How to Tell the Difference Between Your Neighbor and a Terrorist

People are running scared after the recent attacks in both Paris, where 130 lives were lost, and in San Bernadino, which resulted in the loss of 14 lives.  It's not hard to imagine why either.  The very nature of a terrorist attack is to instill terror and what better way to instill terror than to attack when and where we least expect it.  It is the most paranoia inducing form of warfare against another nation that specifically targets what would traditionally be viewed as "non-combatants".   Basically, you and I.  You or I could be standing in line at the grocery check out or sitting in a theater--doing perfectly normal, average things--when a bomb goes off or gunfire erupts.  How is that not frightening to imagine one's life being snuffed out when one least expects it?  That's how terrorism works and because those who do these things could be living in a house down the street from you or I, it's very easy to start casting an eye of suspicion on any neighbor that would be of Middle Eastern descent or, worse yet, you know for a fact that they are a Muslim.  However, to cast that eye of suspicion and distrust onto your neighbor because of these facts is simply wrong.  How can I say that with such confidence?  Easily--because of numbers.

According to data from the Pew Research Center, the worldwide Muslim population was between 1.6-1.7 billion in 2011 and Islam represented the second largest religious group in the world at 23.2% of the total global population.  If the belief that any adherent to Islam could be a terrorist were to be held, that would be akin to viewing nearly 1 out of every 4 people as a potential terrorist anywhere that you go in the world.  Additionally, with those kind of numbers, if they collectively agreed with the fanatical idealism of terrorists, we would be seeing far more terrorist attacks worldwide than what we actually are seeing at this time.  Obviously, nearly 1 out of every 4 people being a terrorist is highly improbable.  On top of it, just like in Christianity with its history of conflict between Catholicism and Protestantism, Islam has several different offshoots, many of whom are in conflict with each other and may even make your Islamic neighbor more of a higher priority target than even you.   After all, your Islamic neighbor moved to the US for a reason and the odds are infinitely more likely that it was to escape religious persecution just like how my own Catholic great-great grandparents came to N. America from Ireland to do the same than immigrating here with the intention of killing some of us. 

Even viewing those of Middle Eastern descent as being potential terrorists also makes the erroneous assumption that your Arabic neighbor is Muslim when he could be Christian, Agnostic or even an Atheist.  Up to an estimated 10% of those of Middle Eastern descent worldwide are actually Christian, which would  make it highly improbable that they would be associated with IS.  Even making the assumption that only your neighbor of Middle Eastern descent could be a terrorist would be a false assumption as Islam is not specific to any single regional descent or race in the US.  Converts to Islam here are African American, White, Hispanic and more.   Trying to figure out how to tell if your neighbor is a terrorist keeps getting trickier and trickier, doesn't it? 

If your neighbor whose wife wears a hijab may be of a group that IS wants to see exterminated from existence, then obviously, they're not likely to be a terrorist.  They're here wanting to live a better life with safety and security in mind for their family just like you or I want.  That would also very likely include your Middle Eastern neighbor whose wife doesn't wear a hijab as they could very well be Christian or an atheist--also highly despised groups by IS.  And if your white neighbor down the street could actually be a convert to Islam, well that means that they could be a terrorist for all you know though the odds are still that they aren't.  After all, one of the most notorious white converts to Islam in the US was John Walker Lindh, who was captured as a combatant in Afghanistan, fighting against allied forces.  So really, that terrorist could be any one of us.  When we really step back and look at all of this information, it starts looking like trying to figure out if your neighbor is a terrorist or not is a next to impossible task because it could be anybody and it could be nobody even remotely in your vicinity. 

How can you tell if your neighbor is a terrorist if they could theoretically be anyone?  Well, I'd say that, at this point, you probably wouldn't be able to tell until they are walking out their door with a bomb strapped to their chest and an AK-47 in their hand.  That is how you can tell the difference between your neighbor and a terrorist.   In the meantime, instead of casting the eye of suspicion or even hate towards your neighbors that you know are Muslim, try instead to treat them with respect.  After all, once upon a time, the US was viewed as a melting pot, where people whose ancestries from around the world could come in the hopes of seeking a better life for themselves and their families.  Even our most formidable enemy fell before us and not because of war--it was because of our bounty and quality of life that made Boris Yeltsin weep in a grocery store in 1989, signalling the dissolution and end of Communist rule within the USSR.  

If we can make a formidable foreign leader weep and feel inspired at our nation's existence and our qualities that make this nation great, then what better way to fight IS here in the US than by doing the same?  IS feeds and grows its army off of hate, despair, and disenfranchisement.   If IS's recruits feel that they have nothing more to live for so that they are willing to commit suicide in order to harm us, then we fight IS on US soil using what we do best--by being that symbol of hope for a better life in a a far kinder world.  Casting that eye of suspicion and hate on our Muslim neighbors is precisely what IS wants us to do so that they can grow their army and it is why they strike in the way that they do so that we begin to view our neighbors with hate and fear.  Instead of acting precisely in the way that IS desires us to, we give our neighbors something to live for by showing them kindness, hope, and the opportunity for prosperity in a far kinder world than that which they left.  It's hard to want to die when you really do have something to live for. 

Sources:

Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures
America's Changing Religious Landscape, Pew Research
Islam in the United States, Wikipedia