Monday, May 22, 2006

A Response to "Terrorism is inconsequential"

There are many who believe that terrorism is "inconsequential", and therefore we should not be spending money and time to protect ourselves against it. They say, "Run the numbers. Statistically, you're much more likely to be killed be a drunk driver than by a terrorist."

If we lived on a planet where pure logic rules, they would be correct. However, here on Earth emotions trump logic. Terrorism, by definition is fear, a powerful emotion. Fear of random, horrifying, deadly violence against your family and friends and countrymen.

Terrorism IS consequential. Its results are much more than a dead fireman in New York, or a dead child in a Jeruselam market.

If we ran the numbers, 1 assasinated man would not be worthy of starting World War I.
If we ran the numbers, 1 dying woman in Florida would not dominate the media attention for weeks
If we ran the numbers, 1 crucified man would not crumble empires and change the world.

The numbers are meaningless, people react with emotion. The feel fear. They also feel an incredibly strong, compelling emotion for justice and to make things right.

When there are 6+ billion people on the planet, do you really want someone to 'run the numbers' to determine if your life is worthwhile?

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