What happened to the world I grew up in? We had rules, and we by-and-large obeyed them. Countries were expected to act in a certain way. When one crossed the line of decency, they were slapped down. The good guys banded together to smite the offender. It was country vs country, tank vs tank, plane vs plane. You knew who your enemy was. Now in many parts of the world, particularly the Mid East, boundaries are no more. Ideologies have no boundaries.
Guerrilla warfare has been around probably forever, but it was in Vietnam that the Bad Guys realized it was the civilized world's Achilles Heel. Toss a grenade, then run back to tending your fields. "Who me? I didn't do it, nobody saw me, you can't prove a thing." It wouldn't take long for public opinion to force accommodation with the forces of evil.
And of course, there's good old religion. It's all about peace, and tolerance, and love. Right? No? The Crusades are ancient history, but I sense a stirring for Crusades, The Sequel. Us vs "them".
I can't figure out Islam. My heart still wants to honor the concept of Freedom of Religion, but Muslims are making it hard for me. My head says "Don't trust 'em. Watch 'em like a hawk. Don't turn your back on 'em."
Which leads to "profiling". Bad, right? You can't single out African Americans, or Hispanics, for example, for special scrutiny. Except, maybe, it's OK to profile Muslims? Is that where we're heading? I'll admit, when I see someone I can identify as Muslim on the street, I stiffen. I wonder.
Most are just regular people like me...they work, they have families, they bother no one. But some, too many, seem to be torn between being loyal Americans (or Brits, or Aussies, or Danes, etc), honoring the civilized rule of law, and the rising sentiment of identifying with the forces of evil gaining strength in the Mid East and being rapidly spread via the internet. And yes, when you cut off peoples heads, you're EVIL!
So now guerrilla warfare has come to America. Work in your shop or your office during the day, and make bombs and assemble an arsenal at night. Is this where we're headed?
What happened to the world I grew up in?
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