Terrorism and Islam

A drought of opinion has kept me away from this page since Sunday, but low and behold, news pieces have flooded in which compel me to comment. Firstly, the news yesterday of the teenager charged under the Terrorism Act displays wonderfully how this insipid religion can affect the minds of the young, to their infinite detriment. Not only have we seen doctors careering into airport terminals in Scotland, we've now seen British-born youths engaging in calculated plots to bring on our demise. The police officer issuing a press-release yesterday even had the cheek to condemn the news coverage for stirring fear and racial hatred within the community - I don't wish to be overly prudent, but surely this sick young man did that all by himself. Alas, this wasn't the first, nor the youngest teenager to be arrested under suspicious circumstances; in 2003 a 17 year-old from Northern Ireland was charged with possessing items likely to be used for acts of terrorism. Indeed, our whole media furore is at the whim of what these mindless individuals can think of next, as demonstrated by the morning news today, the who-cares news of newly released CCTV footage apparently showing our terrorist counterparts at work. Should we provide these people with a viable media outlet? I think not. Much in the same was as the media has a moral responsibility not to cover teenage suicides in Bridgend, surely we have an intrinsic duty not to flaunt these muppets over the news. The whole debacle has incensed me to the point where I give you this short poem I wrote the day after the Glasgow Airport attacks:

Islamorama

Today the ocean shed a tear. To-
Day the sun quivered in the sky.
Today the moon and stars shone red.
Today the living lived in fear.
Today I drew a breath and smirked.
Today I prayed our war had worked.
Today I ended a terminal phase.
Today I set myself ablaze.