Thursday, June 15, 2006


Saw this on St. Mary's yesterday and I just had to (a) take a picture of it, and (b) respond to it.
Folks (and by folks, I'm talking to the United Church Centre, or whoever is responsible for the sign), vandalism is not terrorism. There's a reason the English language has developed the word "vandalism," and that's because it's a separate concept/action from "terrorism." If your signage were correct, then there'd be no need to have developed the word "vandalism" since "terrorism" would cover it/contain it.
Here's the Merriam-Webster definition of VANDALISM: willful or malicious destruction or defacement of public or private property. And here's the definition of TERRORISM from the same source:
the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion. Hi-jackings, suicide bombings, hostage taking - these are the methods of terrorism, NOT, breaking windows or grafitti-ing building walls. By equating the former with the latter, you're basically saying that juvenile delinquents belong at Guantanamo Bay along with members of Al-Qaeda. Which is utter crap - it's the same brand of crap that Dubya attempted to shovel when he uttered the words "you're either for us or against us." We don't live in a black & white world, one dictated by polarities and either/or situations - we live in a multi-hued and nuanced world. Stop trying to paint with a broad brush, get your head out of the clouds and do something constructive with your time. You're doing everyone a disservice by 'sharing' this B.S. sentiment.

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