In September of 2001, I slammed into a part of myself I thought disappeared. I thought motherhood had set in; true maturity had finally arrived. The tomboy in me put away the fantasies of being the real life version of Kelly on Charlie’s Angels, and was replaced with visions of Mary Poppins and Claire Huxtable. I was now a mother.
As a mother, I came to know fear and anger like never before. These emotions would crash through me any time I felt my child was threatened in any way. I was fierce in the fervor to protect my children. Nothing; however, could have prepared me for the passion of revenge I tasted on September 11th.
Until this Wednesday, September 1, 2004.
I am a patriot, an extreme believer in Christ (I guess that means people could call me an extremist.), and I love to rally to a good cause (so I guess the word rebel would fit me too.), but what makes someone a terrorist? I am enraged at the attack on children. I am appalled at the slaughter and beheading of innocents. Does this make me want to seek justice? Yes. Does this make me want revenge? Yes. Does it make me want to dress in camouflage, paint my face green, wear bullet necklaces, grab the biggest gun I can find, and hunt down the animals responsible? YES! So, am I a terrorist?
What a fine line. But there is a line. In all the anger, outrage, and pain of the events in the War on Terror, there is still one very distinct ingredient missing. The sting on my heart and the taste of blood in my mouth never lead me to a place or time that I could harm an innocent. I could never randomly pick a father, mother, or child by their mere nationality and hold them hostage, or take a knife to their throat. Let’s drop these “tuxedo” terms (words used to dress-up reality). Go ahead; call me a patriot, because I would surely use deadly force against anyone intruding my homeland to take my freedom from my children. Call me an extremist, because I will serve my God by voting against the slaughter of unborn children and the attack on marriage. Call me a rebel, for I love to call on authority to be accountable. Save the term TERRORIST for those who are so blinded by their arrogance that they are willing to target innocents in order to further their ideology. And just for the record (now pay attention because this is where the extreme patriotic rebel bears her ugly head), terrorist is a tuxedo word too; I’d rather use words like, MONSTERS, ANIMALS, MURDEROUS THUGS, or MOVING TARGETS.
Great post EC!