Watching recent events develop in Paris (a city I love) has been painful, but it seems to me that the legacy of these unspeakable tragedies is an increased awareness of the real extent and scope of the problem of religious extremism. It takes something like last Friday’s massacres in a European capital to drum this home. We western Europeans habitually look upon the pointless turf-wars and ethnic slaughter of the Middle East with a detached interest. We should now be more fully aware that the problems of that area are here with us too.
Monitoring the social media for reaction as I do, I see a lot of confusion in the West about what can be done to address these problems. Some demand a negotiated peace in Syria, surely a most remote prospect for now, Others advocate increased military intervention against ISIS, which seems more likely to happen than not; indeed France and Russia are both stepping up their bombing campaigns. Still others wish for increased security measures in Europe, including some that will mean the sacrifice of long-cherished freedoms.
These things can all be debated, and some may even do some good, but to my mind it looks likely that there will be more attacks such as Friday’s, and we have just to accept that ugly truth. It is important to stay resolute against the twisted moralities of pathological extremism; these people must never win. We must not live in fear, but carry on our lives normally. Caution and vigilance are both sensible measures, of course, but we must not live in perpetual fear.
The nutbag extremists may even target my own dearly beloved Scotland at some point, for all I know. Judging by what I have seen emerge as one disappointingly common reaction here, they would succeed only in further degrading the reputation of their faith as well as endangering its Scottish adherents. Already Police Scotland say they are aware of several physical and verbal attacks upon Muslims, and several arrests have been made. I find it shameful that innocent people can be targeted like this in a nation which is historically proud of its ethnic and religious tolerance, but we have plenty of idiots of our own.
The overthrow of the Caliphate isn’t achieved by chibbing Scottish muslims, gadgies. If it’s just a fight you’re after, join the army. Or join ISIS, even. They are just as mental, but use automatic weapons, no chibs. Leave our immigrant community alone, they are not our shame; you are.
chib (tʃɪb ) (Scottish) (slang)
Definitions
verb
Word forms: chibs, chibbing or , chibbed
(transitive) to stab or slash with a sharp weapon
noun
a sharp weapon, such as a knife or razor