Terrorism and hate crimes – How do we stop the evil?
By Duane Hewitt
How do we stop the rise of terrorism and deadly hate crimes that have become increasingly prevalent in our western world? Such heinous acts didn’t exist to such a degree previously, at least not like this. Is mental illness on the rise or is it not more likely that there’s an undercurrent of allegiance to an evil, radical way of thinking that inspires such offenses?
It must be remembered that the extremist thinking of terrorism and hate – much like mental illness – formulates in the innermost mind. The catalysts to carrying out crimes associated with such thoughts can include racial, cultural, religious, societal, and psychosomatic factors – all of which are often reinforced by deranged thinking. Then add to this the means to acquire weapons. Since it’s doubtful that radical forms of thinking and mental illness will be eradicated any time soon, the duty must fall to the rest of us to seek solutions to such crimes and do so without delay. If we don’t, we face more slaughter of innocents at the hands of those who may in fact be subjects to the true devil, whatever we hold that to be.
We must be prepared to identify and acknowledge the sources of hate that makes people want to kill so readily. But then a question emerges: Will we continue to pursue a trend of political correctness by not openly acknowledging the threats associated with hateful religious idealism? And why shouldn’t we include radical Islam in this statement? Give one person a gun and it isn’t a threat, but in the hands of another that weapon becomes murder waiting to happen.
One approach to addressing the problem of terrorist-related crimes in western civilization is that of a soft approach: Create a culture that richly educates, informs, and nurtures with aims to teach acceptance, understanding, and tolerance. Such an approach would have to be deeply integrated into our society so that all people everywhere would at all times be encouraged to have empathy for others, and without judgment or discrimination. But is such a thing even possible?
It’s also more than likely that such a soft approach would not temper the hateful ideologies that have now become the scourge of our western world. Furthermore, such a method will also not cure paranoid delusional schizophrenia or other forms of mental illness that lead to murder.
We must be prepared to acknowledge what we see before us. Time and again we suffer death at the hands of those who pledge allegiance to an evil that masquerades under the guise of religion. But all this is the ideology of psychopaths and murderers. Such beliefs are nothing more than excuses to carry out reprehensible crimes against life, love, and even God Himself.
We’re already at war with hateful ideologies. The more such odious ways of thinking integrate into our society, the more death and destruction will follow – and so we must be prepared to defeat such enemies at all costs.
Copyright 2016 Duane Hewitt. All rights reserved.