Exposing the ‘Underbelly’ of Terrorism
Let there be no mistake that terrorism is a behavior that, as a nation and world, needs to be eradicated. The Earth has become “small enough,” and the human family has become large and aware enough to begin agreeing on which aspects of our respective behaviors should be promulgated, and which should be limited. Terrorism is among the latter behaviors. If we removed the “t” from the word, we’d get “error,” which is an apt description. While they are intentional and calculated, terrorist acts are based on errors in judgment and thinking about (1) inherent differences between people, (2) value disparities between groups of people, and (3) power.
Inherent Differences between people: Individuals that form terrorist groups live isolated lives. Sometimes they are self-imposed. They are always self-maintained. Terrorists tend to have exaggerated interpretations of, and extreme responses to, anything or anyone deemed to be a threat to the survival of their existence, or their way of thinking. They align themselves along a common belief-set, embracing an “us vs. them” attitude toward their declared “enemies,” which could be another nation, religion, racial group, tribe, rival gang, or law enforcement agency. They believe that certain factors unite them; perhaps nationality, discrimination, poverty, oppression, or disrespect by those who may oppose, or simply does not fear them. Given their generally limited area operation, they claim their home turf, as well as anyone who treats them with a modicum of respect or admiration, as their own, and appoint themselves to vigilantly protect their “territory” and interests.
Value Disparity: The term value disparity represents the perception of inherent extreme difference, expressed as opposition. It is supported by a natural proclivity to contrast one’s self and respective group with other groups. This perception engenders the need to “prove” one group to be “better” than others perceive it to be; particularly the group(s) that have been designated as “enemies.” When group members have not equipped themselves to be distinguishable by what they can build, or through how they advance society, then they will sometimes content themselves to do it by destroying and retarding the lives of others that they touch. Little do they know that in doing so, they destroy and retard their own lives.
Power: Cooperative grouped behavior is one of the most basic forms of perceiving amassed power. From racial groups, tribes, and nations, to religions, to street gangs, political parties, and terrorists, humankind groups itself in many ways along many ideological lines. Groups that distinguish themselves by the destructive nature of their activities are comprised of individuals who often (a) do not possess a sense of personal power, (b) fear their power. They believe that power and respect comes by showing they are fearless, and by being feared. Their individual fears are substituted with the “courage” and “respect” they gain by the success their collective has achieved at making others fearful of them. Fear “builds” the stature of, and within the group. However, they live in an illusion. Please note, that all such groups that operate under this practice are not considered terrorists, but all such groups are errorists.
Within an “errorist’s” mentality, courage is actually rage, and respect is actually fear. Those who do not fear the errorist is a threat, and therefore, an enemy. Group members place themselves at the mercy of the “leaders”—one or more power grabbers within the group—who then define the group “norms.” If the leaders do not have a conscience, then power will be misused and abused, and great harm done.
Great good has been done in the wake of September 11, but the event itself was the product of errorist judgment and thinking. The intention of the terrorists behind those acts was to promulgate fear, not love. “Success” was defined by the retreat of freedom, not the expansion thereof. Separation, value disparity, and power were at the core of the event, but in truth it was an act of family killing family. When we see ourselves as one human family, then the error of terrorism, as well as deadly reprisal, becomes clear.
Errorism is generally perceived to be something that “foreigners” engage in “against us.” However, it happens everywhere on earth; in some places more than others. Eerrorism is not limited to group dynamics. Any time that one individual hurts or kills another individual, an act of error has been committed.
Entire economies are impacted by even isolated errorist acts. Businesses and locations where the act of errorism has occurred will be affected. Family members associated with the errorists are affected by their actions, for if they are people of conscience, they may feel some sense of responsibility and shame for being genetically linked to such perpetrators. Their proclivity to dream wonderfully and pursue them would be sorely challenged. Crawling into a cave and rolling a boulder over the entrance would be an appealing option. No one “wins” by playing the error game. Yet all have a chance of winning when we admit our errors, and adopt new courses of action.
We have become complacent and accepting of day-to-day acts of error between us. Only the most extreme acts appear to reach our hearts anymore. In our local neighborhoods, drive-by shootings by youth gangs and other acts of violence get media coverage only as the “Senseless Index” increases.
