Terrorism is a pejorative term used to describe someone who offends the conscience and intends to terrorize innocent people. Terrorists can be motivated by religious, political, environmental or animal rights reasons. While their goals may be laudable, their means are violent and cause harm to innocent people. The September 11 attacks, Northern Ireland conflict, London Underground bombing, and Israel-Palestine conflict are examples of terrorism. A terrorist may not consider themselves one, but if they harm or kill innocent people, they are a terrorist.
terrorist. It’s a word that gives most people the creeps. The term is pejorative. It is an insult of the highest degree. Calling someone’s actions “terrorism” and the person a terrorist by extension, is just as serious an accusation that can be leveled against anyone these days. It has the same connotation as a “child molester” or “child killer.” A terrorist has done something that offends the conscience and the intent is to terrorize, frighten, harass, and otherwise harass innocent people.
Intent is usually the key to calling someone a terrorist. A murderer certainly strikes fear into the hearts of his victims: a serial killer can inflict these acts with the intent to cause fear and terror. However, serial killers do their horrific deeds for selfish gratification. Almost without exception, a terrorist feels they are working for a higher purpose. Many people associate terrorists almost exclusively with religious fanaticism, but that’s not an accurate picture. Terrorists do what they do for reasons that can be religious, political, a mix of the two, or neither. They can be environmental extremists or motivated by extreme devotion to animal rights.
One of the puzzling things about a terrorist is that many people would agree with many of their goals in principle. Most people want religious freedom, honesty in politics, environmental responsibility, ethical treatment of animals. All are laudable goals, as long as innocent people are not terrorized in the process of promoting the agenda.
Of course, for Americans, the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack is the most visible definition of terrorism and what a terrorist is. However, in Northern Ireland, the scars of years of terrorism by the IRA and Protestant paramilitary branches are still visible. What about the 2005 attack on the London Underground? Or decades of terrorist actions on both sides of the conflict in Israel and Palestine? Regardless of the cause, when that cause becomes violent, it is terrorism and its participants are terrorists. They feel strongly that the end justifies their means.
A terrorist can be perfectly sincere in his beliefs. He or she may be convinced of the rightness of their actions. However, modern humanity agrees that actions calculated to produce terror, simply to make a point or further an agenda, constitute terrorism. A terrorist often does not consider himself one. He could call himself a rebel, a freedom fighter, a soldier of justice, etc. She might even be insulted that someone considers her a terrorist. But if he or she deliberately engages in actions that harm or kill innocent people, that destroy property, that deprive innocent people of their right to a peaceful daily existence, that person is a terrorist.
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