Don't let the bastards win

[Shanba]

Terrorism is the use of violence to achieve political aims. By creating fear and causing chaos, the terrorists believe they can force a response.

I will not live in fear because I will not let the bastards win.

The qutbists prey on the weak, the isolated - those who feel left out or abused by the system. In particular, each time violence begets revenge violence, their ideology is strengthened.

I will not let my hate consume me because I will not let the bastards win.

Every year, around the world, millions of people die. It is important to keep a sense of perspective about the numbers killed by terrorists, without downplaying the effects that a terrorist attack can have on a community. A man dying in his bed is a tragedy, but a man with his life senselessly taken from him by those in thrall to evil, that is something else. But these terrorists are not strong, they are not plentiful, and they cannot win. They are hopelessly outnumbered by those of us on the side of peace, who would not kill innocents, who see their actions as they truly are - not something enormous but something, in the scheme of things, that barely matters - a blip. To blow them up beyond their real strength is to play into their hands.

I will not make them powerful in my mind because I will not let the bastards win.

Terrorism is murder. These are murderers. They deserve no sympathy, they deserve no notoriety. Let their names wash away in tides of history. Remember instead the victims, those whose lives they stole.

I will not remember the terrorists, because I will not let the bastards win.

We will win because the choice is between life and death.
We will win because the choice is between peace and carnage.
We will win because, ultimately, we are better than them.

[Kublai Khan]

What if their goal is to be called bastards?

[Korts]

I have no hate in my heart, just pain. This is how bitter wars are started. This plays into everything the most hateful leaders of the world have been saying all along. This is when Trumps are elected, and let's not forget that this will irreversibly cripple an amazingly diverse and rich set of cultures in the Middle East, which we really shouldn't be doing any more of.

I feel a moral responsibility for not letting any of that happen, but I feel no agency in the matter, so I guess I have to mentally prepare myself for military service, wish for the best, and try to ignore the impending sense of doom.

[ChannelDelibird]

Well said, Shanba. I'm really glad that you're OK.