Earlier this week, I overheard a conversation about current politics in America and the world largely centered around terrorism and Islam. One of the people in this conversation said "Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims." Now, as much as I agree with the first half of that statement, the latter portion both confused me and made my blood boil. As I got to thinking however, I realized why this individual would make such a statement, and it all goes back to our news media and the way our society handles the concept of "terrorism."
Our society, much like societies throughout history, loves to practice this little concept called "othering." Basically, we view the world as "us" and "everyone else," willing to do whatever necessary to defend ourselves while demonizing the rest of the world around us because we don't like how they fit into our narrative. One major way this is seen is in our treatment of violent crimes and the terminology used to define them. When a Muslim man shoots up a gay bar in Orlando, it's considered an act of terrorism, but when a white teenager from a nominally Christian household shoots up a high school, we say he was "troubled" or "mentally unstable."
Now, yes, Omar Mateen did claim to commit his murders in the name of ISIS, a clearly terrorist organization, but that does not change the heart of this matter. In these instances, both men are perpetrators of violent crimes in a place people should feel safe, taking dozens of innocent lives. Yet, one sparks national debate regarding the treatment of an entire religion and ethnic group, while the other examines one man's mind and inner struggle. Both are terrorism.
We cannot pick and choose what we consider terrorism simply because of someone's religion or color of their skin. We cannot hold a group responsible in one instance yet an individual in another. We cannot change the definition of nearly identical attacks to fit our personal agenda. If you are going to call every Muslim a terrorist, then you must do the same to every person of your race or religion, for every people group contains individuals who have committed horrendous crimes. It is time we stop viewing ourselves as the harmless victims and the rest of the world as the oncoming murderers.
