Targeting Terrorists

While finishing breakfast and morning coffee, my Saturday morning metamorphosed into a delightful but unexpected telephone conversation with a longtime peer that brings this additional bit of reflection.

The phone rang. Millard Knapp was on the other end reading me his email that I had to admit I sent yesterday. My initial email was one of those disgusting messages targeting me for whatever reason the sender had in mind. It was cloaked in the loving words of a strange female who saw my profile and wanted my friendship … for whatever reason.

That alerted me to the massive amount of email I receive from anywhere and everywhere telling me I have won the latest lottery, or that I need to claim my latest “Get out of Jail” card, or whatever product this particular con-artist is using to target me. Ultimately, they all want my personal information so they can “scam” me for their gain.

When my email came yesterday, I simply keyed on “all” and returned the message to everyone on that sender’s list (I thought). I added the message “Scam Alert” and sent it. My message apparently went to my mailing list (I’m not really sure) but I discover that people like Millard received it although I had not seen his name on the senders list.

So while Millard enjoyed reading the fraudulent message back to me I explained what I had done. He confessed “Yes, it says ‘Scam Alert!’” and we each had a good laugh …  updated each other on our current standings … wished each other well … and the day was off to a good start.

That started my wheels turning and I began to consider how individuals in the current culture target and terrorize one another. An unknown individual wants my Facebook friendship so they can offer me illicit female friendship. Or, so they can defraud (scam) me in some other way available to them. Further thoughts reminded me of the thousands of messages that go through my spam file that target me for whatever purpose (Of course, that keeps the Internet Provider in business!).

While this went on, I spent my time monitoring CNN news regarding the French Jihadists who

The Fleeing Terrorist

slaughtered a dozen people while endeavoring to delete free speech at the Charlie Hebdo magazine. Other news includes reports of the teen charged with killing his Massachusetts teacher, four shot dead in San Francisco, the gun shop owner in Shawnee, KS killed by thieves intending to steal guns from him, to Boko Haram targeting infidels for ethnic genocide.

Add to this the massive corporate commercials flooding my TV, attempting to hold me captive while they pick my pocketbook and enrich their corporate bottom line. If these are not enough, “Security” experts peddle their fears that Americans could become the most recent victims of the next planned “Terrorist plot” and the military-industrial complex continues to export war.

Does it use too wide a brush to include such a wide variety of illustrations to suggest that everybody seems to be targeting somebody? Is it going too far afield to gather these all together in the same fishnet and suggest that such “targeting” reveals little difference at its core and makes the common lot of targeters “terrorists”?

I am not blind to the dangers I see of a terrorist plot, but neither am I naïve enough to deny the element of terrorism in the common lot of humanity who target another person for some type of profit. Eliminating Islamic Jihadists does not rid us of the problems caused by multitudes of other forms of terrorism or planned fraud, both violent and none violent.

From the slanted blog that robs another of his or her reputation to the outright murder of hundreds of Nigerians by Boko Haram, it all comes under the heading of violence and scam. Each uses an element –of fraud, slanted to deceive. Each is grounded in a selfish motive. Each expresses the sinfulness of humanity. Each needs redemption!

This is walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

at Warner’s World.