Terrorism affected your SA?

[SilverLiner]

Has the London bombings affected anyone at all with their SA? It was horrifying watching the news all day last Thursday. I was utterly horrified by what was going on, watching the wreck of the bus, people coming out of the tube station burned and scarred, people on tv telling stories of seeing dead bodies. In some small way it's made me appreciate life and although my SA holds me back - I'm alive. I was fortunate enough to not be involved with it and it's just made everything seem much more trivial. I can't go outside? Some people may never see the outside world again from being scarred and burned. It's that that's helped me push myself in thinking that I'm lucky to be alive...and that I'm here for a reason.

I'm alive so why not make the most of it?

I'm not expecting this post to be life changing for anyone, lol, but I just wondered if anyone felt different since last Thursday?

 

[blubs]

no- the terrorist attacks didn't affect me like that. Too shocking I think.

But I know what you mean...I put my problems in perspective when I use clean, running water, because so many people don't have that.

I think its good to appreciate things we have, and not take them for granted.
If you believe what is said about climate change....better make the most of things now....I'm going to make the most of my house before the whole country floods and I have to live on the roof 8O

 

[Remus]

We have had IRA bombs causing deaths in Manchester whilst I lived here, in the 70's and the early 90's

I lived in Warrington when there were two IRA bombs going off there ,one killing two children (how brave of the IRA)

Cant say it affects my SA atall, I'm more scared of social contact rather than bombs going off, your more likely to get struck by lightening than get killed by terrorists

 

[despise]

your more likely to get struck by lightening than get killed by terrorists

i cant say i believe that. with the ratio or the 9/11 attack and the other massive blasts.

the blasts didnt really affect me in that way either. but when i caught a train into the city the other day i was very nervous and kept imagining the people acting suspiciously. i visualised explosions, and people screaming and running and some even dying. sometimes i hate my mind.

 

[Hastur]

It hasn't affected me much, being sort of used and resigned to things exploding in the vicinity.

 

[KeepTheFaith01]

I'm very glad that i came across this post, because i was sitting here thinking about all this, and getting pretty upset about it. Terrorism effects my faith in people alot, whenever i watch the news and see that there's been a terrorist attack, or a bombing etc. And to make matters worse, hear of groups around the country, or certain individuals actually praising the attacks. I remember on the last eve of september 11th there was this islamic group on the TV giving a press conference on how they were celebrating the 'magnificent 11' or something like that (the magnificent 11 being the 11 hijackers of the planes). And hearing them say stuff like 'to us this was not just an act of terrorism, it was a good and sacred deed in the name of islam'. Yeah, a good deed is when you slaughter thousands of totally innocent people who have nothing to do with you, and have never done anything to you before. It made me wish i could just stick my fist through the screen and strangle the bastard to death.
Anyway, i'm glad i saw this post. it's made me feel less alone about this.
Thanks

KeepTheFaith

 

[KeepTheFaith01]

i'm sorry. i'm sure you're right (and i very much hope that you are as well). it's just at certain stages when it's been a particularly bad day, i start thinking things such as 'the number of sick people by far out number the good' etc. maybe ill be feeling more positive tommorow (even though i'm going up into London)

 

[ScaredGirl]

I make no bones about not liking extremist behavior of any sort, and I make no bones about the fact that I think the muslim community should take control over the renegades that *they* created and sustain *because* they created and now sustain it.....and.... if the muslim community chooses not to..... then stop whinning and saying 'racists' or 'infidel' when it gets done for them.

Basically, if a person (or community) builds a Frankenstein, sets it loose on the world, then it is their responsibility to capture and/or deal with the beast. If they chooses not to...then...they should not cry when someone else slays it for being the danger that it is.

SG

 

[ScaredGirl]

Your joke is not funny.

Bush and Blair responded, and are responding to 911, threats made by Saddam coupled with a blanket refusal to allow weapons inspectors into Iraq to the *UN*, numerous terrorists attacks around the world, one of which was the London bombings and....perhaps more importantly... a never ending stream of hate literature/propoganda encouraging any and all muslims around the world to attack against the western/white/christian world because they are non-believers and.... to seek revenge for the crusades which happened in 1095AD - that's a mighty long time - just about a thousand years ago in fact.

What's most interesting is that the hate literature/words regarding the western world completely ignores the fact that many western cities and countries are now home to millions of non-white, non-christian people. ie: Toronto's population is almost 50% non-white, and non-christian. It is expected to reach that point in 2012 - seven years from now. It is my understanding that London is not much different.

So....my friend....for world peace to happen....the muslim world must begin tempering it's tongue and taking control of its extremists. You do not see such open hate coming from our end..... you only see a response to words and actions that have destroyed our buildings, killed our people both muslim and non-muslim....and that response continues because the open hatred has not stopped.


