After Paris… How do you feel these days? Safe? Less safe?

I don’t know about you, but over the last year or so I have become increasingly disciplined regarding my situation awareness.  When I get out of my car, I look around to see where everyone is.  When I walk out the door, I look around to see where everyone is.  When I walk into a place, I look around.  I know where the doors and exits are.  I see where everyone is, who comes in after me.  If I see someone that looks or behaves oddly, I keep an eye on them.

Since the attacks in Paris, I have been thinking about posting a poll about how you feel these days, but I can’t quite get the questions down.  So…I’ll just ask:

How do you feel these days?  Safe?  Less safe?  Are you afraid to go to public venues?  Malls?  Movie theaters?  Soft targets?

I have to go to New York City for a charity event in December and so I was talking by phone with a friend there about taking in the new Star Wars movie on opening night.  Afterward, out of curiosity, I brought up a movie schedule website to see where in Manhattan it would be playing.   Then it hit me: opening night of Star Wars… in Manhattan… in a movie theater.  Soft tempting terror target?  You bet.  “Do I really want to do that?”, I thought.

At IJReview, Erick Erickson has some thought provoking comments.

After Paris, I Want to Take My Gun to Star Wars

I have never worried or fretted about things like this. Even after the Aurora, CO, shooting at the “Dark Knight Rises” showing, I never once worried about going to a theater and getting shot. I have taken the view of Stonewall Jackson that, believing in God, I am as safe on the battlefield as I am in my bed. Of course, Stonewall Jackson was killed on the battlefield.

After the events of Paris and in light of the unvetted Syrian refugees coming into this country, I am rather nervous about going to the opening day of “Star Wars.” If I were a terrorist and wanted to find a large, unsecured gathering of Americans without arms, I would show up with a bomb at the local cinema on opening day of “Star Wars.”

Most theaters have policies that prohibit their patrons from carrying guns in. Gun owners, law abiding folks that they are, then tend to leave their guns in their cars when they go to the movies. [In NYC people are denied their 2nd amendment rights.] A terrorist or nut job ignoring the law could do a lot of damage before anyone could respond. A terrorist with an undetected bomb strapped to himself could do even more damage.

There are no metal detectors at the theater.

I would like to find a theater in my area that allowed concealed carry permit holders to bring their guns to the movies. In Brazil, crime has gotten so bad, the government has now passed a wide ranging gun liberalization law. The citizens can now carry guns to defend themselves since the government has been unable to protect them. [That’s the case in a growing number of American cities.] At American theaters, the American citizens should be put in the same position as Brazilian citizens. We should be allowed to arm ourselves to protect ourselves.

I typically am never worried about these things. The stories tend to be remote. [These things always happen to someone else… until they happen to you.] They tend to not bother me. But in Paris, the terrorists went to a music concert and went to a soccer game. They went where unarmed masses were and where security was poor. The terrorists at the soccer game were stopped by security nonetheless. But that was not the case at the theater.

[…]

Read the rest there.

Whether you are a gun owner or not, a gun carrier or not, and even if you are an opponent of gun ownership, it seems to me that we all need to exercise real prudence these days and situational awareness.    If everyone were more alert when out and about (rather than keeping eyes glued to the damn phone screen with loud music in ear buds), bad guys would have a harder time making people into victims.

I say, make it really hard for bad guys to do their bad guy things.  Make it dangerous for them.  Make them want to be somewhere else.

Have you changed anything in your life because of the fear of terrorist attacks or rising crime?   Have you had a serious conversation about any of these things with a friend or a loved one?

And remember… GO TO CONFESSION!

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
This entry was posted in GO TO CONFESSION, Semper Paratus, The Coming Storm, The future and our choices, The Religion of Peace and tagged . Bookmark the permalink.

85 Comments

  1. John Grammaticus says:

    I have an escape plan ready should someone decide to shoot up my work. Admittedly we’re on the 4th floor but then again our office is reasonably defensible.

  2. alexandra88 says:

    I don’t feel any less safe than I usually do. I refuse to let terror attacks or threats deter me from my day-to-day life. My husband is from Northern Ireland and in no way did the Troubles and their legacy make him overly cautious. Just use common sense I guess.

  3. capchoirgirl says:

    I actually did think about that today, when considering whether or not to go to a special “Mockingjay Part 2” screening at my theater. But I also know that my theater usually has at least two police officers on duty, and they have checked bags before. Personally, I wouldn’t mind a bag check as a matter of course when going into theaters, like there is for sporting events.

  4. the little brother says:

    St. Anthony’s Brief over & over when I become fearful ~

    Ecce Crucem Domini,
    Fugite, partes adversae,
    Vicit Leo de Tribu Juda,
    Radix David, alleluia.

    Behold the Cross of the Lord!
    Flee ye adversaries!
    The Lion of the Tribe of Juda,
    The Root of David has conquered, alleluia!

    http://etnomuzeum.eu/file/obiekty/209pb_458.jpg

  5. mysticalrose says:

    I don’t feel any less safe. Sad to say attacking Muslims, gunmen at universities, etc. are beginning to seem par for the course.

  6. akp1 says:

    I don’t feel less safe, these tragic happenings can happen anywhere, any place, I pray, place my trust in our Lord and get on with life, trying to serve God and my neighbour (and of course, failing in this every day). I will one day die in the way God chooses for me. Thanks be to God for His mercy. Blessed be God for ever :-) (btw….I’m an optimist!)

  7. meunke says:

    “How do you feel these days? Safe? Less safe? Are you afraid to go to public venues? Malls? Movie theaters? Soft targets?”
    – You are not safe now. You weren’t safe before, and you won’t be safe in the future.

    There is higher or lower levels of risk. ‘SAFETY’ doesn’t really exist.

    To be honest, everyone should be carrying their weapon BEFORE this. Have some medical supplies with you and know how to be a first responder. We are to be the sheepdogs 365 days a year, no matter if there are tragedies in the news or not.

    Fr. Z's Gold Star Award

  8. aviva meriam says:

    I’ve lived in the Middle East before and my family decided to live by those rules… aka we don’t go to stores or malls without armed security, we don’t go during high traffic periods and we are aware of our situation at all time. This isn’t because we are anxious or living in fear, it’s because we’ve been through this, even before last week. However, Friday night I spent hours comforting a friend who couldn’t find a person important to her in Paris (he finally was able to get through to her on Saturday) and Sunday night spent hours with a different friend who lost three people in Paris.

    There are no words of comfort I can offer, but what I will not do is restate platitudes. There are people who have embraced evil and violence, and believe they do so in fulfillment of God’s will. they believe this is what God expects. We need to take them at their words and respond accordingly

  9. Roguejim says:

    With the admission of unvetted Syrians(?) into this Country, we will absolutely BE less safe, whether or not, we FEEL less safe. I will be buying and carrying a firearm for the same reason I carry a 2-foot piece of steel rebar when my wife and I walk our dog.

  10. meunke says: Have some medical supplies with you and know how to be a first responder.

    It is good that you mentioned this. I wrote about that recently. HERE

    I’ve been putting together a few items as a different kind of daily carry (than the other one, that is): a pouch with some supplies to stop serious bleeding, etc. I put a bunch of things on my Amazon wishlist and, slowly but surely, people have been sending them. Just yesterday I get several boxes of burn gel applications, for example. They take up very little space.

    And you have reminded me that I have to get to with a a doctor or two for some suturing lessons.