News stories such as “Motorist Shot on Freeway During Rush Hour” garner more coverage because they are much harder to fathom than when a member of the “West Side” gang kills an “East Side” gang member in a drive-by shooting. We have come to expect such “errorist” behavior from gangs these days.
Thankfully, or perhaps sadly, the vast majority of people who engage in errorist behavior and thinking, as defined here, are men. Oftentimes, women are the direct victims of this behavior. But even when men oppose other men in errorism, women or children are affected on both sides.
Waging a “war on terrorism” is, in my opinion, not the way to end terrorism. If it involves further killing and maiming, then it is likewise errorism. Refusing to escalate the retribution factor through deadly force does not make one complacent or passive to terrorist activities. But we should stop fooling ourselves by thinking that peace can be achieved through destruction, or that life can be preserved by killing. It is an error in thinking. And while someone else may be doing it, it is incumbent upon those who understand to show them another option. In other words, to be living examples of what we want to achieve. That’s what true leadership is actually all about.
Terrorism should indeed be opposed. The most effective way to do so is helping these people see that they have power to affect far greater change in their lives through cooperation than they can through opposition, degradation and destruction. However, fear will have to lose its sex appeal in their minds: a tall order. However, once a man accepts that he already possesses the power to improve his life, without the assistance of a gun or similar device, he will open his mind to other options.
Our present strategy of waging war on terrorism isn’t limited to the mission of extracting vengeance from Osama bin Laden and the Al Quaeda forces in the wake of September 11. Destroying much of the country of Afghanistan has resulted in a measure of liberation for the Afghan people, who lived under the repressive rule of the Taliban. But the threat of further acts of terrorism was not diminished. Instead, it was increased.
In his 2002 State of the Union address, President George W. Bush proudly proclaimed that America was at war. He made it clear that whatever the cost of waging that war on terror, he would pay. What he meant was that We the People should be willing to pay. However, by 2006, this strategy had not made America, or the world a “safer” place. Indeed, in Europe and other non-terrorist parts of the world, America now looks like a self-righteous “lose cannon.”
The American People have been psychologically “prepared” for the threat of biological warfare by our own government. Anthrax became a household word that brought everyone to attention when, in truth, other poisons have long been, and are still part of our daily slumber.
Our president’s “reassuring” errorist strategy was to get all Americans access to “the best medicine available.” Pharmaceutical companies who produce such vaccines, many of which are poisonous themselves, salivated at the potential windfall. But where was the concern about (1) our safety, and (2) our health? Making war is not a way to make us safe, and taking drugs is not a way to health or healing. However, both are ways to profit for those who make a living off of their perpetuation. I’d prefer that we would never need to be exposed to the poisons that make such “medicine” an option.
To make America “safer” in the “post-911” era, air travel has become a major headache due to the increased paranoia, restrictedness, suspicion, bureaucracy, and the delays involved due to increased security. “Increased security” is a euphemism for increased intrusion and inconvenience, and decreased regard for the actual traveler. By looking for a few errorists in a haystack, they ruffle and disturb all of the hay, instead of examining the motives behind errorist activities, and addressing them with courage, honesty, and truthfulness.
Some of the people that air travelers now pass by before boarding are carrying automatic rifles instead of a smile. Travel will likely become more expensive too, with the greater costs associated with installing new security systems and surveillance equipment, adding higher paid screening personnel, and more stringent examination procedures, not to mention higher fuel prices. Fewer people traveling will have a profound impact on tourism, which is already being seen. It will also have an adverse impact on the world economy. It will not stem the tide of errorism.
Errorism has very few avenues in which to work. It is mostly draws its power from the threat of death. Indeed, errorists “prove” themselves by demonstrating that they have no fear of death. The truth is that they have less fear, or regard, for another’s death than they do of their own. That is why the errorist leaders talk followers into taking their own lives — and unwitting others along with them — for the “glory” they will gain “on the Other Side.”
Yet, said leaders do fear their own deaths very much; else they wouldn’t run and hide after doing their deeds. Errorists think they gain power by threatening to bring death to others. The main error in errorist thinking is that there is no such thing as death. No kidding.
