Dealing with terrorism, great and small
We hear a great deal today about fanaticism and terrorism, matters that have much in common with one another, but calm consideration of what these mean, as opposed to politically inspired denunciations, is sorely lacking.
Fanaticism has been defined as “excessive, mistaken enthusiasm,
especially in religion”. Enthusiasm itself was a term used in the
17th and 18th centuries to describe irrational behavioural excesses committed
by individuals who claimed to have received mysterious instruction and
guidance from a divine source or alternatively, as their opponents maintained,
from a diabolical one. In pursuing their fanaticism, its exponents indulged
in acts of terrorism.
Terrorism is said by philosophers to defy easy definition, and in our
own times the term has been distorted to meet political convenience.
It has been described as political killing rendered illegitimate because
it excludes any consideration of peaceful political or social alternatives
to violence and targets innocent citizens rather than responsible politicians.
Likewise, terrorism has been a form of warfare contravening all the limitations
of acceptable strife by injuring harmless civilians. Terrorists are supposed
to adopt their unacceptable tactics because they lack the resources to
defeat a military force by traditional means.
Ethical theorists maintain that terrorism can never be justified because
it inevitably brings disaster to innocent bystanders and breaches political
obligations accepted by any civilised culture. They have distinguished
state terrorism, which is activity directed against minority groups by
a majority, from the reverse process.
A similar distinction is awarded to the force used by global business
organisations to advance their sales tactics against individuals and
small groups, which amount to terrorism of a milder nature. It may not
involve the application of brute force, but is nevertheless a form of
coercion.
We should also remember that forms of subterrorism are met in our daily
experience. Violence within families is not uncommon, though it may be
well concealed. And in our schools there is recognised to be a cult of
bullying that sometimes approaches submitting an unfortunate child to
sheer terrorism.
How to deal with any form of terrorism is a tricky question to which
there can be no simple answer. The one thing that cannot work is any
form of counter-terrorism, which will inevitably unite the terrorists
by telling them that the rest of the world is against them, and so stimulate
their efforts to assert their ideas. Much thought is needed here, and
there is no room for political correctness or the gung-ho approach so
beloved of powerful governments.
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The
Pharmaceutical Journal
Rings have a remarkably prominent place in human customs and beliefs. Their material and the finger on which they are worn varies greatly from place to place and from time to time. They may be worn to signify
a social contract, as in engagement and marriage, or as a means of
keeping in contact with a person who can no longer be physically near
the wearer. They may denote a religious significance or a rank in the
social order. And behind them lies a fabric of superstition which renders
them operative or defensive in the life of the wearer.