An Open Letter To Terrorists

I don't know you. I don't know your name, I don't know your motivations, I don't know your story. I know of some of you, from the various accounts of attacks you execute to further your political agenda--the most recent being the Florida massacre of June 12. I speak to not one of you, but each one of you. To anyone who considers themselves a terrorist, or wishes to indulge in an act of terror. I do not speak to you with hatred, nor with fear. You do not deserve either. I look at you, instead, with pity. You lash out with violent, horrific attacks, while you hide behind a veil of anonymity and rationalize your actions under the guise of religion. You are a coward who seeks to destroy all that is good.

You are the enemy of humanity.

The Florida Massacre marked a horrific day in our history. One of you opened fire on hundreds of our friends, killing 49 and injuring 53 others. I didn't know these people personally, but we are tied through the bonds of humanity. They were people just like us. These individuals were attacked unprovoked, reasons unknown but potentially rooted in hate crime. They worked hard to make a living. They loved, and they were loved. They belonged to families, they had friends, and they cared about this country they lived in. This country, and our world has been changed by their loss.

Who knows what their futures held? One of them could have been a future president, another might have discovered the cure for cancer. Gone with them are their secrets, their knowledge, and their presence. They leave behind so many loved ones whose lives are forever altered with this loss. You didn't know them. They didn't know you. Yet in that moment, you decided to play the role of God, and attempted to strip as many innocent, wonderful souls of the one thing that was theirs: their lives.

You're insidious. You ravage, provoke, and destroy all that you touch. Like a deadly disease, you spread your infection across the globe in the hopes of tearing this world apart. Yet you forget one thing. In moments like this, where the world is being ravaged by a common evil, humanity unites. The world will stand as one, and your pathetic, insubordinate attempts at destruction will end. Good will always triumph evil, and you are the biggest evil in our world to this day.

You claim to follow God, yet no religion espouses the action of slaughtering innocents. There is no Islam in your attacks, no God in your actions, and no morality in your beliefs. In no manner do your acts of terror represent Muslims in any way.

Terrorism has no religion. No culture. No borders. No home.

Acts of violence towards others destroy the part of you that is human, that allows you to empathize and be compassionate. To feel love, to give love, and to appreciate the beautiful life God has gifted you. We are all children of God, so why would he want to pit you against his other sons and daughters? Through peace, understanding, and love, you can serve a cause and not be covered in the blood of the innocent. Through God's grace, nothing is impossible. Yet in pursuing these senseless acts of violence you evidently lose your belief in God and give up on happiness and love.

You may win a few battles, but you have already lost the war. The innocent people you kill lived fulfilling lives surrounded by love, happiness, and compassion. In your attempts to further your agenda and push forward with domination, you constantly burn in your personal hell. The blood you spill sentences you to an afterlife of eternal damnation. In that sense, you have lost before you have even begun.

You hit our cities, but you missed America. Our country is rooted in the idea of freedom, of ideological liberty and cultural growth. You may ravage our bodies, but you will never break our spirit. There will never be a day in this world where we succumb our freedoms to meet your demands.

My heart goes out to the friends and families of those who lost their lives a few days ago in this horrible incident. May God bless those we lost, and heal those who have suffered injuries. America will always stand as a symbol of freedom, democracy, and protection to her citizens and shine as a beacon of hope alongside the other nations in this world.

Where the power of love exists, no evil shall last.