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the government's war on Americans |
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Are You
a
Terrorist?
By Laura Dawn Lewis
According to the FBI
guidelines, most of us could be!
The definitions used to classify domestic terrorists can
with the right spin, be applied to every single American at
one time in his or her life. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) created this pamphlet to assist American's and law enforcement in doing their part in the war on terror.
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The definitions
are so vague nearly every American could be investigated now
under the Patriot Act.
SKIP to Bottom Line |
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On the cover it
simply states: "If You've Encountered Any of the Following, Call
the Joint Terrorism Task Force". The one element this
handy little pamphlet forgets to mention is common sense.
The Following is the FBI Definition
of a Domestic Terrorist:
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No problem with the above, right? The
emphasis is on CRIMINAL activity. Unfortunately from this
point forward common sense takes a vacation.
Have you ever become irate over an issue,
reminded someone that it's a free country, or taken the fifth
even in jest? These actions fall under the suspicious
activities outlined by the FBI. Many can be applied to
nearly every US citizen whom has graduated from the10th grade.
What is more disturbing is that we've migrated to
classifying people, as this brochure does, rather than relying
on values, morals and principles to decide an issue or a
person's sincerity. This outline also makes common human
behavior such as a heated debate over a controversial issue
suspicious activity.
Case in point: The shutdown of the Florida HWY for 18 hours
over a misinterpretation of an innocent conversation is an
excellent example of what happens when a society becomes afraid
of its own and ceases to think critically. The four medical
students could have been any males with a similar ethnicity.
The woman reporting could have easily been any American hearing,
yet not hearing a conversation. Classifications and
preconceived notions provide an excuse to not ask if a situation
is logical. If we ask and critically consider, the error of
thought becomes apparent and the situation dismissed.
Unfortunately, most people don't think first. They act.
Our press is also not correcting itself when it makes errors.
How many people reading this know the four students did pay the toll
and had done nothing wrong or suspicious? How many people know
that only through much
effort these four American citizens were able to regain their
good names? It was reported, just not with the same emphasis or
follow-up.
TOP
What constitutes suspicious terrorist
activity? According to the FBI, the following
vague caricatures and classifications are the person's whom should be
reported as possible domestic terrorists:
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Left-wing Terrorists and Right-wing
Extremist...Interesting that Left-wing is terror and
right-wing is just extreme. Must have been written by a
Republican? |
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Group One:
Common Law Proponents,
Left Wing
Terrorists and Right Wing Extremists
This one makes me and every single journalist, writer,
history teacher and attorney a terrorist whom refers to
our constitution for guidance, clarification and to
define principle. How? The first, fifth and
sixth amendments.
Most journalists that cover any political issues or
domestic rights issues know the constitution and
especially the first 10 amendments, also known as the
Bill of Rights, backward and forward. At least
the FBI gives equal weight to Liberals and
Conservatives!
Be careful not to be too
Patriotic...this is an activity of terrorists. |
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Did you notice the "No drivers
license" notation? Welcome to the party non-drivers
and join the writers, reporters, attorney's and teachers. Anyone
with a suspended license, who is blind, physically or mentally
handicapped, lives in a City like New York where cars are an
elite luxury or just not interested in driving
is also a suspected terrorist because they don't have a
drivers license. Don't forget all those 15-20 year olds with
fake ID's. True, using a false ID is criminal activity but
this makes 15% of our teens suspected terrorists.
And if you work in Internal Affairs or are
part of a citizen's watchdog group monitoring police
conduct...you could be a terrorist.
TOP
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Group Two: Hate Groups
No problem here either identifying
these groups as hate groups. Each named group
follows a philosophy that says one type of human being is
better or more human than another. This is a direct
contradiction to our
stated value of "All men and women are created equal".
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Most American's can point out the obvious organizations
that promote the degradation, oppression or vilification
of a population, creed or race, right?
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It's a little difficult to be flippant about hate groups; I'll
keep this part serious. Most objections to public or government
policy state how our conduct or that of our allies is in direct
conflict to the expressed values, (Life, liberty, pursuit of
happiness; all men and women are created equal) morality, (Do
unto others, Love thy neighbor) and principles (The Bill of
Rights) our country is founded upon.
TOP
Under the Patriot Act the definition of a
terrorist can objectify persons defending
the human rights of oppressed foreigners, overt questioning
of the objectives and motives of conquering governments or even
our own determination to ignore our own principles and invade a
country that has not attacked us. Hate can now be readily
redefined as dissention, disapproval or objections. And if you
are the person screaming, "Wait a minute! This is not
rational," you are labeled a terrorist for not agreeing or
causing others to pause.
