Terrorism

Ter⋅ror⋅ism [ter-uh-riz-uh m]
1. the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, esp. for political purposes.
2. the state of fear and submission produced by terrorism or terrorization.
3. a terroristic method of governing or of resisting a government.
 
 If you were to open a dictionary and look up the word terrorism, these are likely the definitions you will find. But I’d like to focus on the second one in particular; “the state of fear and submission produced by terrorism or terrorization.” Meaning, that in laymen’s terms, a terrorist is anyone who causes fear, submission and in fact, terror. The term "terrorism" comes from the Latin word, terrere, "to frighten." The word was first recorded in English-language dictionaries in 1798 as meaning "systematic use of terror as a policy."
Which makes sense, but where in the dictionary does it say that a terrorist is usually a Muslim? Where does it say that a terrorist is from the Middle East? Couldn’t a terrorist just as easily be someone from Belgium or even Hawaii for that matter, if anyone could be a person who inflicts terror on another? It seems that since 9/11, it’s been the norm for us to assume that anyone sporting a beard and a turban must have a bomb strapped to their chest underneath their clothing.
 In the recent event of the devastating shooting at Fort Hood, there was speculation that the shooter, Major Nidal Malik Hasan was a terrorist because he was Muslim and had allegedly tried to contact Al Queda. I believe that he was indeed a terrorist, but not because of his race, or religion, but because when he shot and killed 13 people, he inflicted terror. Just like others before him.
For instance, on April 19, 1995, Timothy McVeigh, bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City, killing 168 people. This horrific event was indeed a political act, as McVeigh was a member of the American Militia movement and destroyed the building to inspire a revolt against what he considered a tyrannical federal government. In this terrorist attack, 19 of the victims were children. All of them were innocent civilians. But Mcveigh wasn’t a Muslim or linked to Al Queda, he was a white American male and a United States Army veteran. A terrorist could be anybody, anybody who wakes up one morning with the intent of destroying the lives of the innocent in some way, shape or form, usually with a rationalization, and carrying out that intent in the form of terror.
We need to open our eyes a little wider and let the film of ignorance that has enveloped us melt away so that we can be prepared for the possible day that our lives are interrupted by an act of terror that isn’t being carried out by a man in a turban, but perhaps someone more familiar, someone who we wouldn’t be so quick to point fingers at.

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