  11. kimberley jean says:

    I work in DC. Long before 9/11 I accepted the fact that one day a young man is going press a button and blow himself up along with whoever is within several feet of him. I just hope that neither I nor any of my family is around when it happens.

  12. meunke says:

    Also… GO TO CONFESSION!

    [Well said!]

  13. Bender says:

    kimberley jean —
    I’m from D.C. area too. Nothing has changed since Paris, just as nothing has changed since the morning of 9-11. It has always been highly dangerous and unsafe. But more than accepting that someone might suicide-bomb himself, I’ve long understood the significant possibility of seeing a really bright light in my window right before everything around here being vaporized. Or, since I have a couple of hills and a couple of miles shielding me from downtown D.C., a really loud bang, rumbling, hot gasses overhead, and then radioactive fall out.

    Because one day, they will get the bomb. And they will use it. That is the daily reality for many of us in D.C. who are not politicians deluding themselves with their brilliant awesomeness as they look at their peace prize.

  14. aj87220 says:

    I really don’t feel any less safe. The per capita fatality rate due to terrorist attacks in the United States has yet to reach a level where I actively worry about it. The chances of dying in an auto accident, on the other hand…

  15. ChrisRawlings says:

    We are planning to a move to Israel. I have no idea how safe I feel, but it certainly isn’t snuggly-bear safe. Oddly enough, after Paris I actually marginally safer about living in Israel.

  16. benedetta says:

    I have not felt “safe” in a very long time now. Since about 2007 to be precise, I have experienced numerous, now even countless, open and obvious threats to myself and a loved one, in public, as well as in my home, and the occurrences over and over fit the plain meaning of penal statues of various jurisdictions ranging from apprehension of assault to RICO type activity. Why I have been targeted thusly is not mine to know or discover, I have come to accept and the essence of these expressions are violent, misogynistic, sociopathic and appear to be targeting ordinary Christians going about their normal course of work and life. I am not permitted the opportunity for dialogue so I really have no idea but this is my best guess. Again why I have no idea. My experience has been that despite paying taxes and being an upstanding citizen, the authorities who normally respond to such things have not been able to be reliable. I have never been a particularly enthusiastic supporter of 2nd amendment rights nor of political activity however given what I have been forced to endure I have become convinced that if what is happening to me is an indication of a descent into anarchy in present day American society, then it will be crucial for parents especially to be able to protect children from harm, which is an obligation. From my admittedly removed and disabled position viewing developments on the political and governmental planes, there are very few indications that I can see that leaders are going to be able to protect citizens from various types of terror, from the obsessive threatening that I undergo, nearly constantly, to the horror that occurred in Paris. It’s just a fact. In a way, the people who have responsibility to harass me are doing us all a favor: we sound the alarm that there are organized groups in this country who want to terrorize Christians, we point out that authorities care little about it and yet seem aware, and thus for those who have ears to hear we may prepare in the various ways that are necessary for ourselves and those whom God has entrusted to us. Some may prepare where for myself it is rather too late for that. In that case, the focus is on interior, spiritual preparation, and to confess Christ as Lord and Saviour with my mouth and actions.

  17. MAJ Tony says:

    Reminds me I need to dig out my IFAK (Improved First Aid Kit) from my body armor, and carry it again like I did when I got home from my first deployment. HERE

    What all comes in an Army IFAK?
    -Combat Application Tourniquet (C-A-T)
    -Elastic Bandage Kit (Israeli Bandage or similar)
    -1/2″ Bandage
    -2″ Surgical Tape roll
    -Nasopharyngeal Airway
    -Patient Exam Gloves
    -Safety Medic Shears
    We were given other things once in theater, including a Ashermann Chest Seal for capping a sucking chest wound (pneumothorax) and Quick Clot gauze, which can be shoved into a bleeding wound better than a regular bandage, and removed easily as well, IIRC.

    For more details for the IFAKs used by the different services, see http://www.armyproperty.com/Resources/NSN-Listings/IFAK.htm

    Prior to OIF/OEF, a standard GI first aid kit was a small pouch with a sterile gauze roll. We’ve come a long way.

  18. (X)MCCLXIII says:

    I am an engineer and an academic, so I will answer the questions. I write from England.

    Q: After Paris… How do you feel these days? Safe? Less safe?

    A: These latest moslem atrocities in Paris make no difference to how safe I feel. I knew well the dangers posed by the presence of islam in my country, my town, my university, a week ago, a year ago, ten years ago.

    Q: Are you afraid to go to public venues? Malls? Movie theaters? Soft targets?

    A: Not exactly. I am afraid of islam, and of the islamic terror, but I stand up against it, at least implicitly, and …

    Q: Have you changed anything in your life because of the fear of terrorist attacks or rising crime?

    A: No. Nothing has changed. Except that I am resolved to make my implicit stand explicit, even at the cost of losing my present employment. Certainly, however, I will not permit moslems and moslem terror to change my day-to-day life.

    Q: Have you had a serious conversation about any of these things with a friend or a loved one?

    A: Oh yes. And Mrs (X)MCCLXIII has just described to me the consensus of opinion among her fellow church cleaners. It is very strongly anti-islam and in consequence anti-EU. (I, too, am anti-EU, but not for the same reasons. Leaving the EU is not enough to save us from islam because the enemy, whom I love but who will persecute me and mine even to death, is already within.) Mrs (X)MCXLXIII and I have also discussed the employment issue referred to above: two days ago I thought I might have to make a stand that would probably lead to my being dismissed; She was supportive. The immediate risk has receded, but the state of British academia, at least in its lower echelons, is such that it is likely to recur.

  19. pelerin says:

    I arrived for a weekend in Paris the day after the Charlie Hebdo massacre and going into Notre-Dame for Sunday Mass (and various shops) was of course subject to a bag search and was pleased to do so.

    However last month found me entering Notre-Dame again for the weekend Mass and this time there was no search whatsoever. Three weeks later came that dreadful night of 13.11. I had enjoyed a meal with a friend in one of the restaurants in the Boulevard Voltaire very near to the Bataclan cafe and concert hall. When in Paris I always stay in the 11th district and I made a point of emailing the hotel to say that these events would not change my plans for my next visit. Hotels will suffer if everyone decides not to carry on as normal. Life must go on.

    Will I do anything different on my next visit? No, except that next time I shall not choose a window seat at a restaurant and I shall go to confession before I leave home!

  20. gabella says:

    I don’t know if I feel less safe, but I’m looking at things differently. As I wouldn’t drive at night through certain neighborhoods in Chicago (or some even during the day!) because that would invite the potential for danger, I have added additional considerations to that list. As an example, in no way will my family visit the Mall of America on our next trip to MN over the holidays. That feels like inviting danger.

    I’m a mom, so I always have first aid kits with me in the car. We have weapons in the home, but I won’t carry. I do need to learn to use them better, though, should I find that I’m home and need them.

    Mostly, I pray a lot more and I’m making sure confession is a priority for the family from now on. And, I’m supremely grateful every morning I wake up and every evening when I go to bed, and there’s been no horrible news.

  21. oldconvert says:

    I was living and working in London in the 1970s, which means during some of the worst IRA mainland attacks. Then moved to an Army camp in Southern England. Apart from heightened alertness I don’t recall anyone changing their routines and I won’t now. If we end up cowering indoors, they’ve won. What I have done, is make arrangments for the care of my dependents should anything happen to me (a very sick husband and several companion animals), and keep up-to-date my First Aid knowledge, including carrying a FA kit, contents as recommended by the Red Cross, in the car.

