Understanding
Terrorism’s Interior
Janet Kuypers
3/11/19
Too many times these days
do we see terrorism
and not understand it.
Recently we see Al Qaeda attacks,
and when we don’t understand
we assume the Islamists
are envious of our wealth —
because we only pay attention
to what is right in right in front is us,
and don’t realize that our own government
was more than happy to fight communism
by giving the mujahideen Islamic fighters
money and weapons to fight the Russians.
But once they were free, us Americans thought
we could westernize the Middle-East,
which was the last thing they wanted.
Translation: they were fine with
taking our money so they could fight,
but otherwise, they didn’t want
to be messed with. Any boy,
high and mighty us,
we gave them some money,
because boy, did we want to meddle.
Did that mean we deserved
the terrorist attacks in ‘93 and ‘01
and all the mini attacks
since and between?
Probably not, but when you’re really
trying to make a point, sometimes
the most radical and absurd
is in some people’s minds
the only way to go.
Sometimes the prejudice some people face
seems to be too overpowering to believe
or even comprehend. It still boggles
the mind to think people exist
who truly believe their race
is all that matters. Their race.
Really. And if that’s not enough,
they can also hate some religions,
and use that ever-so seductive
violence and murder to
get their point across.
The scary thing is that this terrorism flourished
in the United States, in three different rounds,
from one group. The Ku Klux Klan gave white
men the feeling they doing more than merely
preserving the only thing they thought was good,
when in actuality it was just isolating them from
anything interesting or different in the world.
When their solution to their isolationism
went beyond changing laws to make sure
certain people weren’t welcome, this
narrow vision reduced them to killing
innocent people, to thinking that hanging
them from a tree helped their message.
It’s scary to think that this can exist
on our own shores, and maybe it
comforts us to know that this latest
third round of the Ku Klux Klan is only
a sliver of the size it once was here.
But it’s lurking, to catch us once we feel safe
Terrorism scares us, because we all believe
that we are open and welcoming and willing.
And we forget that we only choose
to spend time with those that are like us,
and who cushion out own narrow beliefs.
We may not be terrorists, but in our own way,
we choose that same isolation
that may maybe lead to terror.
We think we’re all above it all;
we think we’re better than that.
And then we look in the mirror
and wonder what we really see.
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