Terrorism

I still remember where I was that morning of September eleventh 2001. I was in class. I didn't really know what to make of it, and I certainly didn't know that what had happened would have an unimaginably huge impact on the geopolitical landscape from that day through today. There have been quite a few acts of terrorism that I've heard about throughout my life. I've never experienced one personally but due to the way information is spread so rapidly in our world today, I've had the experience of knowing about them either right after the matter, and in some cases, as they'd occurred. I react to each one a bit differently, depending on the circumstances, just as everyone does. Some of the emotions I feel would include anger, sadness, fear, concern, just to name a few. I thank my lucky stars every day that I have never experienced first hand an act of terrorism, and that no one I've known has either but I also try to remind myself that it's important to have a healthy understanding of and take an empathetic approach when discussing the matter due to the enormous community of people who have had such misfortune. Above all, I think terrorism is cowardly. It is an act by someone or a group that has a complete disregard of the safety of others, and believes they have no better way of getting what they want besides inducing fear in others. I've tried to put myself in the shoes of a terrorist, tried to understand where they are coming from and why they believe they were justified in doing what they have done but no matter what they're cause, I don't see their actions as something any rational and morally built person could ever do. And that's just it. With terrorists, just as in any other people with sociopathic tendencies, there's something wrong with them. There's a certain moral fiber that just isn't there. There's something wrong with them that isn't wrong with the vast majority of society. Just as with any sociopath, most don't believe they have done anything wrong, and even many probably believe their acts were justified, but that's because they are warped people. Their perspective is warped, their morals are warped, and their ability to commit such atrocities reflects the fact that there is something either missing, or present with them that isn't missing or present in the rest of our civilized society. Terrorism is never justified, plain and simple. No matter what the cause, throwing people into harms way, creating destruction, and using fear to advance your agenda, will always put you on the wrong side of morality. There have been a handful of acts of terrorism that I have heard, or read about, that were committed in the name of some causes that I do agree with, but the ends don't justify the means in my opinion. Even if you are doing something for a noble cause, harming others, creating destruction, and using scare tactics will hurt the cause more than help it. There are enough things in this world to fear and I would love to live to see the day when such acts are a thing of the past but unfortunately, I doubt I will see that day. Society is made up of many conflicting interests. There are some causes that will achieve fruition, and others that never will and that gridlock, the conundrum of thinking you will never get your way without extreme measures, is at the crux of most acts of terrorism. Some terrorists, as well, are simply in it to cause chaos out of an innate character flaw that prompts them to do what they do in an anarchic tendency, which is even worse in my opinion. Doing something terrible to help a cause is bad enough, but putting lives in danger just for the sake of causing chaos is fundamentally worse. Terrorism, unfortunately, is a defining element of this time in history. However, just saying that and proceeding to do nothing to curb it is unacceptable. One thing that always gives me hope, is reading about thwarted acts of terrorism. Thinking about something that could have been a disaster, but was avoided by people or law enforcement doing all that they could to stop it before it started is a miracle in and of itself, and we need to count blessings such as those instances. Fear is something that will always be present, but that doesn't mean it has to dominate our lives. In fact, that's the very thing that will stop terrorism. If we don't give terrorists the benefit of fearing them, then the wind is taken out of their sails, and civilized society will win in the end. I believe that the good in humanity will always beat out the malice, even if the demons of our lesser natures do win from time to time.