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by Georgie Márquez-André July 17, 2005
FEAR, n. A painful emotion or passion excited by an expectation of evil, or the apprehension of impending danger. Fear expresses less apprehension than dread, and dread less than terror and fright. The force of this passion, beginning with the most moderate degree, may be thus expressed, fear, dread, terror, fright. Fear is accompanied with a desire to avoid or ward off the expected evil. Fear is an uneasiness of mind, upon the thought of future evil likely to befall us. TER'ROR, n. Extreme fear; violent dread; fright; fear that agitates the body and mind.
(Definitions from Webster's 1828 Dictionary.
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I don't think the terrorists are winning. As a matter of fact, I think that they are loosing miserably. Rather than growing in fear, or terror, in a strange and twisted way, I think that people are getting fed up with them... I am.
In England, two weeks ago, they cowardly bombed innocent civilians. In Iraq, they kill their own people. In the Philipines, in Russia, in Albania, they present themselves as blood-thirsty senseless murderers. I think most people don't even know exactly why they are doing it. We just know that they don't like Western lifestyles, any religion but Islam, and for everyone to live in fear. For a group that proposes, among other things, that theirs is the better, more civilized way, they are a pretty dense bunch. Mind you, I am not putting down Islam. Arab civilization brought about some amazing accomplishments in science, mathematics, and architecture, among others. But I am putting down the Islamist fascists who live to die to terrorize everyone they consider an "other." I have done quite a bit of teaching on the concept of misogyny or the hatred of woman. These Islamists certainly qualify as that... but more than that, I would say that they suffer from misanthropy, or "hatred or distrust of mankind." In essence they are xenophobic. XENOPHOBIA, n. fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything that is strange or foreign In the end, theirs is a self-defeating battle. As they reveal themselves to be the hate-filled cowards they really are, I fully expect that the world will see through their false arrogance. A fascinating term I heard following the London bombings was "pull a Spain." A television commentator was referring to Spain's response following the bombings in Madrid. On the eve of national elections, the people basically turned around and ran from their attackers, rather than facing them head on and trying to defeat them. Thus empowered the terrorists now believe that they have the power to affect and direct a whole nation's political future. Would England "pull a Spain" and reinforce this belief? How Britons will respond is still not known... but I sure hope not. Hatred no matter how terrifying should never be emboldened.
Have a blessed week.
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