  22. ladykathryn says:

    I was thinking about this as I drove to work this morning. I haven’t made any changes except to try to be aware of my surroundings. I am reminding my grown children to go to confession. And making sure that my husband and I go to confession on a more regular basis.
    What changes will I make? Memorize the Confiteor, prayer for a happy death. Might change my shopping habits (going at less crowded times), take a first-aid course.
    I am also going to stock up the pantry. I am not confident that the supply chain would be stable if something happens. But I also live in the Midwest and a well-stocked pantry is just prudent.

  23. Kent Wendler says:

    Very few people leave this life without dying, maybe 2 or 3 in mankind’s history. As Fr. Z frequently reminds us we need to be prepared always to meet our judgement. On the other hand if it is not at least within God’s permissive will nothing untoward will happen to us. I also know that I am not nearly observant or resourceful enough to foresee, forestall or cope with all evils, imaginable or otherwise. Therefore I go about my everyday life with everyday care and prudence, leaving the “heavy-duty” stuff to my guardian, who is vastly more capable than I can ever be in mortal life.

  24. WaywardSailor says:

    Stonewall Jackson was shot by his own pickets, in the dark, when said pickets were too jumpy to wait for the countersign. He died, not from his wounds (which included amputation of his left arm), but from complications of pneumonia seven days later. So, discipline and situational awareness go hand-in-hand, whether or not you think you’re in a safe space. Daily recitation of St. Patrick’s Breastplate wouldn’t hurt, either.

    And if you can’t get your hands on an Ashermann Chest Seal, anything like a plastic shopping bag pressed to the wound will work. Soldiers in Vietnam used to use the cellophane wrappers from cigarette packs in the field.

  25. donato2 says:

    FBI tipped Italian authorities that Saint Peter’s, and the Duomo and La Scala in Milan are possibly in the cross-hairs.

    http://www.repubblica.it/cronaca/2015/11/18/news/terrorismo_aumento_controlli_roma_milano-127674473/?ref=HREA-1

  26. Fr. Vincent Fitzpatrick says:

    Well, I see the USCCB is doing their part to help us all to hone our skills at “situational awareness,” etc. They are demanding the admission of 100,000 more “refugees” in the coming year. So far this year, it’s been 2,098 Muslims, 53 Christians. Twenty-five Americans each day are killed by an illegal alien drunk driver, or murdered. Let’s see what the “refugees” can accomplish! Because inclusion!

  27. MWindsor says:

    I don’t feel any more or less safe than before. But I have asked my daughters to avoid crowded places for a while. I don’t think they’ll hit us again for a good long time.

    Honestly, the one thing that gives me serious pause is this: the Saracens successfully attack the power grid and knock out the lights in a large portion of the country. After about a week, they attack in small groups. The idea being to add a little desperation and then hit us when we’re down.

    And I have become a bit more situationally aware as well. We have people in our local grocery store turning up in full burka. Five middle eastern males turned up at the local gun range last weekend, after the Paris attacks, and I can assure you that everyone was situationally aware at that moment. There’s now a Saracen school two miles from my house and a mosque diagonally-across the street from my parish.

    And I did talk to the range guys about a CHL, but I think I’m going to get a rifle instead.

    But as of now I don’t feel less safe than last week. I didn’t feel particularly safe last week either, but I don’t feel any more-or-less safe now. Safety is something of an illusion these days.

  28. Kathleen10 says:

    I tend to worry more about loved ones and my country than for myself personally. (probably some subconcious denial there) I was listening to a radio program and an FBI-type person was saying Times Square is an attractive type of target, it has bottle-necks, lots of people. He said if you go to sporting events, either leave early or late. Do look up and take notice of people and the scene.
    I am rattled as I was after 9/11. What has exponentially increased my anxiety is our own president. His now manic maneuvers to get as many Muslims in our country should be a final straw for Congress to do something about a rogue in office who is not operating in the nation’s best interest, but in Muslims best interest. He is no president. He’s diabolical.
    My own state is taking in Syrian refugees, despite what the people want, as always.
    I would say my biggest concern is where we are headed. I see Paris, England, and imagine what Germany and Belgium are in for. Why any nation would want to self-destruct, I don’t know.
    I feel very sad that my grandchildren are going to grow up in a much more dangerous world. What makes that even worse is to see the gates thrown wide open and the enemy invited in. That makes no sense to me whatsoever.
    Pelerin, thank God you are safe. God keep safe all here.

  29. I feel less safe. Three hundred Syrian refugees will be resettled within 20 miles of our home.

    Each January for the past three years my teen has gone to the March for Life. I worry, like any mom, about the 12 hour bus trip, the snow and ice. The general normal worry you have when your responsible child is out on his own somewhere. This year, I’m worried. Talk about a soft target. Is he going? Yes. Yes he is. He knows the risk. He wants to go. Am I praying? Yes.

  30. APX says:

    I started to feel more concerned and less safe since the Canadian Federal election and Justin Trudeau being elected and all his diplomatic negotiation plans with IsIs instead of fighting.

  31. Amerikaner says:

    I am a carry conceal permit holder. Unfortunately I work at an educational institution. So in order to carry, I would commit a federal violation/felony. That makes me a sitting duck thanks to our dumb regulators.

    Schools are soft targets. Unfortunately I am sure ISIS is aware of that.

  32. NBW says:

    We shouldn’t feel safe, the devil is watching us 24/7. He knows his time is short and he wants to drag as many souls as he can down with him.
    Go to confession !

  33. benedetta says:

    So yeah just to give you a taste, after I wrote the above I brought my minor child to a dentist’s appointment and was mobbed and cut off in traffic repeatedly by middle aged men with prominent “nra” etc stickers. If I had commented on the price of beans I would have been mobbed by people with stickers of beans or vanity plates. Obviously there is great enjoyment for a few obsessed there. But that is like just one aspect. That is the relatively innocuous aspect to be honest as disturbing as even that is. There are much, much worse, violent and terroristic aspects which are located in obsessive sociopathic hatred which would take me days and reams and reams of comments to document here. It’s obviously fun and profitable for a certain small sector, this activity, but it has not been for myself and others involved. Will I “shut up” because of it? No.

    People should note well and be prepared in every way of import to their families. And, for God’s sake, come election day, get out and vote. If we do not exercise our rights, we will lose them, and it could happen in a generation or two. How many grandparents around fought as part of the greatest generation, stormed the beach at Normandy, struggled through the Great Depression, established and built businesses in this country, supported the parish, extended a hand to help others in need can believe that this is going on right now in these USA? Surely there are people out there so much better and tougher than whatever this is who will not stand for it on their watch, elected or no. I am finding that ordinary citizens exercise much more accountability in their ordinary spheres of private existence by far more circumspect and supportive of neighbor than our elected leaders who the best they can muster for their millions they will soon graduate to is to get out in front of cameras and give the big baby sitter scold. Truly, for my sake, vote your consciences. Be involved in the political arenas, no matter what it takes. Exercise your rights lest they be confiscated by an ignorant, sick, obsessive, hidden and unaccountable, corrupt elitist group with goals of feeding only their self interest.

  34. majuscule says:

    I live out in the country. My small church is in a small community. I haven’t been to a larger town since the Paris attack but I need to go grocery shopping soon. I’m not real worried about the places I go on a regular basis. But I am not going to be going to any type of event where there are crowds. I’m not going to a mall or taking public transit. I don’t usually anyway.

