I was reading another blog entry about 9/11. See it here
http://workman.blogspot.com/
and I decided to leave this comment
Firstly I want to say that my sympathies go out to all those affected by 9/11.
But I also want to say that I grew up in Northern Ireland during the “troubles”. I was surrounded by terrorism every day of my childhood. I lived under the threat of bombs and shootings. I was surrounded by soldiers with machine guns in everyday life. Our local news was littered with the deaths of innocents and the not so innocents. Our airports have always had the level of security that you describe. As a child I had to run to escape a bomb, as a teenager I saw a man being shot outside a Belfast shopping centre. Countless others witnessed and were part of even more Horror.
Terrorism is not new.
It has grown in scale. It affects more people and has grown in complexity. It is and always has been an evil thing.
But, it will never change if we continue to hate. It is impossible to fight terrorism with fear and war. That only creates more terrorists. I think (and it is only my opinion) that the only way to combat terror is with love and understanding. We have to learn what it is that would make someone commit such an atrocity. We have to understand the reasons. We have to learn how to put such Horror behind us and move on. We have to honour those people who have been hurt or killed but without honouring the hate.
Innocence does not last for ever, neither should complacency. We are all part of this world and it is up to us to make it a peaceful place.
Northern Ireland is small in scale in comparison to the new terror. But I think it would be a sad thing if the lessons that were learned there, were not passed on now, to the rest of the world. Northern Ireland’s “troubles” are not over. We have not figured out the secret yet. But the whole world needs to start working towards it. And in my humble opinion hate will never be the answer.
http://workman.blogspot.com/
and I decided to leave this comment
Firstly I want to say that my sympathies go out to all those affected by 9/11.
But I also want to say that I grew up in Northern Ireland during the “troubles”. I was surrounded by terrorism every day of my childhood. I lived under the threat of bombs and shootings. I was surrounded by soldiers with machine guns in everyday life. Our local news was littered with the deaths of innocents and the not so innocents. Our airports have always had the level of security that you describe. As a child I had to run to escape a bomb, as a teenager I saw a man being shot outside a Belfast shopping centre. Countless others witnessed and were part of even more Horror.
Terrorism is not new.
It has grown in scale. It affects more people and has grown in complexity. It is and always has been an evil thing.
But, it will never change if we continue to hate. It is impossible to fight terrorism with fear and war. That only creates more terrorists. I think (and it is only my opinion) that the only way to combat terror is with love and understanding. We have to learn what it is that would make someone commit such an atrocity. We have to understand the reasons. We have to learn how to put such Horror behind us and move on. We have to honour those people who have been hurt or killed but without honouring the hate.
Innocence does not last for ever, neither should complacency. We are all part of this world and it is up to us to make it a peaceful place.
Northern Ireland is small in scale in comparison to the new terror. But I think it would be a sad thing if the lessons that were learned there, were not passed on now, to the rest of the world. Northern Ireland’s “troubles” are not over. We have not figured out the secret yet. But the whole world needs to start working towards it. And in my humble opinion hate will never be the answer.
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