Terrorism is a very touchy subject. Not only have we been directly affected by it, but there has also been a recent attempt in New York in none other than Time Square. The attempted bombing has got me thinking. I’m starting to wonder about the reasons behind the increased attempts. Is it a religious thing? Is it a personal vendetta or is it something more?
While I don’t personally know any professing Muslims, I do believe, however, that a majority of them are kind people who are just trying to live their lives. I believe that it is the minority of the over one billion Muslims who are making it difficult for everyone else.
My concern is the terrorist groups, both Islamic and others. While they are few and far between, the ripples of their actions have been felt all over the world. What many people don’t realize, however, is that there are many different types of terrorism and groups.
While the Islamic terrorist groups have been gaining public attention, there are still many others working in the shadows, including cyber-terrorism. The Pentagon reports that it is being “attacked” over 1,000 times a day through cyber-terrorism. According to the BBC World news, on June 22, 2007, a hacker managed to penetrate one of the Pentagon’s e-mail systems, forcing officials to take some 1,500 accounts offline. The perpetrators could range anywhere from some 15-year-old kid in his parents’ basement to a trained specialist.
When you think about it, this is kind of frightening. With the world always changing, terrorism will be an ever growing threat, whether through violence, cyber-space, or just in our heads. Unfortunately, I don’t think that terrorism will ever fully disappear. Maybe it is just human nature to disagree with violence. Maybe we are just stubborn.
Whatever it is, the only thing we can really do is to treat each other with respect and be kind to one another. While that alone will not stop terrorism or violence on a global scale, it will improve our lives. And isn’t that a goal worth obtaining?