    My mother, who lived in the city, passed away a few months ago (she was homebound and in her nineties). In one respect I feel relief because I was always worried about how to get to her to help in the event of a natural disaster or a terrorist attack.

    I am praying for a priest who is away for a few days in a target city and is due to fly home tomorrow or the next day.

  35. L. says:

    I admit that I feel like Buzz McCallister from the “Home Alone” movie: “…we live on the most boring street in the whole United States of America, where nothing even remotely dangerous will ever happen. Period.” I felt more nervous when one of my children lived close to the District of Columbia since, as someone else pointed out here, it’s a target.

  36. Lucas says:

    I feel the same, honestly I just don’t worry about that stuff. I lived in DC all of my life, and then Boston for a few years and now NYC. I’ve always been around “terror targets” but if I spend time worrying about that, its just not good.

  37. Sword40 says:

    I, too, carry concealed. Even to Mass. Our church is in a mixed neighborhood with a high crime rate.
    My wife and I are always aware of the people near us. I never sit in a café without protecting my blind side. Oh, yes, and I have increased my participation in the Confessional.

  38. rtrainque says:

    “But Father! What about loving your enemies? Didn’t Jesus say to turn the other cheek?”

    In all seriousness, though, I can echo meunke’s sentiments about never having any illusions of being “safe” in the first place. Have already been carrying and practicing situational awareness for some time; not much else recent events can change there.

    As far as bag checks and metal detectors go, they don’t really do all that much to “harden” a target like a theater or some other public an otherwise unsecured location. If anything, they prevent good people from being prepared to take effective action. Take out the guys manning the checkpoint (probably not too much of a challenge if they’re as “well trained” as the TSA and their 95% failure rate) and you have a multitude of disarmed targets. That being said, just having a gun isn’t enough, you have to practice! Not just that, but practice the right things in terms of safe and proficient gun-handling and the right type of shooting (under pressure, at speed, on the move, etc.) Participating in USPSA/IPSC/IDPA type matches is good, taking some serious CCW/”tactical” type classes would be even better (something I’ve been meaning to take my advice and do…)

  39. SanSan says:

    Interestingly, my husband who will retire in December said he wants to buy a gun and take up target practice. He wants to be ready to protect his family. I have a small Daringer(sp) that my father gave me 47 years ago. I will take it out clean it up and use it if necessary. Sad that we no longer feel safe as we once did. We are careful in crowds and try to avoid them. If it’s our time to go, so be it. It’s in God’s hands.

    Our man thrust, is to stay in a state of grace by frequent confession, the Rosary and Daily Mass. We just finished reconsecrating ourselves to Mary.

  40. Arele says:

    Yes, I was concerned before, but yes, I am more concerned now.

    I carry concealed and practice situational awareness. But I already did that. I’ve stepped up the situational awareness for sure!

    I do think twice about being at movie theaters and malls, especially with the upcoming holidays. Might be shopping Amazon a lot more…just sayin’…

  41. I think that people should be allowed to carry guns– that is, carrying a gun doesn’t incur an automatic legal presumption that one intends to do harm with it. I also think that the vast majority of those carrying them will never get a chance to use them if needed. The bad guy always has the advantage of surprise, and only in the movies does the bad guy drawl “Draaaaaaaw” before firing. A gun would be worthless against a bunch of terrorists with assault rifles or bombs, or even one terrorist with an automatic rifle. I’d sooner spend the money on a bulletproof vest. I could still get shot in the head, but I reduced my attack surface, and one doesn’t need training on how to wear a bulletproof vest.

    Do I feel safe? No. But I have a life to lead, and one of the things I get paid to do now and again is to go to Manhattan. It would be better if I didn’t have to, but today I had to and so I did. I could get killed by a falling plane or meteorite while sleeping in my bed. Some day, I’d like to live in a rural area that would be less of a target, but right now, I need to live where I am and take the consequences. The best advice is that which is repeated here often: “Go to confession.” A soul in a state of grace need not fear death. In the end, what else can anyone do? The bad guys don’t wear black. A suicide bomber might not even bother to wear a mask.

  42. yatzer says:

    I wasn’t too worried, being in flyover country and all, and I try to forget about Oklahoma City. But we went to a live performance in a theater Saturday night where the announcement not only included the usual admonition to turn off cell phones, but also to take a look around to gain awareness of our surroundings and to locate at least 2 close exits. I began to rethink.

  43. mburn16 says:

    I’m all for people carrying guns – though I don’t, and have never felt a particularly strong need, to carry one myself. And with that said, I don’t think I feel any less comfortable going out tomorrow than I did going out last week. It truly is just as easy to get hit by a bus while walking across the street or broadsided by a semi in the rain. If there are concerns that I feel for the future of our society or civilization, they have very little to do with direct armed assault.

  44. Kerry says:

    Dittos to Meunke, regarding levels of risk. Safe is not a feeling; rage, joy, anger, exultation, these are feelings. What Father Z does, “When I get out of my car, I look around to see where everyone is. When I walk out the door, I look around to see where everyone is. When I walk into a place, I look around. “, I call scanning for threats. As we live in a town of 547, I hardly need to do much scanning. However, in our every other month trip to the big small town of Yankton, population 15000, for the first time in a long time I was scanning for threats. (In St. Paul, I’d look around stepping stepping onto the front porch.) Awareness forestalls surprises. (My wife just asked what I’m writing and said, “I feel perfectly safe in the middle of a corn field. I can see in all directions, and a long ways off too.”) I am, however, starting to think again about buying an AR pattern rifle, that is, a semi-automatic weapon. And even wondering if I could carry it about in public in a trombone case or something. And I may start doing a bit of light weight lifting and some aerobic exercises. Just now it comes to mind some things commenters living in gun-hating places like the People’s Republic of Mass, or the Collectivist Paradise of NJ might do. There are some very nice capsicum sprays meant for grizzley bears, and tasers on the market as well. Granted, to use them means someone got too close when one was not looking, but if a firearm is out of the question…
    “Never give up! Never surrender!”

  45. Grumpy Beggar says:

    Fr Z says:
    ” . . . we all need to exercise real prudence these days and situational awareness. . .And remember… GO TO CONFESSION!”

    NBW says:
    “We shouldn’t feel safe, the devil is watching us 24/7. He knows his time is short and he wants to drag as many souls as he can down with him.
    Go to confession !”

    Amen.

    One of the times I actually feel the most safe in this world, is when my confessor raises his hand and pronounces the words of absolution – making the sign of the Cross over me. Situational awareness should be applied to our souls first. . . then the rest.

  46. Auggie says:

    I’m perhaps 5% more worried (since Paris) about physical safety and 95% more worried about how governments will use the rise of terrorism to create totalitarian regimes that will hate the Church and criminalize (real) Catholicism.

  47. Strangely I don’t feel any less safe. I live in a country with perennial natural disasters. The same day the terrorist attacked Paris I was dealing with an earthquake over here.

    “Please Father, people’s lives are in danger. Offer us confession. Please!”

    “It’s not so urgent. We have a day for confessing all together during Lent. Just come then.”

    “But Father, some people might die before them. We need confession.”

    “If it’s an emergency then just come thirty minutes early for Mass and if I have time we’ll see.”

    “But Father…”

    “Yeah, I’m busy now. Go bother somebody else.”