Time to Get ‘Existential’
Before you begin thinking that I’m bonkers (if it’s not too late), let me clarify. YES, there will be a time and place in all our lives when physicality ceases. YES, there will be a transition that involves a final dissociation from our earthly body. But death? No. As sure as we have consciousness of life experiences while our bodies sleep, and memories of interactions with other people in other places in our dreams, there will be consciousness after our body dies. Just what that consciousness is, shall be up to each of us. But death? No.
Death is a natural part of the human physical experience. Every human being who enters this world will, at some point in time, make our final exit from it through the mysterious portal of death. Every one of us will come to direct terms with our notions of justice, and Judgment. No longer will it be belief. No longer will it be conjecture. It will be a knowing, direct experience, not for someone else, but for us.
We may hold a secret wish for a world without dying. Yet, I’m not sure that anyone can imagine a world without killing. Killing, particularly of innocent or defenseless people, and the residual terror that comes with it, is an experiential option. It is not a required part of the human drama. Yet, the long, historical trail of sorrow, sadness, anger, and in some cases, hatred and rage that it has left behind over centuries, suggests that a better way is available for anyone willing to look for it. I’m simply suggesting that we do.
It would be an over-simplification to say that the answer to terrorism is love, though it wouldn’t make the statement untrue. Love must be part of the solution, for it is the only one that can bring that so many people say they are fighting for; respect, safety, dignity, freedom, and peace.
It would be an over-simplification to say that the answer to terrorism is God. In fact, many of the biggest errorists think they have a private line to God (or Allah). And yet, the answer is both, as God and Love are one in the same thing. The question is how is that love or God expressed?
Would it be correct to say that we bombed Afghanistan in our yet fruitless hunt for Osama bin Laden for weeks with love? Were our smart bombs “smart” enough to look into the hearts of the people who were in the range of their explosive effect, and kill only those who supported the errorists? And on September 11, were the 19 men who commandeered the planes that killed 3,000 people, devastated the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, galvanized a nation, and terrorized billions, motivated by love? Were the men who sent the terrorists, and those who harbored them in Afghanistan, moved by love? While they might argue that the love of Allah (God) guided them, that “truth” rings hollow to these ears.
I do not condemn the President Bush’s decision to send troops to Afghanistan and do “whatever it takes” to root out the responsible terrorists, because the catalyzing event required a dramatic and effective response. However, to respond to terrorism with more terrorism, is in effect, errorism, pure and simple. We needed to diffuse the sense of separatism, difference, and powerlessness that created a vacuum of love that was filled by apathy, hopelessness, and envy in these groups of men. Instead, we solidified it.
No matter what reason may be given by the killers, events of September 11 had the “signature” of envy and hatred written all over them. The errorists behind this action ran because they knew that they did something heinous. They ran because they did not wish to be caught and killed for their killing, and worst yet, brought to justice. This behavior is common to criminals, to people who have no vision of the world living in their minds that is so wonderful, and that they love so much, that they cannot fathom bringing harm to others.
Show me a terrorist, whether young or old, foreign or American, and I will show you a man devoid of vision, with no Wonderful Dream. Lacking his own Wonderful Dream that is worth living for, he will be a man who is willing to die for a cause: any cause that embraces him. Perhaps he will even kill for one. But neither of the latter options will be nearly as Soul satisfying as the first.
If we can get more men to dream wonderfully, to believe in the best of themselves and each other, perhaps we’d mark the beginning of the end of terrorism. Yet, as we individually overcome our fear of death and embrace the wonderful life that we are each empowered to give birth to, we will see the error of terrorism.
As more men and women begin exemplifying the reality that they wish to see every day, by giving the best of “who we are” to others, we stand a greater chance of receiving in kind. “Terror” would be unnecessary. Our behavioral “errors” would evaporate. Vigilance will always be prudent, but fear is not required.
Instead of preparing for more insidious forms of war (which we are actively doing, and thusly, creating as probability), let us consider envisioning more wonderful and pervasive forms of peace and prosperity, not only between neighbors, but among nations, and even religion-states. It begins with love, and an affirmation of Life, beginning with one’s self and extending beyond to encompass all others. Everyone will not be “like-hearted” at once, which is okay. Let us cherish, and be grateful for those who are. The group that is one in love, comfortable in both its uniqueness and diversity, and responsible in the use of its power, will transform the world.
