I remember sitting in our kitchen when my husband ran in and said, "there's been an accident, a plane has crashed into one of the twin towers." By the time we got to the big house (the main house on our farm and the one that then had TV reception) they were falling.
It was clear then what had happened. I remember I could handle it until my husband started screaming and cussing at the TV. I ran out of the house and into the forest and just sat. I couldn't even cry.
Since then I have seen a real change in my people, and one that has not been good. My mother for example has become a woman who is utterly paranoid, utterly hateful, even though she knows far fewer people from the middle east than I do. She is relatively safe where she is, but she won't stop trying to tell me and my children how evil and unforgiviing they are. I have finally had to ask her why she has become such a great follower of Al Qaida that she has taken on their attitude towards forgiveness and tolerance for others. I know all too many others who have become like her.
I understand the fear, but I can't agree with allowing it to change who I am, force me to adopt someone elses priorities and so-called values. I refuse to become like some lunatic just because I would be safer doing so. There are actually worse things than dying, and for me, that is one of them! There is a way of combatting what these people are trying to do, and part of that is simply by knowing that they do not speak for anyone but themselves. For myself, that is knowing that yes, there is the chance that I might be killed by a young man with no understanding of religion beyond what he is told by a vicious false teacher, but I am more likely to be killed because some bus driver overestimates his ability to handle these icy roads, and I cannot afford to allow either to control my life until then. HUGGGS!