    And besides that, my son has autism so I’m on high alert every time I leave the house with him anyway. Things like crossing the street, which are already more dangerous here because people don’t understand that red means stop, is even more of a challenge with a child that is unpredictable, can’t communicate, and is so cute that strangers feel the need to come over and touch his face to see if he’s real.

  48. Traductora says:

    About the same. I was in Madrid last week and I went to the opera and there were huge numbers of police (heavily armed) around the hall. The Spanish had gotten intelligence through their contacts with Morocco, and after 3/11/04 (Madrid train bombings) they’ve been much more focused, even when the left was in power.

    Most places in the US or Europe you can’t carry a gun and it’s not worth the hassle. The main thing, imo, is to be aware of your surroundings and also to have an aggressive attitude. You want to kidnap me? Over my dead body, literally, because they’re going to kill you anyway so fighting back will at least delay it , make it less painful…or save your life. And you don’t have to be armed to have attitude.

    Also, remember the prayer that you will say as you are dying if they do manage to get you. Between the saddle and the ground, was mercy sought and mercy found.

  49. Augustine says:

    I feel fine. As a Brazilian, who had to walk the streets at night as if I were playing Halo and driving as if my car were an armored van full of valuables, I have the impression that Americans may be, in general, just a tad skittish.

    One great difference though: as a resident in America, I am protected at home and, better yet, as a resident in Texas, I will be protected openly carrying starting January.

  50. andia says:

    Meh, Not anymore or less safe than I did before.

    I am trained in the martial arts, traditional Chinese healing methods ( including herbalism) and can build a living compound from scratch. I am also re-learning to shoot pistols and rifles.

  51. Long-Skirts says:

    Just when I thought it was safe….”Vatican II”!! Haven’t felt safe in 50 yrs.

  52. Long-Skirts says:

    Just when I thought it was safe….”Vatican II”!! Haven’t felt safe in 50 yrs.

  53. MouseTemplar says:

    Having survived an armed attack as a minor, I have never ever felt safe. I am compulsively hypervigilant. I have a CCW. Since 9/11 it feels like other people are just beginning to catch up to me in terms of being security conscious.

    Father, actually a funeral director is also a good teacher if you want to learn to suture…

  54. James says:

    “Most theaters have policies that prohibit their patrons from carrying guns in. Gun owners, law abiding folks that they are, then tend to leave their guns in their cars when they go to the movies. [In NYC people are denied their 2nd amendment rights.]”

    ## In the UK, that is not an issue, since most guns have been illegal since 1996. (See “Dunblane Massacre” in Wikipedia.) Recent events have not led me to change anything. I feel quite safe – being killed by a slate falling from a (Victorian) building is much more likely. As is being run over; the traffic can be very dangerous where I live.

    “Have you changed anything in your life because of the fear of terrorist attacks or rising crime? Have you had a serious conversation about any of these things with a friend or a loved one?”

    ## “No”, to both. There have been so many restrictions on people’s liberty in the last few years that one can easily become rather fed up, so that one values the freedom one still has left. Like that of not ordering life with reference to terrorism. So one doesn’t take them into account – that would be to do them too much honour. ISTM there is, so far, no need for more than ordinary prudence and vigilance. There have been terrorist attacks in England – but so far, none up here. I refuse to let terrorists diminish life by making me afraid of being blown up by them. They do not deserve such a compliment.

    “And remember… GO TO CONFESSION!”

    ## Excellent advice, as it always is.

  55. NBW says:

    Grumpy Beggar says:
    “One of the times I actually feel the most safe in this world, is when my confessor raises his hand and pronounces the words of absolution – making the sign of the Cross over me. Situational awareness should be applied to our souls first. . . then the rest.”

    AMEN!!!!!

  56. Gerard Plourde says:

    Do I feel safer or less safe? That depends on I consider the greater enemy – ISIS or Satan. Perhaps this answer from C.S. Lewis’s “Screwtape Letters” coupled with Fr. Z’s reminder regarding confession sums it up best – “Consider too what undesirable deaths occur in wartime. Men are killed in places where they knew they might be killed and to which they go, if they at all of the Enemy’s party, prepared. How much better for us if all humans died in costly nursing homes amid doctors who lie, nurses who lie, friends who lie, as we have trained them, promising life to the dying, encouraging the belief that sickness excuses every indulgence, and even, if our workers know their job, withholding all suggestion of a priest lest it should betray to the sick man his true condition! And how disastrous for us is the continual rememberance of death which war enforces. One of our best weapons, contented worldliness, is rendered useless. In wartime not even a human can believe that he is going to live forever.”

  57. JARay says:

    I live in Australia and I most certainly am not allowed to carry a gun of any kind. I do not feel less safe now than I did a year or more ago. You mention that places like cinemas and shopping centres should have metal detectors. Why? For goodess sake! The terrorists make bombs with simple household items. The explosive used in the London underground was simply a mixture of Sodium Peroxide, acetone and one of the acids such as nitric or hydrochloric acid. All can be bought from any local shop. And a metal detector is useless against that mixture. The ISIL websites have a picture of the bomb that they used to bring down the Russian airliner. It was simply stuff like I have described, put into a used soft-drink can, and a detonator to set it off.
    We must expect the worst but pray for the best.

  58. graytown says:

    If I’m going to a theatre with my child – I’m carrying a weapon.
    Even if the theatre says no weapons.
    They’ll never know unless they have metal detectors.
    Thankfully – the chances of having to use deadly force is extremely rare.
    I would rather be able to possibly protect my child than sit there like a defenseless sheep.
    If they throw me in jail after the fact – then so be it.

  59. Supertradmum says:

    Some of us knew for years this was coming. Protection is staying in sanctifying grace, going to Confession and Communion often, as Fr. Z. notes again and again.

    The tribulation has begun. Fulton J. Sheen prophesized this rise of Islam, btw.

    “The Christian European West barely escaped destruction at the hands of the Moslems. At one point they were stopped near Tours and at another point, later on in time, outside the gates of Vienna. The Church throughout northern Africa ws practically destroyed by Moslem power, and at the present hour, the Moslems are beginning to rise again. If Moslemism is a heresy, as Hilaire Belloc believes it to be, it is the only heresy that has never declined. Others have had a moment of vigor, then gone into doctrinal decay at the death of the leader, and finally evaporated in a vague social movement. Moslemism, on the contrary, has only had its first phase. There was never a time in which it declined, either in numbers, or in the devotion of its followers.

    The missionary effort of the Church toward this group has been at least on the surface, a failure, for the Moslems are so far almost unconvertible. The reason is that for a follower of Mohammed to become a Christian is much like a Christian becoming a Jew. The Moslems believe that they have the final and definitive revelation of God to the world and that Christ was only a prophet announcing Mohammed, the last of Gods real prophets.

    At the present time, the hatred of the Moslem countries against the West is becoming a hatred against Christianity itself. Although the statesmen have not yet taken it into account, there is still grave danger that the temporal power of Islam may return and, with it, the menace that it may shake off a West which has ceased to be Christian, and affirm itself as a great anti-Christian world power. Moslem writers say, When the locust swarms darken countries, they bear on their wings these Arabic words: We are Gods host, each of us has ninety-nine eggs, and if we had a hundred, we should lay waste the world, with all that is in it.

    The problem is, how shall we prevent the hatching of the hundredth egg? It is our firm belief that the fears some entertain concerning the Moslems are not to be realized, but that Moslemism, instead, will eventually be converted to Christianity – and in a way that even some of our missionaries never suspect. It is our belief that this will happen not through the direct teachings of Christianity, but through a summoning of the Moslems to a veneration of the Mother of God.”

