Terrorism
One of my favorite classes is my Honors course, Unexpected Connections: Social Sciences and Art. During the first class of the semester, one student said the "n" word. Several times. Not maliciously, although I still wished he hadn't said it. But at the same time I knew that I loved this class.
Two weeks after the mass shooting in Vegas on October 1, 2017, we were discussing nationalism, as per the subject of the course, and one of my fellow students, as casually as if he were discussing the weather, voiced: "We know that the Vegas shooter wasn't a terrorist, but I wonder if ISIS will still claim the attack."
So I thought it would be nice to review terrorism.
Merriam Webster defines it this way for children: "the use of violence as a means of achieving a goal."
This seems widely applicable. To use a definition of my own creation that my English teacher would definitely not approve of, terrorism is to terrify.
Now, since when did Al Qaeda or ISIS develop their monopoly on the word. Why did these groups and this word become synonymous?
To me, the Vegas shooter-whose name I never want to know, who's face I never want to recognize-is a terrorist. You may wonder how I reach this conclusion. Sure this man meets the "use of violence" clause, but what was his goal then? If I told you we as a nation achieved it for him, would you scoff? He was after the infamy. Before this attack, he was a nobody loser but now, anyone could point his picture out. Everyone was dying to know where in the world his wife was. His family was interviewed. This man committed this heinous act of violence as a means to become infamous.
Consequently, Bullies are terrorists.Any murderer is a terrorist. Their purposes vary, but their means are the same. Terrorists do not only exist in extreme Islamic groups. Terrorists exist in the United States, Guatemala, Japan, Syria, England, France, and everywhere. Until we stop negotiating with terrorists and trading lives lost in mass murders for their infamy, they will sprout from anywhere and everywhere.
It's about time we started calling evil by its name.
Two weeks after the mass shooting in Vegas on October 1, 2017, we were discussing nationalism, as per the subject of the course, and one of my fellow students, as casually as if he were discussing the weather, voiced: "We know that the Vegas shooter wasn't a terrorist, but I wonder if ISIS will still claim the attack."
So I thought it would be nice to review terrorism.
Merriam Webster defines it this way for children: "the use of violence as a means of achieving a goal."
Now, since when did Al Qaeda or ISIS develop their monopoly on the word. Why did these groups and this word become synonymous?
To me, the Vegas shooter-whose name I never want to know, who's face I never want to recognize-is a terrorist. You may wonder how I reach this conclusion. Sure this man meets the "use of violence" clause, but what was his goal then? If I told you we as a nation achieved it for him, would you scoff? He was after the infamy. Before this attack, he was a nobody loser but now, anyone could point his picture out. Everyone was dying to know where in the world his wife was. His family was interviewed. This man committed this heinous act of violence as a means to become infamous.
Consequently, Bullies are terrorists.Any murderer is a terrorist. Their purposes vary, but their means are the same. Terrorists do not only exist in extreme Islamic groups. Terrorists exist in the United States, Guatemala, Japan, Syria, England, France, and everywhere. Until we stop negotiating with terrorists and trading lives lost in mass murders for their infamy, they will sprout from anywhere and everywhere.
It's about time we started calling evil by its name.
Interesting thought on terrorism! The U.S. law has a different definition of terrorism, but truly it's any act made to make people fear. It's hard to not give them attention. I liked President Nelson's description of them as "cowardly" (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/joy-and-spiritual-survival?lang=eng). He reminded us that we can have joy despite the acts of terror of others and their demands for attention.
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