9 + 1 + 1 = Heartbreak

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Where was I 10 years past towards the bottom of the line?
Watching the breaking news at home, thinking the world was fine.
My system couldn’t process all the images in my mind,
And so I thought of empty planes and buildings in the sky.

It took a while to understand the evil that occurred.
Through all the noise and destruction cries of help could not be heard.
I never understood the why of devastation on that day,
And always thought; in the end it was the villains who would pay.

But 10 years on and here we sit, looking towards the sky.
Ever wondering why, as our days pass gently by.
We cry and mourn the loss of those that we never got to see,
And wonder if the future holds the peace that needs to be.

If time could stop that day would be the time it stood silently still.
And memories and fantasies would leave us with a chill.
What could have been a working day was a day the world forced change,
And here we sit, thinking about it, as an act of mournful-strange.

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I think it is only right to mention as well as mourn this day. What was taken from us all as civilized people still has yet to be regained and has left us with a gaping hole inside that we cannot seem to shift.

Anybody who was alive and sitting at home watching the horror unfold on the news will understand the... emptiness I’m talking about here: it took a few days for me to realise that those planes were full of people – that those buildings were full of people. The entire horror unfolded for me as the shock finally subsided.

For those who were not around 10 years ago – for generations to come – that date, 9/11, will always be a stained date in the calendar. It will always be known as the time another world made us evaluate our lives and the society we live in today.

The arguments in the press today over a small minded preacher have only gone on to fuel people’s misery and hatred. I cannot see how any man of God could questionably consider such an act as vile as he did in the pursuit of religious tolerance – and yet he did.
And as he did, violence started. And violence will since until the furore has subsided.

His lack of awareness in religion and tolerance is not only astounding but reflective of a smaller, more darker, side to our civilization that needs to be addressed before it causes the world not only untold misery but unimaginable harm.

I can promise you this: if we carry on down this path, religion will be our downfall.

Signed,
An Atheist.

TERROR! (pt 2)

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So, last time I discussed how terror affects us during bouts of unwavering uncertainty and whilst I touched on the subject of terror being used as a weapon in today’s modern world, I did not elaborate on this, which has caused a few people to get in touch asking specifically for this.

As I discussed last time, I believe that terror is extreme stress when faced with dramatic uncertainty of the immediate future. I’m not saying that everybody is intuitive, but causality suggests that every action has a reaction that is somewhat predictable. For example, you say hello to a friend passing on the street – you know there response will (at least) be a greeting of some kind back.
The extreme uncertainty I am attributing to terror is completely different. It is not merely uncertainty of a day but uncertainty of a person’s existence in the immediate future. For example, you say hello to a friend passing on the street – that friend pulls a knife and threatens to kill you – your life now hangs on their intentions. Your future is now incredibly uncertain. Terror ensues.

I believe that that is all terror is. Of course, you can attribute it to the uncertainty of your financial future: it would dramatic end your life as you know it. Terror ensues.
Aptly named “Terrorists” from around the globe use this uncertainty as a weapon of war. Consider a tube journey before the July 7th terrorist attacks on the London underground and comparison it with a tube journey after the attacks; in a manner of speaking, the London Underground is no longer the safe haven it used to be, hence, a quick trip on the tube suddenly becomes a questionable decision.
When that occurs, the terrorists have prevailed.

Terror also affects us in the more mundane but immediate ways also. Before the explosion of the internet, (snail) mail chain letters that foretold death and destruction to a family unless the mail was copied and distributed between 10 or more people was incredibly rampant. Maria Jane Radcliffe, the recipient of a chain letter in the early 1990’s went on record describing the entire situation abhorrent adding:

“For however creative they are, they leave you with a sense of unease about the future. An unknowing that makes you question whether you should pass them on whilst at the same time knowing that if you do, your misery will be shared by another family”

Of course, internet chain e-mails and text messages quickly followed. If you have ever been the recipient of one (a nasty one that is) then you will know of the genuine horror and the immediate questioning decision “Should I pass it on?”

Of course, the more superstitious amongst us nowadays read only the first few lines, affirm it is a chain letter or a hoax and quickly disregard it – but is that superstition? Not wanting to read the rest in case it would be true?
And many other chain letters are merely money scams which, although they are not threatening, are sinister in their approach; by pretending to be a person on their deathbed or pleading you send money to feed a dying child. Naturally, we have become desensitized to these as we have become more aware of the internet and its uses, but the scarier chain letters/mails still provoke enough reaction that we dismiss them without reading the entire contents.

On a more personal level, terror has a tendency to strike when our family or children are in immediate danger. Consider the drastic changes in how parents used to let their children play 10 years ago as opposed to today. The immediate danger that the child may face a paedophile or sex-offender and get snatched is terror inducing enough to prevent most parents now a days to confine their children to the back yard or even their own house. Even though there may not be a registered sex offender living anywhere near the area of a family, the chance that there could be one is just a risk too much to bear.

So how do we function in the face of unwavering terror? The short answer is we do not. Rather, we tend to put scenarios and circumstances we cannot comprehend at that time to the back of our minds; at least until the situation has become more demanding of our attention.

Terror (whilst still a fascinating subject) leaves a lot to be desired on the human psyche.  The sweeping changes it has made on society over the last 10 years have been drastic enough to change our very thoughts and feelings on life (as we know it) itself.