    The answer is true devotion to Our Lady of Fatima. I hope the Pope calls for a rosary crusade. This would be a powerful weapon, if all the Catholics in the world prayed the rosary against Islam.

  60. Supertradmum says:

    Some of us knew for years this was coming. Protection is staying in sanctifying grace, going to Confession and Communion often, as Fr. Z. notes again and again.

    The tribulation has begun. Fulton J. Sheen prophesized this rise of Islam, btw.

    “The Christian European West barely escaped destruction at the hands of the Moslems. At one point they were stopped near Tours and at another point, later on in time, outside the gates of Vienna. The Church throughout northern Africa ws practically destroyed by Moslem power, and at the present hour, the Moslems are beginning to rise again. If Moslemism is a heresy, as Hilaire Belloc believes it to be, it is the only heresy that has never declined. Others have had a moment of vigor, then gone into doctrinal decay at the death of the leader, and finally evaporated in a vague social movement. Moslemism, on the contrary, has only had its first phase. There was never a time in which it declined, either in numbers, or in the devotion of its followers.

    The missionary effort of the Church toward this group has been at least on the surface, a failure, for the Moslems are so far almost unconvertible. The reason is that for a follower of Mohammed to become a Christian is much like a Christian becoming a Jew. The Moslems believe that they have the final and definitive revelation of God to the world and that Christ was only a prophet announcing Mohammed, the last of Gods real prophets.

    At the present time, the hatred of the Moslem countries against the West is becoming a hatred against Christianity itself. Although the statesmen have not yet taken it into account, there is still grave danger that the temporal power of Islam may return and, with it, the menace that it may shake off a West which has ceased to be Christian, and affirm itself as a great anti-Christian world power. Moslem writers say, When the locust swarms darken countries, they bear on their wings these Arabic words: We are Gods host, each of us has ninety-nine eggs, and if we had a hundred, we should lay waste the world, with all that is in it.

    The problem is, how shall we prevent the hatching of the hundredth egg? It is our firm belief that the fears some entertain concerning the Moslems are not to be realized, but that Moslemism, instead, will eventually be converted to Christianity – and in a way that even some of our missionaries never suspect. It is our belief that this will happen not through the direct teachings of Christianity, but through a summoning of the Moslems to a veneration of the Mother of God.”

    The answer is true devotion to Our Lady of Fatima. I hope the Pope calls for a rosary crusade. This would be a powerful weapon, if all the Catholics in the world prayed the rosary against Islam. For the conversion of those folowers..

  61. Supertradmum says:

    Some of us knew for years this was coming. Protection is staying in sanctifying grace, going to Confession and Communion often, as Fr. Z. notes again and again.

    The tribulation has begun. Fulton J. Sheen prophesized this rise of Islam, btw.

    “The Christian European West barely escaped destruction at the hands of the Moslems. At one point they were stopped near Tours and at another point, later on in time, outside the gates of Vienna. The Church throughout northern Africa ws practically destroyed by Moslem power, and at the present hour, the Moslems are beginning to rise again. If Moslemism is a heresy, as Hilaire Belloc believes it to be, it is the only heresy that has never declined. Others have had a moment of vigor, then gone into doctrinal decay at the death of the leader, and finally evaporated in a vague social movement. Moslemism, on the contrary, has only had its first phase. There was never a time in which it declined, either in numbers, or in the devotion of its followers.

    The missionary effort of the Church toward this group has been at least on the surface, a failure, for the Moslems are so far almost unconvertible. The reason is that for a follower of Mohammed to become a Christian is much like a Christian becoming a Jew. The Moslems believe that they have the final and definitive revelation of God to the world and that Christ was only a prophet announcing Mohammed, the last of Gods real prophets.

    At the present time, the hatred of the Moslem countries against the West is becoming a hatred against Christianity itself. Although the statesmen have not yet taken it into account, there is still grave danger that the temporal power of Islam may return and, with it, the menace that it may shake off a West which has ceased to be Christian, and affirm itself as a great anti-Christian world power. Moslem writers say, When the locust swarms darken countries, they bear on their wings these Arabic words: We are Gods host, each of us has ninety-nine eggs, and if we had a hundred, we should lay waste the world, with all that is in it.

    The problem is, how shall we prevent the hatching of the hundredth egg? It is our firm belief that the fears some entertain concerning the Moslems are not to be realized, but that Moslemism, instead, will eventually be converted to Christianity – and in a way that even some of our missionaries never suspect. It is our belief that this will happen not through the direct teachings of Christianity, but through a summoning of the Moslems to a veneration of the Mother of God.”

    The answer is true devotion to Our Lady of Fatima. I hope the Pope calls for a rosary crusade. This would be a powerful weapon, if all the Catholics in the world prayed the rosary against Islam. For the conversion of those followers..

  62. Mr. Graves says:

    DS and I are ex-pats living in Francophone Belgium. So far, our little village doesn’t seem particularly affected by the Paris attacks or Frau Merkel’s Hijrah, but we are also only 30 minutes from Brussels by train. Do I feel less safe today than last Thrusday? No. But I didn’t feel terribly safe last Thursday……

  63. oldconvert says:

    It’s precisely those of us civilians in cosy, residential or rural areas who are at most risk now. These pieces of [insert noun of choice; my choice would get me moderated to oblivion] are not soldiers attacking enemy soldiers: they are psychopaths and general social misfits – read the potted biographies that emerge when one is identified – and their only urge is to kill and destroy. So naturally they will go for soft targets, as within Paris. The people in a concert or in a café? Their enemies? So expect in future that more of this type of target will be victims.

    Chesterton says it in one of the Father Brown stories: people who go in for crime and anarchy end up not becoming more and more idealistic and courageous; they just end up committing meaner and meaner crimes. Like killing children and disabled people in the name of their god.

    Be Aware and Go to confession!

  64. Kerry says:

    Andrew said, “A gun would be worthless against a bunch of terrorists with assault rifles or bombs, or even one terrorist with an automatic rifle.”
    Andrew, do not surrender before the fight; carry two guns.

  65. benedetta says:

    What is occurring in France and Iraq, it seems, has emboldened violent extremists of all sorts of ilk, united by hatred of Christianity and its culture, and its goodness. I cannot go into detail but what happens to me does involve violence and terror, and, while the rest of the world mourned and grieved for what happened last week, the group obsessed with harming me and mine amped up truly physical and psychological harm with a violent accent. Only the bloodthirsty, those who trade in hatred and harm of humanity, would continue on with such a campaign against fellow human beings, for no reason other than obsession against Christianity and ordinary believers. The culture of Paris is the same that grows out of Christianity, even if secular, particularly if secular. Those who attack us attack peaceful diversity of all sorts of humans everywhere, who are at war with humanism.

  66. SKAY says:

    Following 9/11 I felt that our federal government and those in charge(at the top) began to do all that they could to keep America and it’s citizens as safe as possible. I no longer have that feeling.
    According to the head of Homeland Security we have 1000 ISIS investigations going on now in this
    country. Having wide open borders is NOT helpful or smart.
    I agree with the points that you made Fr. Fitzpatrick. Is there any common sense left in this world?
    I no longer feel safe for many reasons but I am most worried about my children and grandchildren and the world they may be forced to live in if things continue as they are.
    Kathleen10 said
    “His now manic maneuvers to get as many Muslims in our country should be a final straw for Congress to do something about a rogue in office who is not operating in the nation’s best interest, but in Muslims best interest.”
    I agree. I think that has been obvious for quite a while and ISIS has promised to infiltrate them. Only 53 Christians have been brought to America yet they are being crucified, heads cut off and it just goes on.

