Do you believe we have as much to fear inside our own country (Amish child attacks) as we do with terrorists.?

Question

I bet (figures not researched but still willing to put money on it) we have more people killed in this country by our own population than we have had from terrorists and ever will.

Answer 1

Oh absolutely!! In terms of number of lives lost we have killed far more of our own brethren via murder, domestic violence, DWI, road rage, and other causes than all terrorist attacks put together. This is not to mention assault, rape, burglary, etc.

We are a very violent society, one of the most violent. We like to think we are peaceful, and seeing the visions of the Middle East that we are usually shown, of people running and screaming in the streets throwing grenades, it helps maintain that illusion. But numbers-wise we are one of the most violent societies on Earth.

About 16,000 people per year are murdered in America. That rounds out to about 44 per day. Terrorism deaths get more press, but they are nowhere close to causing the same number of deaths.

Answer 2

That is true for now. The problem is the terrorist problem has the potential to be so much worse. One thermonuclear attack in say Houston could kill 4 or 5 million. The Islamic push to dominate the world through violent measures is growing and there is a very real problem and it is growing.

You see if you compare crime in our country with Hitler there really is no comparison. And this has that type of potential. It is a lot easier to deal with it while the other side is not as strong.

Answer 3

Yes, you are correct in the number of interior homicides vs. the number of terrorist homicides.

Do we have much to fear inside our own country? Depends on what you choose to fear. I am more wary of the random synagogue or church explosion or worse, a nuclear or chemical bomb exploding at our ports, than I am of some whacko coming into the local school and holing up and shooting himself and others.

Mental instability is taboo in this country. We secret these people away with medication and hospitalization and ostracization. We don't confront the malaise, but pretend it doesn't exist.

The terrorist threat is more global and widespread than the threat of school massacres in my opinion. NO parent (including me) should ever have to face the news of their child's passing. EVER. But on 9/11/01 in NY, Penn, DC, and on 7/5/05 in London, and in Madrid, and in Bali and in countless street corners of Israel....children have lost PARENTS, and having lost a parent at a young age, that is a devastating thing to a child, and we forget the families torn apart by 9/11 and we forget the hole in our national heart that we felt that day and in the weeks after, and now we look to place blame on ourselves and we look to encapsulate ourselves and shelter ourselves from a brutal and unforgiving world. But I say that is very UNAMERICAN. We have problems in our schools, our neighborhoods, our prisons and our workplaces...but most Americans work hard and obey the law. Most Americans are not the problem. In contrast, most of the Middle East, through polls and interviews and intelligence gathering we've undertaken, is misinformed about our nation, violently opposes our existence and would support our demise. We're talking MILLIONS of people. We have to address that, through communication, and through warfare at times. I don't believe America is a threat to itself, as much as the rest of the world's abandonment of our principles is a threat to us.

Answer 4

NO. That is very silly. Though those attacks are awful and frightening they do not threaten to undo Western civilization and send us back into the dark ages as the Islamic terrorist would like to do. They are isolated incidents and they are not part of a world wide movement bent on our destruction.

Answer 5

Oh yeah it is sad to say that we are more of a threat to our selves than any terrorist could ever be. You can't seem to even trust your neighbors these days

Answer 6

Definatly. Especially since this is the third deadly attack in schools in the past week. I can't believe how many school shooting that have been happening.

Answer 7

There are threats everywhere. But, nuts like this are isolated incidents. Terrorist attacks are consorted efforts, which is what makes them much more of a threat.

Answer 8

We dont have As much to fear, however we do have to fear somewhat.
This country is so divided becasue of the war.
There will always be criminals. Their targets, however, are usually one victim.
Terrorists target groups.

Answer 9

Acts of random violence are as American as apple pie. The last weeks have proved that despite all our tools of war, our children are not safe in their own classrooms.

Answer 10

I think you are probably right. Somehow we are more willing to accept being killed by our own than we are by outsiders.