SG

 

[black_mamba]

I make no bones about the fact that I think the muslim community should take control over the renegades that *they* created

I doubt that most muslims support the recent London attacks, so how is it even possible to hold such a large group like that responsible? I mean the mechanics of this whole terrorism issue is so complex I can't even begin to form a solid opinion on it. :?

Anyway...

I didn't feel that the recent attacks made me more anxious at all, but I get a bit more dirty looks in the street. :lol:

 

[ScaredGirl]

I totally agree Black mamba, unfortunately those few who perform such acts say they speak for all. Now I don't know about you, but when someone uses my name without permission, I let them know I do not appreciate it - I think the muslim community should be do the same with the muslim extremists. They should make it loud and clear they do not speak for all and that what they are doing is wrong.

As for my sp, the attacks did not affect it.

SG

 

[Faded]

i think it did abit effect me
thu i consider myself a supportive forethought 4 all innocent community around!
To go back in time, i was treated badly at my old school in CAL the time 9/11 happened , the teachers were never nice to me, i was looked at in streets cuz my mum wears a scarf (As a muslim), my dad was told not to leave the country thu he cudnt go back to his Uni to end his studies .. we we're stuck in between .. later So i had to go back 2 my country .. n' life continues .. i dun remeber much cuz i was a kid!
Mentioning my SP, it was on the worse end tht time!

 

[Fredscars]

There was a muslim leader on the radio the other day who i think said a very wise thing:
"these extremists who maim and kill are not muslim, those who go out of their way to cause fear and panic do not follow the religion of Islam. Allah does not hold them under his banner because Islam is about peace and love. We as a community and as a religion do not support the actions of these misguided people. They are no longer muslim when they decide their course of action."
i think that is a very..important thing for people to understand.

 

[ScaredGirl]

Dear Fredscarecrow,

That's beautiful. Haven't heard anything like that here, hopefully it will come.

Dear Faded,

I'm so sorry you and your family were descriminated against. Fear makes people do stupid things.


Dear Worrydoll,

If you insist on talking politics....

You seem to forget what brought on the attack. I remember Saddam threatening the entire world for years (particularly our children), and in the end when he was warned *repeatedly* that this was coming... by the UN, US, Britian, and many other countries. So fully informed of the consequences, he continued to threaten to commence killing on a massive scale.

So I ask you, if someone says, 'I'm going to kill you' over and over again do they really have a right to be surprised, or complain when then get hit by a pre-emptive strike?

Now as for the casulties , the numbers of people that Saddam killed during his rein is far greater then those figure you gave.

SG

 

[Yossarian]

The Muslim community did not create what is happening. They are not responsible. They have an ability to help but they did not create this, in the same way Christianity did not create the large amounts of Catholic priests who sexually abused children.

If you want to find a soloution to this you might want to stop persecuting innocent people, thus creating division and resentment, thus possibly leading to isolation, distrust and dislike, thus leading to anger, frustration and finally hatred.

The people that carry out these acts are not evil as easier as it might be to believe this. Very few people have ever carried out attrocities for the sake of being evil. They are as heart breaking as it is, good people, with good hearts who believe what they do is for the best. Of course I don't believe what they do is for the best but it is what they believe that is important.

 

[ScaredGirl]

Wow Yossarian, the terrorists are good people with good hearts who do what they believe is best???? I don't think so. Words like the ones you wrote absolve terrorists of responsibility for their actions and that is an example of why this evil continues.

Last night I saw a news cast that had a muslim clerk denouncing the terrorists and their actions as people who are not following Islam and that no true muslim would do such a thing. Beautiful. Basically he is not allowing others to speak for him. Wise words like the ones I heard last night will help protect young muslim men and women from the evil that has been using twisting muslim faith to do its bidding.

This clerik was clearly a good man willing to protect his faith from those from within who would use Islam to fulfil their own adjenda. Beautiful.



SG

 

[Yossarian]

Wow Yossarian, the terrorists are good people with good hearts who do what they believe is best????

Why do you think they do it? Do you believe they kill themselves for the sake of being evil? Do you think they wake up one day and say "Hey I'm evil, I'm going to do evil things." Good and evil is a very simplistic way of viewing the world. Good guys don't always wear white and the bad guys don't always wear black.

I have no intention to absolve anyone from what they did. Just because they believed what they were doing was right doesn't mean it was. I'm not trying to defend their actions, I just believe if you want to stop these events from happening you have to understand why they do it so you can hopefully counter their beliefs. Terrorists don't come from Terrorland which you can just bomb away despite what George Bush thinks. It's unfortunately more complicated than that.

Everyone who knew those who carried out the London bombings were shocked because they all thought they were really good and kind people. They couldn't understand why they did it, let alone suspect them of doing it before hand. This is because we still have naive stereotypes of good and evil. No way in the parents of these peoples minds could they ever conceive that they would do such a thing. Perhaps if they understood that bad people don't smell and have evil cackles they could of picked up on their childrens beliefs and done something about it. Or perhaps they couldn't but there would be more chance I think.

