Schneier on Security: What the Terrorists Want

I agree completely with Bruce Schneier when he points out that by living our lives in fear, we are giving the terrorists exactly what they want. Here are a couple of related ideas:

- The United States has a policy of not negotiating with terrorists, the idea being that by negotiating we would be rewarding terrorist behavior. Unfortunately, we have rewarded the 9/11 attacks anyway by compromising our nation's principles. It would have been unthinkable for our nation to engage in domestic spying, pre-emptive war, or torture on September 10, 2001. Yet, here we are.

- Jesus taught his followers to live their lives in faith and love, not in fear and hatred. In particular he taught that we should love our enemies. However, despite having elected the most overtly religious president in decades, we have failed miserably with respect to these challenging teachings. Generations after we have passed from this life, our descendants will still be reaping the harvest from the seeds of hatred that we have sown.