Fabian Grund
fgrund@uwyo.edu
I was sitting in class taking notes when my phone buzzed. I got a notification stating there was a shooting in a Parisian bar. The post stated the attackers were screaming “Allahu Akbar,” (Allah is great) and I started to realize this was an act of terrorism. I constantly refreshed my phone to get the newest updates. I hurried back to my dorm and turned on the news, when I realized the shooting was just the beginning of a tragic night in Paris.
The news reporter mumbled something about suicide bombers, numerous other shootings and hostages held in a concert hall. My brain tried to process all that.
Paris, the city of love.
Paris, the capital of the country that borders my home, Germany. The city I had just visited a little more than a year ago. The city that was already targeted by terrorism at the beginning of the year just became a city of horror. Pictures of covered bodies and injured victims are now seen on the screen. “The worst terror attack in Europe since 10 years.”
Social media is blowing up with pictures of the Eiffel Tower merged into a peace sign. Posts that send out prayers for those who are affected by this cruelty. And a question that nobody seems to be able to answer: Why?
Radical belief leads, as history taught us, to radical actions. The Crusades are only one example out of many. Why did European countries start invading those nations? For one part, they were economically motivated and because it seemed to be a threat for the Christian nations. But was it really religion that triggered all this? The belief that you shall love your neigbor as you love yourself?
Islam seems to have the toughest role today; if you have a beard and you look slightly middle-eastern security checks turn into a time-consuming hellhole. Muslims and terrorists get lumped together and a society-wide distrust toward the religion is the result. Why didn’t Christians have to justify themselves after the terror attacks of Andrei Breivik in Norway?
Radical Christians, Jews and Muslims are only religious camouflaged fascists. It doesn’t matter what religion you practice, as long as there is tolerance toward the others. Everyone has the freedom to exercise their religion and give their opinion. In times of globalization, the globe became smaller and the information exchange better.
This weekend was not only a dark time for Paris, but also for Beirut and Baghdad. Suicide bombers killed several dozen people there, as well. It only seems to be farther away and seems to have become accepted standard in those countries. But when it happens in the Western world, it becomes rapidly more important. The fear that you could have lost someone, the fear that you could be harmed by the next attack and the fear of not enjoying life anymore.
The worst part about it is the fact people still judge refugees that take a long hard journey to flee from those exact humans that seem to be the most unhuman. If your everyday turns from going to college or going to work to being interrupted with bombings and shootings or a group takes your freedoms and takes the lives of those who resist following them, wouldn’t you do the exact same thing to escape from this horror? Would you be grateful if countries granted you asylum and safety?
Is the solution to extend the war toward ISIS? Wouldn’t the killings of terrorists cause more hate against us and therefore cause more terroristic acts and therefore more deaths in an endless cycle of revenge? How can you prove to religious hardliners there is a way of living together in peace and to stop fighting?
In my opinion, acts of violence evolve in general out of dissatisfaction and worse education. Obviously it is not possible to satisfy everyone, but what if there would be a way of an objective education about every religion – an education that gives perspective and hope for a peaceful living.
The only problem is we are way too comfortable in our luxury life – we don’t want others to catch up on our superior rank in economy. And with moving on from day to day the French flag will disappear from facebook profile pictures of your friends. The news reporter will find new breaking news and I will sit again in a classroom and follow my everyday.
