Article June 11, 1990 Issue

A response to terrorism: prayer and spirituality

What can you and I do about terrorism? More than we may realize, when we turn to God for answers.

Kurt Flach

Terrorism is a terrible problem in today's world, one that cries out for an answer, a healing response. The taking of hostages, the killing of them, the slaughter of innocent people, retaliatory action, the senseless violence, all demand our deepest thoughts and prayers. What is the answer? At times it would seem there is no answer.

Behind terrorism sometimes lies the most hopeless, the most pathetic, the most tragic of situations. Human misery feels that since there is no justice, something might be gained by taking a hostage or setting off a bomb.

Terrorism often finds a response from the young, from those who are often attracted to "lost causes" or rebellion. "Duty" also may enter in: "Because my father and my brother were killed, I must be active in this work." Revenge is also a motive: "Because your ambush killed my son, I'm going to bomb your home." And so it goes. Injustice, seemingly insoluble problems, hate, hopelessness, revenge, conflicting ideologies—is there really no answer for any of these?

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Prayer: our chief weapon in the battle for truth
June 11, 1990
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