A more sublime example is when a minority of
a population breaks from the majority mentality
with a position supporting this country's foundation, (values,
morals and principles), but
against a domineering special interest's agenda. This form of
hate, though less obvious is easy to spot because it reveals
itself in the actions of the interest being questioned. This
hate is led by name-calling and characterizations such as
fanatical, anti-_____, or racist. In its worst form it
involves the manufacturing of evidence against an individual or
group.
If you saw Sixty Minutes on October 6th, you
witnessed hate from a man suppose to be teaching and promoting
the philosophy of love and tolerance. I speak of the
Reverend Jerry Farwell and his condemnation of the Islamic
faith, but even more telling his agenda behind Zionism, the
forced reclamation of all areas defined as the Holy Land
under one religion. He stated that the expansion of Israel was
more important than the interests of the US or any other social
issue. He called for ethnic cleansing by eliminating all
non-Jewish persons from the Middle East. He is a Christian
advocating, financing and condoning the slaughter of other
Christians and Muslims, (though it's not mentioned in US press,
the Palestinians are both Christian and Muslim. What's
also not mentioned is that 40% of the Israeli population is
against the detention camps and forced segregation of the
Palestinians). After hearing Farwell I turned to my friend
and said, "He makes me ashamed to be a Christian."
My friend asked why. I replied, "Because he's
playing God and he's decided some Christians are better than
others and that those with differing beliefs are inferior.
He's decided that he is more important than the teachings of
Jesus and that frightens me. What frightens me even more is how
righteous he presents himself and I know others follow this
blindly." TOP
Fortunately the two Israeli guests recognized
the hate and commented that to them, the most dangerous people
on the planet are not the Islamic extremists, but the Christian
Evangelical Zionists like Farwell and their agenda toward a
manufactured Armageddon. That surprised me until I
recalled that the non-government Israeli papers have made the
same point repeatedly.
The program was a wake-up call and blatantly
illustrated how hate can hide behind agendas and how people buy
into it simply because it's packaged with the right title.
The FBI booklet doesn't mention this. It should.
Hate groups can only bend opinion if
complacency and blind faith allow it. Persons or causes with
truth on their side never need to defame, characterize, vilify
or humiliate another person or group to make an argument or
point. Discrediting through intimidation is a bulling
technique. Questioning, requiring proof and requiring
accountability by verifying the proof is the only way to disarm
it. Dissention and questioning should never be labeled as
hate. Rather than focusing on classifications such as hate
groups, we should be focusing on the actions that define hate.
Principles, not personalities.
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Group Three:
Single Issue TerroristsPart of
this list is acceptable because it describes a specific
action. The rest? Classifying persons passionate about their cause as Single
Issue Terrorists is dangerous and unfair. The United States is
built on causes and most of the great changes to global society
have come about because someone was a little too loud,
insistent, rebellious and in-your-face to be ignored.
Change is always preceded by the pendulum swinging too far to
the right and left. |
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These definitions make passion and commitment to a cause
acceptable reasons to institute the Patriot Act and invade your
life for the sake of the war on terrorism. It makes vegans
and vegetarians suspected terrorists; it makes ardent
anti-abortion protestors suspected terrorists. You can add
in proponents for clean air, scientists warning about global
warming, supporters of Amnesty International, supporters of
Green Peace, avid Trekies, the World Wildlife Fund and even
some of the Christian Aid groups whom have been vocal about war
crimes and violations to the Geneva Convention over the past
fifty years. It makes terrorists out of anyone with a cause whom
is strict in their beliefs and actions during the course of supporting and
advocating a cause. Rather than classify people whom make
life a bit more challenging, this classification would be more
useful to if it outline the activities that cross the line and
fall outside of our country's values, morals and principles.
TOP |
Bottom Line:
The definitions used to classify domestic terrorists can
apply to every single American at one time in his or her life. Though
the front of this FBI brochure emphasizes that criminal behavior
must preclude investigation and consideration as a terrorist,
the Patriot Act has nullified this requirement by making
suspicion grounds for detention, persecution and public
humiliation. These definitions of a domestic terrorists
effectively silence this debate, criticisms and re-examination
of evidence by making the action of dissention suspicious.
A fear of labeling results in the muzzling of our press and single
agenda reporting
we currently experience in the
United States on specific issues. This tact belittles via
obfuscation, filibustering and ostracization should a person
dare question or offer evidence to the contrary.
TOP
By using classifications rather than relying on values,
morals and principles to decide an issue, the US population is
inoculated against critical thinking and we complacently allow
behaviors we'd never support to continue. Even more astonishing,
we continue to pay for these behaviors. This serves the
purposes of those creating the agenda but chips away at the
foundations of a free and humanitarian society. Our minds
no longer belong to us and our fear of public ridicule keeps us
from questioning. In the end, we trade our values, morals
and principles for the characterized definitions and agenda of
others. We stop questioning; then we stop thinking.
In the end we are left with hate and the definition of a
terrorist emanating from us all as it stares back at us from the
mirror.
TOP |
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