bombs in Boston ... and now in Texas???

By your own admission, such rationalizations are wrong. He cannot be at war with the US.

They are legally wrong but that is simply a matter of law. Technically he would be in a State of Rebellion. But we still claim there was a Civil War and a Revolutionary War.

Hello NoNukes, I think we agree.I meant that if we as a society cave in to terrorist then they have accomplished their goal.Nothing can be done really to stop someone from doing something evil and heinous. But should that stop Americans from having marathons, or having large organized sporting events? No this makes no sense. We have to do what we must to deter and hopefully prevent acts of terror.I meant we as a society should not change our ideology simply because we want to appease a certain group who will resort to violence to achieve a goal.

I agree, yet I see jars point. He would argue that we citizens are responsible for the behavior of our government and that many foreign and a few domestic people are at war with this government. A civil war, were they domestic.I maintain, however, that no jury (at least of US citizens) would ever condone such an action, and that we the people can not, nor should not change our behavior nor our daily actions simply because some individual or group of individuals demands that we do. In essence, i have picked my side in this battle...the side that protects and supports the American people.

I agree, for some definition of the word 'ideology'. But some policies we might have are clearly counterproductive, and one of the factors that makes them counterproductive is the expectation of a terrorist response. I know the neo-cons tell us not to think like that, but I think that advice is foolhardy.

I was stationed in Germany in the mid 1980's as a soldier.
Being from a free society like America, I was not use to the counter terrorist measures being employed in central Europe airports and train stations. I am talking submachine guns ,dogs and searches. ( "your papers please.")
But you must understand that was a way of life over there.
Red Army Faction and IRA and a host of other groups had changed that society to be more wary.We here in the US did not get our wake up call until
September 11, 2001. The US will never be the same.
We lost our naivety that day.
We know now that a free society is always at risk to have violence perpetrated against them.
It is a trade off between being free or being safe. We choose freedom. I can not express how pissed I am over Boston.
I believe this will unite our country more than tear it down.
Just look at how the Yankees played Sweet Caroline hosting the Red Sox!

I actually thought that this was an extremely moving thing to see. Could not get the video to work, you will have to follow this link to YouTube to watch itThe song was also played by the Dodgers, Cubs, Marlins, Braves, and Athletics. And the Milwaukee Brewers played the theme song from Cheers. However, seeing the fans that I have watched hate Boston and everything its teams stand for for many years stand and sing just as proudly as they do in Fenway was very touching. It does kind of show the mentality that exists in this country of, "whether the perpetrator is foreign or domestic, you mess with one area of this country and we will stand together."Edited by Tempe 12ft Chicken, : No reason given.Edited by Tempe 12ft Chicken, : Changed video coding for link coding

The thing here is that we the people don't like civil wars. In essence, this is not a U.S. issue...its a global issue and, globally, humanity appears to be in a civil war. Human against human. Nobody likes to be targeted and feels a legitimate threat when another individual or group targets them. Note my underline. Individuals with evil in their hearts. Now...it may well be that when the United States invaded Iraq, we the people saw all Iraqis as the enemy, since they all seemed to support Saddam. In the same way, perhaps our enemy sees all of we Americans as complicit towards the military industrial complex that makes drones and engages in wars on foreign soil to secure national interests. However....as has been said, the difference between Boston and a Military Drone attack is that in the former, civilians were intentionally targeted whereas in the latter, civilian deaths were said to be collateral damage. Still....I agree with you that America need examine its national purpose in this world. You wont find many people wanting to do so now, however...they want revenge! Terrorism wont easily bring us to either the altar of repentance nor the negotiating table. We are a stubborn and proud people.

And where should terrorism bring us?Surrender? (To who?)Negotiate? (With who?)Repent? (To who?)

surrender to Jesus Christ.Negotiate....I dunno. Im not in favor of negotiating with terrorists.Repent and kill our flesh so that we no longer support the military industrial complex.When i say surrender, i mean that we are to surrender our sinful nature to God. If we still got attacked after that, our enemy is then in the wrong.

Granted that was my unthinking kneejerk fundie response. But lets talk a moment, shall we?In this BBC news link, the investigation lines up its likely suspects. Boston marathon bombings: Possible lines of inquiry

quote:

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The FBI maintains a long list of potential threats emanating from US individuals or groups harbouring violent intentions towards the federal government, civil organisations, or society in general.

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The list includes white racial supremacists, fundamentalist Christian extremists, animal rights activists and anti-abortionists. So-called "lone wolf" operators - individuals not belonging to any known terrorist group - are far harder for the authorities to detect and track.

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There are no extremists in the immediate circle of club christian that I socialize with.We do believe that humanity is imperfect, contrary to most secular humanist wisdom...we believe and can find evidence supporting the idea that human culture is capable of both good and bad actions, and I personally will admit that one need not be religious in order to be extremely good or extremely bad.So who do the authorities think is the most likely suspect(s)? So it looks as if jar may have been right. such an individual need not be classified as mentally disturbed...albeit fanatical.As for my kneejerk reaction? First off, I am a champion of freedom and believe that I live in a good(used to be great) country. We love things like the Boston Marathon. The very idea of an attack that targets the crowd, not even the runners themselves...causes internal outrage. And as a Christian who believes in the idea that humans have a sinful nature...I quite naturally think we all need to surrender in the sense that we need to kill our greedy selfish flesh and allow the Spirit of Love, Wisdom, and Peace dominate. (I was, in essence, preaching to myself. )Some would strongly disagree, of course...i can see hooah, theodoric, and coyote preeminent amongst them.Im sorry I am pessimistic on human potential. I simply dont see humans alone and of themselves willing to survive and love each other, thinking of others better than ourselves...as the Bible suggests we do.I know that I dont want to sacrifice my way of life to better the poor of the globe, and maybe this is why there is so much war and strife in the world...hence why I say that for me at least, I need Jesus.

Hold on a cotton-pickin-minute! I can't let this just pass: I've never seen any secular humanists claiming that "humanity is perfect".Where do you get this stuff from? Do you think a rejection of the notion of original sin (or whatever Christian doctrine it is you are advocating) equates to concluding that humanity is "perfect".....?I don't even know what "perfect" humanity would look like anyway. Perfection is in the eye of the beholder. One man's idea of perfection is another man's idea of defective. So the whole notion of "perfect humanity" is just nonsensical. If you honestly believe that then I am perplexed as to why you think killing people is a bad thing rather than merely a method of hastening them to this wondrous state of spiritual existence where they are devoid of "selfish flesh"....?It seems your idea of perfection includes an absence of physical existence....

But the part that you underlined is simply unsupported assertion that happens to be what YOU want to hear.Yes, the US has the technology to be more sophisticated in choosing targets, but that is not true of all people. Those who do not have our sophisticated and expensive weapons must use what they have. And the US certainly takes the same position about innocent civilians if they happen to be near one of our targets.

How so? I think the government response was very effective and more than adequate.