    Security has been increased for the Pope.

    http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_PARIS_ATTACKS_VATICAN_SECURITY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-11-18-12-31-12

  67. Spade says:

    I’m working on a .300 Blackout PDW SBR on a Spikes Tactical Crusader lower.

  68. KateD says:

    I’m not a fraid. I’m an American. :D

    I’m angry about what happened.

    We are always cautious when traveling outside the states. We try to stay predominantly in the country and drive into the cities for the day. Admittedly, Paris would normally be an exception.

    These things will continue as long as Western nations follow polyana policies regarding Islam.

    William J Federer’s has a book and video on the subject worth looking at, “What Every American Needs to Know About Islam”:
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xvoLg8KQmXs

  69. Jim Dorchak says:

    Fortunately for my family and I we no longer live at the center of the bullseye, (anywhere in the USA).
    There is very, very little violent crime where i am, much less crime at all, but the neighbors cows have broken into our pasture a few times and stolen some grass. There is no potential for a future need to “Bug out” as i am as about as far from any terrorist as may be possible, but there are more remote places. There is no need to stock up on supplies as this is already a way of life here, (solar power, well, septic tank, garden and livestock) and what minimal supplies we can not grow ourselves are typically desires of the modern world and not necessarily for a happy God filled life.
    There were more murders (per a percent of population) in my old home county last month than in over a year where i live.
    There are very few muslams in this country and No race wars, ( but there are a few skirmishes with the indigenous to the far north of me).
    All in all I feel much safer here than in the US. i have not heard a police siren in almost 3 years! People hunt here so there are guns but no gun violence. My doors have not been locked at night once in the past year since we moved to our little farm. In fact some nights we leave the door open all night to see the stars from our bed and breathe the fresh Antartic air.

    So yes i feel safe. I pitty those who don’t.

  70. LarryW2LJ says:

    Do I feel less safe than before?

    Yes. Definitely.

    But I won’t allow that feeling to strangle me, but I will allow it to let me become more prudent. I used to store my CERT “go bag” in a closet at home, as we don’t self deploy in New Jersey. But there are things in there that are now way too valuable not to have near me at all times – hard hat, gloves, comprehensive first aid kit, tools for performing rescues from debris, flash light, windshield hammer, triage tags, etc.

    I have warned friends and family to become more situationally aware. I told my wife that there’s no way that I am going to a mall on Black Friday – overcrowded conditions in small, confined spaces – a terrorist’s delight. If you put yourself in one of these locations, keep your wits about you and your eyes open. If you see something out of place, report it – don’t feel like you’re being paranoid. Better paranoid than dead. Know where the exits are, wherever you go and always keep an eye open for obstacles that you can duck behind to avoid gunfire. Make sure that all your immediate family members have the phone number of one relative in their cell phones. God forbid that you are involved in some kind of attack and you become separated, you can all call that one relative to keep them informed and use them as a central point for information about each other, in the event you can’t communicate directly with one another.

    It’s sad that we have to be this vigilant, but it is what it is. I keep telling everyone to keep praying the rosary as it is our most powerful weapon. And as Father always says, go to confession.

    Most bottom of bottom lines? These people can take your life, but they can’t take your soul. Always remember that.

  71. jaykay says:

    Pelerin made a good point above: “I made a point of emailing the hotel to say that these events would not change my plans for my next visit. Hotels will suffer if everyone decides not to carry on as normal.”

    Some time ago, and as per usual, I had booked our usual Paris hotel for the Chartres pilgrimage group . This is a big reservation for a small (and very friendly) hotel. I will email them to confirm our intention. Ok, it’s not till May, and whether the pilgrimage actually takes place or not depends on a lot in the interim, obviously, but I’ll do it anyway, and trust, and pray. Oh yeah, and go to confession :)

  72. JesusFreak84 says:

    Some random thoughts, and warning I’ve not had enough caffeine yet to organize them terribly well.

    As an autistic, I’ve honestly always found public places frightening, and given that being overstimulated (sensory and emotional,) HAS made me shutdown and go catatonic before, (look up “Ask An Autistic autistic shutdown” on YouTube,) I want to be in a public place less than ever before, if there’s any chance of danger going down. I may even be viewed as “suspicious” by law enforcement for not displaying expected reactions to events =- So yeah, I’m more afraid, just not for the expected reasons.

    I’d love to at least conceal-carry, but 1) I live in Chicago, and while the 2nd amendment is still better than it used to be here, the city and suburbs still want to pretend said amendment doesn’t exist. Also, I live with my parents and Mom would lose her MIND if I had a gun on her property, but I can’t afford to move out =- I do think she’d rather someone shoot me dead so she can dig in her heels on the position than have to reconsider because I shot first…

  73. Jim Dorchak says:

    It strikes me that the former USA has become a prison. Especially after reading the comments here.

  74. benedetta says:

    It’s been interesting reading online the letter from the young father who lost his wife in the Paris massacre and who now must attempt to parent a little one going forward after this experience of horror, the little one losing his mother. The line that he will not give the terrorists “hatred” is a sentiment and approach I have been living by for a decade now with respect to our oppressors as well. I refuse to hate back. It is not just, it is illegal, it is an abuse of human rights and violent and terroristic, based on threats and feeding in the currency of fear mongering and harassment, but, it is thus limited to that sphere. Whereas, the love of Christ goes on forever, and has the only power that rules the universe, the only lasting, true power, that of goodness, love, caritas, human dignity and respect, tolerance, beauty. It’s very Chestertonian, I think, after all is said and done, but the best response is the love of Christ, the peace that is not of this world. I pray for our oppressors constantly, that God may bless them with all good things, and that they obtain whatever it is they seek by this campaign, to their great benefit, so that they do not have to resort to all this obsessive time spent trading in hatred, fear, and generating terror in others. They appear to want to be feared, just the same as any terrorist, and to show that their power is greater than justice of governments elected by the people. Quite simply, although that is their primary desire, we need not give them fear or hatred. We give what we are able, and that is the love that is not of this world.

  75. The Masked Chicken says:

    There are only a few realistic ways to deal with terrorists and terrorism, in general. Ideally, in the case of Islam, if the majority of Islamic people call themselves people of peace, let them prove it by reining in their own extremists. Otherwise, they are being hypocrites.

    Imagine if, during the early 1940’s, Japanese terrorists had exploded bombs and shot people on U. S. soil. What could the U. S. have done? Basically, they could have done four things: 1) ask the Japanese people to police the situation and hold them responsible when they did not, 2) set up internment camps, 3) let the Japanese people alone on the theory that the majority should not be punished for the actions of the minority, or 4) prosecute the war against the foreign power so vigorously as to break them, making the terrorist actions useless. The U. S. chose actions 2 and 4, even though there was no evidence of any Japanese terrorism from within the U. S. Action 4 would have been enough, without the use of internment camps.