I repeat I am not for what they did. I am not arguing with you that it is bad. I just disagree on how we try to help the situation. I also disagree that the Muslim community created this. Individuals did. Muslims were the first to suffer mass slaughter at the hands of fundamentalists who wanted to create strict Islamic states. Their tactics didn't work and they became isolated and rejected. Then apparently they set upon themselves. They were almost completely washed out. Until they changed their tactics and tried to gain support by instead of butchering Muslims into submission, they decided to fight what they tried to convince other Muslims was a dangerous threat to Islam. The West. It is this illusion that is used to recruit followers to their way of thinking. They try to make people see the West and it's values as a bad and evil threat. After all, good people want to fight evil right? The more the West acts in an aggressive way or at least in a way that can be perceived as aggressive and threatening to Islam, the more ammunition these people have to recruit followers.

Here is a link to a site which has transcripts to a 3 part documentary called The Power of Nightmares It's purpose wasn't to explain the history of these events but it does have information on how it started. I think it is very interesting that the people behind this movement started off by killing other Muslims. Unfortunately now it has turned it's attention to the West, such actions seem to of been forgotten. Perhaps they wouldn't have so much support or followers if more people knew about this history. Maybe it wouldn't make any difference but I hope it would.

To me this isn't a war about land or oil. Although it is easy to convince people it is. It is a war of Ideology. A war about how to be a true believer, how to serve God's will best. The irony being that was the same reason for the Crusades. I wish I could believe these people were just outright evil but they don't seem to be. Weapons and technology have little place in this conflict. Beliefs and perception do. Maybe if we understand that most of these terrorists believe what they are doing is a holy act. A good act, then we can try and convince them it is not. That they can best serve God/Allah in other ways. I don't know.

I can understand how what I said seems like a validation but it wasn't meant to be. I just think it is more complicated than it first seems and unless we understand why these acts happen then they will be harder to stop. In a war of beliefs, the truth is very important. Of course I maybe wrong. I'm just trying to understand rather than assume.

 

[Remus]

Gerry Adams and Martin Mcguinees were members of the IRA

Martin Mcguinness was actively involved in IRA mission

they were terrorists

now they are politicians helping the peace process

Yoss is right, some people beliveing they have a cuase against something ,will put thier lives on the line, terrorists or freedom fighters?

The US was once a rebellious colony of the British Empire, with loyalists and rebels on both sides of the revolution, the rebels were seen as terrorists, now history writes them as freedom fighter.

This is how these people see themselves, freeing muslim lands of the grip of the west, Yoss is right, they exact a terrible price on the world but we have to look at the causes, bombing the crap out of them and invading thier countries to "liberate them" has just made it all worse.

I belive that now the US is in secret talks with Al Keda, from latest intelligence reports, maybe they are sending feelers out to resolve this in other ways, the big decider is Palestine and what happens there.

These things occur all through history, usually comprimises on both sides are reached, I wouldnt be surprised if it goes that way eventually

 

[ScaredGirl]

Hi Yossarian and Remus,

I don't have much time to reply because it is late plus I will probably be away for a few days but here goes.....

Your words are those of people who are struggling to find a way to explain or lesson the horror of the terrorists actions. There is no acceptable reason for 911 or the London bombings, there is no excuse, period. They did not attack 'The western world' or 'Infidels', they attacked buildings and subways filled with people, both christian and non-christian, black and non-black. They attacked because that is what they do to make themselves feel important. Not because it is what's right, or even that the target is who they say it is. The terrorists took down those buildings, blew up that bus and subway for their own personal enjoyment - no different then the mental patient who stands in the church tower kills pedestrians with a rifle.

When I am away, would you both consider looking up the definitions of 'genocide', 'jihad' then read 'The Screwtape Letters' by CS Lewis and let me know what you think?

Thanks,

SG

 

[Remus]

Our posts are not knee jerk reations, we have been under the grip of terrorism for many years in the UK, my city has been bombed in the 70's and 90's by the IRA, as have other cities in the UK, you get used to it, the USA is at the moment reacting in the same way as the UK did in the late 60's/early 70's in northerm Ireland ....with oppression, it dosnt work, as we have found out, it just creates more terrorism (Iraq insergants for eg)

I think the US government is starting to realise this, it dosnt help to live in fear and that is what has happened in the US, when you get to that stage terrorists have truely won, this was the case in the UK from 70s'-80's but maybe not as incited so much through media, the terrorist attack was also targetted at stirring up anti-muslim sentiment in the UK, luckily that hasnt happened ,theres only been a few isolated cases, the intention is to divide communities and have non-muslims hate muslims and from the ranks of muslims recruit more of these terrorists.

Our government is determined for that not to happen and I agree with them wholeheartedly in that, I have muslim freinds and they are some of the nicest people you could meet, I hate it when a community gets tarred with the same brush for the actions of some maniacs