Paris – our hearts are with you

As the stupidity of another terrorist attack unfolds, sadness for the state of humanity will shortly follow. Conflict in terms of war has been present since at least the beginning of human society; it can also today be observed between tribes of chimps and gorillas. Us primates fight. It seems inevitable?

But, many societies seemed to agree that fighting was dumb – a long time ago. That didn’t stop a couple of world wars happening, then a lot of other wars happening afterwards.

Terrorism is not war. It is not a state acting against another. It is a ‘tribe’ attacking a state. The horrible conclusion for many people seeing these events will be to equate the ‘tribe’ with the religion they purport to represent. More hate.

The murders in Paris are disgusting. So have been some of the acts of Western and Eastern powers in the Middle East over many years. Yesterday, many media were celebrating the death by drone of an individual who executed people on camera. Executing people without a trial, even if they look guilty based on video evidence, is maybe not the best way to act?

Each thinking person needs to make sure they do not equate terrorism with Islam. This is hard as much of the current terrorism happening is being justified based on the religion.

Terrorism is effective as it makes people react. We shouldn’t.

More people probably died today because of policies like the PAC (Politique Agricole Commune) of the EU than the attacks in Paris. They don’t make it onto the news. We don’t see this, why? Probably because we identify more with deaths in a terrorism spectacular than dealing with technical issues around taxation and trade.

We need peace, not terror. These people don’t represent a religion.

We need to fight the causes of this violence.