What is a terrorist?

berzirk

berzirk

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A timely question considering some are annoyed that the Chapel Hill killing/assassination/conflict was called terrorism by some, a simple parking dispute by others, and it seems that political ideology played a major role in which term was applied.

Perhaps a side topic, but something that has grown increasingly interesting to me, is this newfound comfort level that some folks have in talking about Muslims.  I'll be the first to admit that the dickheads killing civilians around the world are helping form the opinions of people inclined to hate an entire group, but it used to be that a person who stood in a corner screaming "go back to your country terrorist!" (you third generation, American-born Arab guy who happens to be Muslim) was looked at as a xenophobic idiot.  Now the level of acceptable speech towards Muslims seems to have been lowered to the point where some pretty vile, mean-spirited, derogatory comments are looked at as not that bad.

I've experienced it first hand in public, in the workplace, at school.  I take pride in having thick skin, and if someone wants to be an uninformed bigot, Shaq-fu them and their wig wearing mama, but I do worry about the environment my kids grow up in, and the types of comments that seem to be considered acceptable today, that maybe a decade, fifteen years ago, were considered quite rude and hurtful.

 
This might be a little simple, but to me, a terrorist is a person or organization that spews hate before and after they commit a horrific crime... thus publicly owning their actions.

A true terrorist won't shut his mouth and stop ranting after he commits a crime just because he's afraid it'll hurt him when it comes to a trial or sentencing. 

Doesn't mean both actions weren't derived from hate or ignorance... but only the person truly committed to that ignorance should be labeled a terrorist IMO.

 
A terrorist is the person or group who gets labeled by another party first :)

Just like the USA gov't is a terrorist organization ( if you start war/s based on lies just to start a war, that's a good definition of terrorism ),  however the USA isn't a terrorist organization because they called someone out and labeled someone else as a terrorist FIRST, so in essence they can't be called a terrorist back because they were the first to call someone out :)

Just like if you call someone gay it defeats the person calling you gay back, it is a weak comeback ....

 
To me a terrorist is someone who commits acts with the sole purpose to instill fear in the name of any ideology.  So I wouldn't consider mad at the world school shooters terrorists because they aren't trying to instill fear and don't follow any certain ideology, but people like the KKK, ISIS, etc. who commit acts to scare people or in the name of their beliefs I would consider terrorists. 

 
In my opinion a terrorist is a person who commits a heinous act with the intent of instilling fear and promoting political or ideological rhetoric.

 
http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/terrorism/terrorism-definition

18 U.S.C. § 2331 defines "international terrorism" and "domestic terrorism" for purposes of Chapter 113B of the Code, entitled "Terrorism”:

"International terrorism" means activities with the following three characteristics:

Involve violent acts or acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state law;
Appear to be intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and
Occur primarily outside the territorial jurisdiction of the U.S., or transcend national boundaries in terms of the means by which they are accomplished, the persons they appear intended to intimidate or coerce, or the locale in which their perpetrators operate or seek asylum.*


"Domestic terrorism" means activities with the following three characteristics:

Involve acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state law;
Appear intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination. or kidnapping; and
Occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the U.S.
Click to expand...
 
berzirk said:
Seems like that could be applied very liberally internationally and domestically, but isn't. Interesting.
Click to expand...
It does seem broad now that you mention it. If you kill a person of a different race, creed or ideology or whatever, does it necessarily mean you are trying to intimidate the group the victim belongs to, or did you just want to kill that one person?

In the court of public opinion it will most realistically be decided on our existing beliefs, not necessarily the facts of the case, unless it was blatantly obvious.

What do I think of when I think of terrorism? 9/11 obviously. Oklahoma City bombing. Unabomber. Gamer Gate, of course.

The atheist that killed those Muslims, I don't know yet. I'm leaning no unless something new came out. When I think of victims of terrorism I usually think random people. Seems that this guy had a beef with specific people.

I don't care if I'm called an uninformed bigot. I have a pretty thick skin. I don't hate Muslims and welcome them if they assimilate to American culture (believe in freedom of speech and our justice system's ideals) and I don't want to see them killed even if they don't, but I am definitely of the mindset that Islam is a destructive force right now and that much of the culture practiced in the Middle East is backwards when it was a once mighty creative force in the history of civilization. I would defer to David Starkey on that one.

Islamophobia? I'm not scared that I'll be beheaded by Isis on my daily walk tonight, but I am more scared of Islam in a figurative sense than I am of Christianity.
 
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I think it is more reasonable to be afraid of Islam than Christianity because of the terrorism that happens overseas. But we should be MORE afraid of the gun happy freak that shoots up a mall, a school, a church, or what have you. We do have measures to prevent domestic terrorism from happening, but the mainstream media (this means you Fox News) is more concerned about sensationalism than encouraging our society to do better. I find it shocking that even though we are allowed to say it, grown men claim that our right to own and brandish guns is more valuable than our children's right to live in peace and safety.

 
Mainstream media covers mass-shootings very intensely. Not sure what you're talking about. It's the gun violence in the inner city that they tend to ignore.

 
There are definitions of terrorism aplenty on US government websites. They are generally accurate in that it occurs against civilian populations to attempt to intimidate and coerce policy changes. 

By it's own definitions, much of the US' actions around the world would be considered terrorism. 

 
The application of the label of "terrorist" is a political tool used in the form of rhetoric against certain enemies of the state/status quo. Once the label is legitimized in legalese, the state can start picking and choosing what laws will and won't apply to these individuals allowing the state to deal with them carte blanche with wide public support. I'm sure that doesn't sound familiar to anyone at all...
 
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