Alex Thomas
@Alex_Thomas14
Staff Writer
The fact we are talking about birds jumping onto Bernie Sanders’ podium and Ted Cruz vs. Donald Trump in Wifegate is, quite frankly, pathetic. The fact that these are the topics of point in an election so important is disturbing. This is what we now find important, not the real issues in this world. Last week, on two separate occasions, we were reminded of the real issues in this world, pressing issues that must be addressed.
On March 22nd, three coordinated bombings occurred in Belgium. Two of these took place at Brussels Airport and one took place at Maalbeek metro station. As of this time, 38 are dead and 316 were injured, some critically. ISIS, the current leader in terrorism in the world, claims responsibility for the attacks right away. This attack came days after one of the key suspects in the Paris attacks in November was captured.
Fast forward to Sunday, Easter Sunday to be exact. Seventy two Christians were celebrating Easter, including many women and children, were killed in a bombing at a public park in Pakistan. According to CNN, a splinter group on the Pakistani Taliban, known as Jamaat-ur-Ahrar, claimed responsibility for the attack. In their claim of responsibility, they specifically mentioned that they had targeted Christians and vowed more attacks just like Sunday’s.
If that does not scare you, then I’m not sure what to say. Before we go any further, something important needs to be addressed. It is the issue that no one wants to talk about out of fear; being called a racist and saying the wrong thing. Heck, our very own President refuses to acknowledge these for what they are; radical Islamic terrorist attacks.
I wrote earlier this year about the subject, but I think it is worthwhile, especially right now, to bring this point up. When the words “Radical Islamic Terrorism” is brought up, people immediately point fingers and say that you are racist against those who practice Islam. That, quite frankly, is not true. In saying what I wrote above, I’m saying that a radical Islamic group claimed responsibility for these attacks (which they did) and that they are responsible for the senseless bloodshed on two occasions last week.
Is that saying that all those who practice Islam are bad people? Absolutely not, in fact I’d wager that less than 2% of people who practice that religion are bad people. That being said, that small fraction, the acting minority of the group if you will, is responsible. That is a fact. It’s just like the minority of white people who commit domestic terrorist attacks like school shootings and movie theater shootings. They are bad people and are radical, but they do not represent the entire group. Anyone with any knowledge of the world today knows this.
So, with that in mind, let’s move forward knowing calling these attacks acts of radical Islamic terrorism is not the same as calling Islam a violent religion and calling all the people who practice it as evil. Good? Good.
The entire world, every religion, every country, and every race has a huge battle on its hands, and it is the battle against radicalized terrorism in both the domestic and worldwide sense. Protecting this country from outside threats is just as important as protecting ourselves from inside threats, which is obviously a very important issue. In the western world, we need to understand that this threat is targeted at us, and sooner or later it is going to end up on our very doorstep.
We can watch the news in horror and say that what has happened in Europe and the Middle East recently is a tragedy. We would be correct in that statement. That said, after watching in horror we usually move forward with our days and we don’t face any immediate danger. Unfortunately, that will not always be the case.
“Make the right choice” and “fight the westerners” were two text messages, according to The Guardian’s Arthur Neslen, that were sent on the Sunday night prior to the attacks in Belgium from a prepaid account that could not be traced to youths in Molenbeek. If those text messages don’t at least make you a little uneasy, then I’d be surprised.
These two events last week were horrifying tragedies that resulted in a lot of senseless deaths and even more senseless tension between groups of people. People want to point the finger at certain groups, but in reality, the fingerpointing is all going in the wrong direction. These were acts of radical Islamic terrorism and they need to be addressed. Every country, religion and race in this world needs to protect itself, including the vast majority of those who practice Islam. They too are targeted by these evil groups.
So let’s stop beating around the bush, acknowledge what these are (I’m looking at you, Mr. President) and work together to fix one of the largest issues facing the human race today; terrorism. Let’s stop pointing the finger at each other and work together as a human race to combat these evil people. If only the five remaining Presidential candidates took these issues seriously enough to actually take time to talk about them instead of screaming at each other.