It's a term we hear often, and many of us associate it with a specific event, such as the London train bombings or the collapse of the Twin Towers. Some associate terrorism with a certain group of people or religion, but terrorism isn't really a religious thing. Recently, it made the news world-wide, when a pastor in Florida declared that he was going to burn the Qur’an, because, besides the fact that he found Islam to be evil and full of lies, to him it would have been justice to destroy the 'evil book' on a day when thousands from all over the world died. This naturally caused outrage and incited protests and violence in predominantly Islamic nations all over the world. But was this thread an act of terrorism? After all, no one got hurt, did they? Actually, people did and possibly will get hurt. Because he incited hatred and fear in people, he was trying to create a reaction, a violent reaction to prove that the Islamic community is evil. Burning the Qu'ran could have been viewed as an act of Terrorism, the threat itself was not terrorism, even if it did cause quite the bit of conflict all over the world.

Trying to incite violence, to cause outbreaks, to create a reaction, that is part of what terrorism is. "Terrorism" is not a group of people. Although we do lump people who commit terrorism into a group and call them terrorists, that doesn't make a single nationality, religious or otherwise, a group of terrorists. I once heard someone say, “Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslim.” Actually, 99.6 % of all acts of terrorism in Europe have been by non-Muslim groups, usually separatist groups. 94% of all acts of terrorism in the United States have also been carried out by separatist or extremists groups, not Muslim groups. My point is, a group of people of a certain faith are not terrorists. Anyone could be a terrorist. It has nothing to do with race or religion, and everything to do with personal beliefs.

I'll leave you with a few incidents of terrorism to think about. In the United States (1865), 3000 Freedmen and Republican allies were killed in the streets by members of the Ku Klux Klan as the police stood back and watched. In Vietnam (1965), a floating restaurant on the Saigon River was bombed, killing 23 people. In Canada (1982), a factory was bombed. In India (2006), a series of explosions on commuter trains killed 209 people. In Greece (2010), a bomb damaged the parliament building. Fortunately, no one was injured. In Northern Island (July 10th, 2010), three children were injured in a bomb explosion. Terrorism happens all over the world every day, and it has been happening for centuries. It is not a new occurrence or trend. It is an old way of making a statement, of mindlessly hurting others, or creating tension. Terrorism is the poor man's war, and it always will be.