Stay Strong

It has become fashionable in some crowds to spend copious amounts of time discussing why terrorists use violence as a tool. In their circles it is known as being socially conscious.

However the purpose of these discussions is not to understand why they act as they do but to find out how said terrorist was oppressed because in their eyes, the world is a logical place. And logic dictates that people wouldn’t murder unless they had a reason to do so.

These folks who engage in these fatuous flights of fancy live in a different world. In their world no one would of good conscience would engage in any unlawful activity unless circumstances forced them into it.

For some reason it doesn’t occur to them that where people are concerned the transitive process does not always hold true. There are men/women who had horrible childhoods who grow up to become well adjusted adults. They may have been beaten, molested and mistreated but somehow they get beyond it and become productive members of society.

It could certainly be argued that the majority of those who grow up poor do not become thieves but the members of the socially conscious prefer to ignore this because in their world it doesn’t make sense. They claim to be able to see shades of grey yet fail to accept that there are just bad people and that sometimes people act as they do because of an ideology.

Many of the studies about the men and women who grow up to become terrorists talk about educated people who came from middle class homes.

Ideologies are not equal. At one time there were people who believed that slavery was a good thing and that it was fair and just to treat women as the property of men. I rather suspect that anyone who tried to promote those beliefs would be castigated by the socially conscious.

I cannot help but wonder why these people fail to see the modern application of rational thought to ideology. It is really not that difficult to understand that there are people out there who operate based upon an ideology that can be termed as bad. And in truth it would not be a stretch to call it evil. An ideology that says that violence should be used to murder, maim and terrorize for the sole purpose of advancing their POV is just wrong.

Now I can promise that at least one of you will claim that the last sentence is easily applied to any group and to a certain extent that is true. To me the real question is whether the ideology you follow allows for dissent. If disagreement/dissent leads to violent reprisals you really should seek help.

All this leads me to remind those of us who support Israel to remember that there are many people who prefer the simple explanations and that they much prefer to assume that if Israel is attacked it must be because they brought it upon themselves.

Stay strong and remember that you do not have to allow them to define this battle for you. There is room for criticism of Israel and its behavior and that is part of why you will often find you have a morally superior position.

Stay strong because the opposition will hammer you. Stay strong because we need you and together we can make a difference.