Defining terrorism the right way (Wallis)
September 23rd, 2007 | Published in Morality, War, Quotes | 4 Comments
Let’s define terrorism the right way, and allow no double standards. Terrorism is the deliberative taking of innocent lives. It applies to individuals, groups, and nations alike—all of which can and have supported and committed acts of terrorism. Those who turn airplanes into missiles to attack skyscrapers full of people, those who become suicide bombers, and those who order military strikes against apartment buildings full of civilians and children are all terrorists, not religious devotees, martyrs, or defenders of national security.
–Jim Wallis, God’s Politics (2005), p. 106
September 23rd, 2007 at 10:06 am (#)
Let’s define terrorism the right way, and allow no double standards. Terrorism is the deliberative taking of innocent lives.
Um, no; that’s murder. Not all murder is terrorism.
I understand his confusion, though. Surely Jim Wallis didn’t mean to call abortion “terrorism”, so his thoughts are apparently rather muddled when it comes to the subject of murder …
September 23rd, 2007 at 10:43 am (#)
That’s a good point. This might be a more precise definition:
“Terrorism is the deliberate act of hurting or killing innocent people to further an agenda.”
That should get around your objection. What do you think? Any better suggestions?
September 23rd, 2007 at 2:05 pm (#)
“Terrorism is the deliberate act of hurting or killing innocent people to further an agenda.”
That should get around your objection. What do you think? Any better suggestions?
Well, it’s better, but I still don’t think so - for example torture used in interrogation is not normally called “terrorism”, however despicable it is.
How about “an attempt to induce terror in a civilian population by the use of non-warfare means of violence?” That’s what we usually mean by the word, when we aren’t bending it to novel political uses. The fact that actual terrorists hide in “apartment buildings full of civilians and children” is not the fault of “those who order military strikes”, but rather of the terrorists themselves.
September 25th, 2007 at 12:19 pm (#)
holmegm: Torture might not be called terrorism, but I think it probably could be considered it. That’s Wallis’s point — we give it our own special definition so we’re never the ones doing it. And of course they do the same.
As for your example with apartment buildings, I’m surprised you are really serious about that. So if terrorists are hiding in your apartment building, it is their fault that they bomb your building while you are in it?