Is Terrorism Working?

Terrorism is the use of violence and fear to coerce people towards religious or political goals. That’s clear enough and describes the bombers actions in Manchester exactly. But as well as the brutality there’s something fundamentally wrong in the logic of terrorism that I’d like any terrorist reading this to consider. Imagine putting a little petrol in a saucer and lighting it. There will be a quick burst of flame and nothing else will happen. It might even be frightening for a moment but it will never achieve any lasting power. Imagine a lion chasing a herd of wildebeest. It separates a weak one and terrifies it till it becomes a meal or escapes. The rest of the herd will in moments continue grazing. In Manchester one or two hundred were terrified and the rest of us 65 million were relieved we weren’t involved. So each act of terrorism produces 0.0001% terror and a 99.999% reaction of relief, plus a 100% angry reaction against whatever it is you’re trying to achieve. Maybe I’m missing something but are terrorist acts achieving what terrorists want? If you want something you try to figure out what actions to take to obtain it. That seems logical to me. You seem to want recognition for your faith and heroism but achieve worldwide condemnation even amongst those who share your faith. So what is your achievement even if you’re prepared to die to achieve it? It’s difficult to truly consider this question. We all make automatic assumptions that if faulty lead to what we don’t want that are hard to realise and admit to. We all, that’s everybody, find ways to justify our results rather than find our faulty assumptions and so make the same mistakes time and time again. You won’t like this but it’s easy to be a part of the small minority that know the truth against the vast majority that are misguided. Easy because in your isolation you can assume the truth and assume yourself as the brave courageous hero. Yet that vast majority you condemn are struggling with a far more complex truth that isn’t easy and thoughts of themselves that aren’t easy, and are in truth, however messy, unsure, confused and mixed up, the greater heroes. So is terrorism working? You decide.