Attacking innocent, unsuspecting civilians is one of the most cowardly things a person can do. It is, in fact the height of cowardice. It requires a real fear of consequences. That isn't to excuse attacking innocent non-civilians that never did anything to you, no, not at all. It is to say, however, that people that are not combatants in any sort of war, members of the intelligence community, members of law enforcement, etc are people that are classified differently than, say a civilian accountant, a civilian construction worker or a civilian healthcare worker.
We know they will not be prepared for an attack and why should they be? They are not in the business of war. They do not train for armed assaults. They do no train in the best ways to handle people shooting at them.
They are innocent civilians, just like any innocent civilians, whether on the streets of Canada, Ecuador, Norway, Palestine, Israel, Yemen, Nigeria, South Africa, Cambodia, Indonesia or on our own streets right here in the USA.
Terrorists feel that they can instill fear in us and have ambitions to change us, and seduce us into coming around to their side via pressure, psychological manipulation and playing on our emotions. But real Americans are true to themselves and the American ethos first, often without even realizing it.
The Russian people that committed the Boston Marathon Terrorist Attacks were wrong in thinking they could get us to change our minds about our freedoms and that we choose to allow people to follow whatever religion or spiritual belief they choose. And, in our nation, we do not force any single belief on them. If they choose not to follow any religion, they absolutely have that right in America so long as it is not set on causing harm to others.
There are good American Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Taoists, Wiccans, Pagans, followers of New Age forms of spirituality, Agnostics, Atheists and the list goes on. They all have a right to their beliefs and to practice them and to be free from oppression by those of any other group. We have a separation of church and state to ensure freedom of religion – both to practice and to be free from oppression.
It isn't only Americans that believe in their right to freedom of religion. It isn't only Americans that believe in their right to live the life they want. It isn't only Americans that have a right to live the life they choose, so long as it does not hurt others, impinge on the basic human rights of others and hopefully contributes to the society in which they live.
But, people from all over the world do come here to chase their dreams, feeling they can fulfill them better here than anywhere else. We are a free society, and people that come here need to know that. If you don't like it, don't come. Bombing us, attacking our people and any acts of terror will not stop us from living how we live here. Threats of intimidation never have held us back nor dampened our spirits. Never. We started our life as an independent nation under threats of attack from the British monarchy, against seeking such a course.
We did it anyway, and are still here today. If it was due to a drive unique to only the few that called themselves Americans, people would have stopped coming. But, they came to our shores, and never stopped coming. Our drive is shared by many around the world. The desire to live free and try and create one's own destiny, be it for fame and fortune, or just a normal everyday humble existence in a free society, is something many around the world, whether here or in their own nations.
No matter how good what you feel you have to offer may be if certain others came around to your way of thinking. No matter how great it may or may not be, sometimes it just won't appeal to everyone. When I was in high school, for example, myself and a girl named Annah Tessler were interested in each other for a short time. We were both from different worlds, she a well to do area on Connecticut's shoreline, me from a middle class, working class college town/city.
We had very different backgrounds and social circles. We tried dating and it just didn't work. She had an idea about what she wanted out of the relationship and I had another one entirely. We saw each other a handful of times over the course of two years and no matter how hard we tried, we just did not have the same idea regarding our ideas of the relationship we wanted. She moved on as did I and she realized, as did I, there was no way each of us would convince the other of the idea we had for our relationship.
They were too different, and I was never going to see her point of view on it and she was never going to see mine. We went our separate ways realizing we would never see each other's perspective on the matter. I would have been a fool to think beyond that point she would come around to mine, and she would also have been a fool to feel I would come around to hers after that. Either of us would have been idiots to think after that there was a chance for what the other wanted. To this day it would still be that way, in terms of anything the other wanted. No hurt feelings or sense of betrayal. Thankfully we moved on and away from each other, happily and amicably.
And that's life. You cannot force people to want your way of life. It's better to stay with those that think the way you do, or that you can find that sense of understanding and common ground with. Otherwise there's no growth, just stagnation. Nobody wants that.
The Russian kids that bombed the Boston Marathon seemed to have been living stagnated lives, and didn't even really have their own core beliefs. From what their family members said, they had just been co-opting what they heard from extremists that have little regard for human life, basic human rights and freedom of others to be whoever they wish to be. Their confusion about what it means to live with others and accept that just as they have a right to their own views so too do others allowed them to become what they did. From what they said they never had any American friends so they could have been enlightened about that aspect of our American culture.
How sad for the many in Boston that were maimed, otherwise injured or lost their lives.
To read about my inspiration for this article go to www.lawsuitagainstuconn.com.