Yesterday's terrorist attacks in Paris especially hit home for Americans because Paris is such a beloved Western city. France has been an ally of the United States throughout our history, and has been the victim of brutality in recent memory. Although France often is the undeserving subject of tasteless jokes, American culture has been enriched in countless ways by French music, art, literature, film, architecture, medicine, philosophy, fashion, food, wine, and language. Our nation's most important and most beautiful statue, inviting the world's downtrodden to our shores, was a gift from France and stands as a symbol of our mutual allegiance. It is no wonder, then, that the brutal killings at the hands of evil extremists would strike Americans at our very core.
Yet terrorism is a daily occurrence in many places. As we mourn the victims of the Paris attacks (as we should), we should also remember those who have died or been wounded in other countries, especially in the Middle East and Africa, where violence and the threat of violence by extremist groups are a daily occurrence. Nor should Western countries forget for a moment the suffering of the Syrian refugees, Parisians' fellow victims of terror, or allow the natural instinct for self-preservation to deny them refuge. President Obama called the Paris killings an attack on all humanity. The sinister nature of such plots, whether they occur in a Western nation, in the Middle East or in the developing world, affects us all, and human decency requires a united front in support of all victims and against all who have done or will do harm to innocents.
So what is our response to be? We are defined, after all, not by what others do to us, but by what we do in response. Violence begets violence, and we are already witnessing the natural urge to strike back. President Hollande has declared the attacks an act of war, and France and other nations no doubt will respond with greater military resolve. While we may welcome a more forceful military solution to the growing terrorist threat, and such a response is no doubt necessary, we should not delude ourselves into thinking that we can defeat terrorism with guns and bombs alone. Terrorism, after all, is a product of hate, and military action will breed more hate and attract more terrorists even as it strives to reduce or eliminate the most immediate threats. In addition to killing the killers and stopping the would-be killers, we must find ways to win the hearts and minds of the young men and women whom the terrorists work so hard to recruit.
But there is a way in which terrorism is its own undoing, for we also respond to evil with good. When terrorists strike, good people of the world unite, nations and cultures form bonds, and kindness and compassion prevail. Caregivers care, healers heal, protectors protect. Far from destroying us, terrorism's blows make us stronger. Adversity brings out the best in us, "the better angels of our nature," as Lincoln once said. We see that in Paris, as those close to the trauma care for the survivors, and the rest of the non-extremist world sends messages of love.
True religion (not the warped beliefs of religious extremism) has always taught that, in the end, good overcomes evil and light overcomes darkness. We see that not only in religious writings and beliefs, but also in our storytelling and myths, our Lord of the Rings and Star Wars. We've seen it in our history, when democracy defeats tyranny, law defeats corruption, freedom defeats oppression. The struggle between good and evil is endemic to the human condition and will be with us throughout our history, and the path of human progress is uneven. But as we are confronted with the warped minds and evil machinations of those who would destroy our liberties and our civilization, we must never lose faith in the greater power of good.
Yet terrorism is a daily occurrence in many places. As we mourn the victims of the Paris attacks (as we should), we should also remember those who have died or been wounded in other countries, especially in the Middle East and Africa, where violence and the threat of violence by extremist groups are a daily occurrence. Nor should Western countries forget for a moment the suffering of the Syrian refugees, Parisians' fellow victims of terror, or allow the natural instinct for self-preservation to deny them refuge. President Obama called the Paris killings an attack on all humanity. The sinister nature of such plots, whether they occur in a Western nation, in the Middle East or in the developing world, affects us all, and human decency requires a united front in support of all victims and against all who have done or will do harm to innocents.
So what is our response to be? We are defined, after all, not by what others do to us, but by what we do in response. Violence begets violence, and we are already witnessing the natural urge to strike back. President Hollande has declared the attacks an act of war, and France and other nations no doubt will respond with greater military resolve. While we may welcome a more forceful military solution to the growing terrorist threat, and such a response is no doubt necessary, we should not delude ourselves into thinking that we can defeat terrorism with guns and bombs alone. Terrorism, after all, is a product of hate, and military action will breed more hate and attract more terrorists even as it strives to reduce or eliminate the most immediate threats. In addition to killing the killers and stopping the would-be killers, we must find ways to win the hearts and minds of the young men and women whom the terrorists work so hard to recruit.
But there is a way in which terrorism is its own undoing, for we also respond to evil with good. When terrorists strike, good people of the world unite, nations and cultures form bonds, and kindness and compassion prevail. Caregivers care, healers heal, protectors protect. Far from destroying us, terrorism's blows make us stronger. Adversity brings out the best in us, "the better angels of our nature," as Lincoln once said. We see that in Paris, as those close to the trauma care for the survivors, and the rest of the non-extremist world sends messages of love.
True religion (not the warped beliefs of religious extremism) has always taught that, in the end, good overcomes evil and light overcomes darkness. We see that not only in religious writings and beliefs, but also in our storytelling and myths, our Lord of the Rings and Star Wars. We've seen it in our history, when democracy defeats tyranny, law defeats corruption, freedom defeats oppression. The struggle between good and evil is endemic to the human condition and will be with us throughout our history, and the path of human progress is uneven. But as we are confronted with the warped minds and evil machinations of those who would destroy our liberties and our civilization, we must never lose faith in the greater power of good.
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