    The Islamic situation, on the other hand, is different in the fact that we know there are sleeper cells, and there are live cells prosecuting acts of terror on foreign soils. Under these circumstances, action 1 is always the most preferable, but actions 4 and 2 are really possibilities. Only action 3 seems to be foolhardy. If anyone has any other options, feel free to suggest them. Bribing the terror sponsors (a variant on action 1) has, traditionally, not worked, as the country will just take the money and allow the terrorists to continue, albeit with the appearance of being suppressed.

    As for feeling more or less safe, there is no real way to make a Bayesian calculation of the change in probabilities without having all of the facts. I might feel more paranoid, but that is different than being objectively more or less safe. In fact, because of the heightened security, an argument could be made that, probabilistically, one is slightly safer now than before the attacks in Paris, but the biasing effect is likely to fade over time to below the original degree of safeness.

    There is a lot I cannot discuss in this combox because it would be inappropriate, but let me just say that shooters and bombers are idiot terrorists. They are low hanging fruit. The really smart ones could plan and execute an attack from a continent away, with no warning and no apparent people involved to shoot at. Anyone with an imagination and a little technical training can plan a lot more devastating things than these idiots, who can only think of blowing things up. I do not turn my thinking to these sorts of things, but in a few minutes I was able to think up many nefarious things. I am sure that they can figure out a lot more.

    So, should we fear the idiots who shoot and bomb? No. What the smart people are doing, know one knows. About those, we should be a little more concerned.

    The Chicken

  76. KateD says:

    Here are some of my notes from that link to the video on Islam:

    Muslims follow Mohamed’s 3 part method of Conquest, which can be easily remembered by RPM: Religious (immigration), Political (increase in number & organize), Military (eliminate the native culture). That’s what is going on in Europe now.

    Europe brought the immigrants in to pay taxes to fund social programs, because their population was inadequate due to birth control and abortion. More than 70% of those immigrants were muslim. They were nice. Next the community grows and an imam is brought in to better teach them their faith. Women start wearing burkas. They build a mosque, block the streets during times of prayer. Businesses have difficulty operating and move out. The neighborhood has been taken over. There are over 751 No Go Zones in Paris (Zonnes Urbanes Sensibles) with 5 million Muslems.

    In Sweden, Norway and Denmark the #1 crime is rape: Islamic immigrant men raping European women. Blond haired, blue eyed girls dye their hair black to avoid being raped.

    That’s just from some of part 1/4. It’s very relevant to what has happened in Paris and what we can do to avoid the same scenario in America.

    As Angela Merkel has said, “Multiculturalism has failed. If you want to immigrate to our country, assimilate to our Christian culture and learn our language.”

  77. Konichiwa says:

    Father, I recommend having tourniquets as part of your medical supply or knowing how to make one. Also, consider martial arts training in addition to gun training. BTW, I just passed my technician license test.

  78. Persistant says:

    Although there are thousands of refugees passing through my country everyday, I feel safe. I don’t think Croatia could be a target of the jihadists, bigger, global players are in danger. [Like … Mali?]

  79. jflare says:

    Do I feel less safe since Paris? Well, yes…and no. I think at one time or another, I have contemplated the various options available for protecting myself or others from disasters, natural or manmade. I recall thinking after the Colorado shooting that it would’ve been helpful if someone had been able to shoot back with another gun. Or, I can see how having a first aid kit might be helpful.

    Here’s the real problem: Having appropriate equipment at the right time and the risk of being prosecuted for “solving” the problem.
    In America, we’re so paranoid about even the sight of a gun, that if a person would have a gun and be able to shoot back, they might ultimately be prosecuted for the unintended death of another innocent bystander who might get in the way. Considering that law enforcement has been accused of murder because a fugitive refused to stop running, I can easily see a lawyer making a case.

    Or, we could try walking about armed with first aid kits, guns, and ham radios. Trouble is, I’ve been in exercises where we wore full “battle rattle” for 14 hours each day. That becomes VERY annoying VERY quickly.
    For all that I’m not happy about the risk of being shot or blasted when seeing a movie, I’m not convinced that we can eliminate the threat by failing to visit public places. I guess we’d be best advised to stay alert and act accordingly.

    Be prepared to duck!

  80. Arele says:

    Looks like Dr. Sebastian Gorka agrees:
    Dr. Sebastian Gorka on The Kelly File re: ISIS terrorist attacks:
    “Don’t wait for Uncle Sam to protect you. Every American has a duty and a responsibility to be aware of the threat and be prepared to protect themselves…you have to be tactically aware. If you’re in a state, if you’re in a municipality that allows you to carry a weapon, you should do so…you should get training…”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDUdjb8k9Xk

  81. Chon says:

    When I lived in Jerusalem, I learned what kinds of places to avoid. Ever since 9/11 I’ve been doing a modified version of that, but after Paris I am even more vigilant. I take surface streets to Mass so I can avoid the long freeway tunnel (ambush territory). I do not take public transportation, or hang around bus stops where there is a crowd to blow up or drive into. I do my grocery shopping when the place is not crowded. Etc. Now, I eyeball doorways, etc., before I pass them, and cross the street to avoid women in burkas. I’ve read of too many bloodthirsty women with long knives in their purses.

    About movies: When you go to a movie in Jerusalem, there is probably going to be one or more fellow movie-goer who is in the IDF and packing a big gun. I’ll never forget the first time I went to a movie in a mall in Israel. The guy in the row in front of me had a rifle. The Israelis also have an alert populace who immediately report abandoned packages. I see abandoned boxes, etc. in underpasses all the time. What is in them? In Israel, I would call the bomb squad.

  82. Martlet says:

    I don’t feel any more or any less safe than I did the day before the Paris attacks. If I had my druthers, I would die after receiving the Last Rites, and lying in a bed surrounded by nuns singing something appropriate in Gregorian Chant. Short of that, I don’t suppose it really matters all that much.

    BUT – I am cautious. Where I lived in the late 1970s was the geographical area where the Yorkshire Ripper was active, so I learned to be very aware of my surroundings. I am also a first aider. And then in Germany, where I now live, every driver has to be trained in basic first aid and must carry a first aid kit.

  83. Mike says:

    I have an increased fear of not being in the state of grace and an increasing awareness of my miserably sinful inclinations. I pray (and ask prayers) that I may keep striving to grow in humility, charity, and docility to the Holy Ghost.

  84. marthawrites says:

    We have discontinued planning for a trip to Rome next spring, but we do have reservations for a couple of days in NYC before Christmas. I remember going there soon after 9/11 and being VERY aware of everyone around me, so I guess I’ll have the same level of alertness this time, too. I rely on my guardian angel for protection even as I try to conform my will to God’s will every day.

  85. boxerpaws63 says:

    someone said they weren’t crazy about the 2nd amendment. Why? The chances of being killed by a Muslim are pretty slim. Not impossible,but slim.The chances of being killed by a deranged or drug addicted person pretty high.The main reason we have a 2nd amendment is to protect us from a tyrannical government. The chances of that currently are probably as high as they’ve ever been.
    Frankly i’m more concerned about the American homegrown radicals these days than anything. I worry more about our military being unarmed here than anything. They’re sitting ducks.
    Bo Dietel had some great advice:Be aware of your surroundings. Take note of the exits. Do not sit near windows.If you hear firecrackers,he says,it aint the fourth of July folks-get out. It’s gunfire.It’s probably good advice under any circumstances. Afraid? Nope. Prudent? Yep. Confession. No matter what. Islam is a bigger problem than just terrorist attacks. The problem is some people seem to think there’s 2 groups. The so called moderate Muslims and the radical. BIG mistake. Islam is Islam. Period.

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