I am afraid of terrorism

Last updated on: June 14, 2017 at 9:20 am by Dave Griffey

I am afraid of terrorism 2017-06-13T07:49:17-04:00 Dave Griffey

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Of course I am. Terrorism isn’t just crime. Crime is bad of course, but crime has always been around. Pass all the laws you want, and people will still rob and rape and murder.

But terrorism is something else. They say terrorists want us to be afraid. Possibly. That’s a natural reaction as I see it. There is good fear. Fear isn’t always bad. It keeps us from doing things like playing in traffic and letting our babies wander around on the edge of the Grand Canyon. Perhaps terrorists want us to descend into hysterics. That’s never good.

I have a feeling, if you get right down to it, that what terrorists want is exactly what we’ve been doing. Crawling into holes, denying the obvious, falling on one another, splitting our society, sowing divisions, lying to ourselves – all the things that come with societies in trouble. I’d say that since 9/11, we’ve pretty much reacted in all the ways that the terrorists could have hoped.

Sure, on a spiritual side, we’re told to fear not. And that’s fine. For myself, in my best days, I can look at this life compared to the eternal and take heart. But I also have to think of others – my loved ones, my boys, my friends and neighbors. For them I fear. I’ve noticed an uptick in Christians who talk of martyrdom with all the seriousness that I talk of taking Kamchatka in a game of RISK. If I’m prepared to die for the faith, hurray for me. But it’s not for me to stand by and let others be the martyrs so I can display my righteousness.

When it comes to terrorism, I fear because I know it’s not just about the numbers. It’s about a assault on the very fabric of the society I’m bequeathing to my children and grandchildren. I can run the numbers all I want. I can take comfort in the fact that more people die in antelope attacks every year than terrorist attacks. But in the end, I know deep down it’s more. And I fear, when I turn to math equations or gun violence or cancer deaths or whatever to justify downplaying terrorism, that is exactly what the terrorists want me to do.

Islam and the West

Post Modern Values

Social Observations

Previous Post

June 13, 2017

Well done Friendly Atheist

Next Post

June 14, 2017 Prayers instead of politicizing human tragedy

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abortion Atheism Awesome things Bigotry for the hip American Blogging Books Catholic Catholic Teaching Catholics on the Internet Christian Persecution Christian Unity Christianity and America Christianity in the Post-Modern World Christianity in the world Culture of Death Culture of Life Current Events Decline and Fall of the Christian West Defending Liberty Fun Stuff Global Warming Good Causes Good News Gun Control Health Care History Holidays Homeschool Humor Important things Inspiring Stories Interesting Insights Interesting Stories Islam and the West Liberal "Tolerance" Liberal observations Life in a post-Christian world Memorial Movies Musings News Other Blogs Our Big Politically Correct Bother Politics Popular Culture Post Modern Values Prayers Pro Life Promoting LGBT Protecting Liberty Racism in the world today Scientism Social Observations Sports Strange Stories The Boys The Catholic Church and the Left The Decline and Fall of the American Dream The end of liberty The Faith and the Left The Faith and the Right The Family The Greatness of God The Internet The Leftist Juggernaut The LGBT Question The Media The Pope The post-liberal Left The Power of Propaganda Tributes Twilight of the American Experiment Uncategorized Uneducating Postmoderns When the Church is wrong Why learn from history when we can repeat it instead Wisdom in the Post Modern Age World Events

Select a Month August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who said "as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Paul Abraham Peter Joshua