When we give in to fear, the terrorists win

The terrorists are winning.

Attacks in Ivory Coast, Brussels and Iraq have taken innocent lives and changed others forever. The worldwide death toll for Islamic State of Iraq and Syria attacks in March alone is nearing 100.

ISIS is a small militia compared to nearly any nation’s standing army. Their goal isn’t to conquer the world by defeating any individual who stands in the way. Instead, the group is using tactic that has been around for centuries.

Ancient philosopher Philip of Macedonia is credited with forming the philosophy “divide et impera”, Latin for “divide and conquer.”

In short, this philosophy deals with how to accumulate power through the division of a large entity. It states that by separating the whole into smaller pieces, disputes and rivalries will arise making the pieces far weaker than they would have been as a whole.

Sound familiar?

I can’t speak for other countries, but the United States is clearly being divided in the midst of fear. In doing so, we are playing right into the hands of radical militants.

Gruesome images from media platforms across the world are putting fear into the hearts of individuals from every walk of life. Whether intentionally or not various media outlets use language that portrays all Muslims as terrorist. In turn people are influenced, maybe without even being aware.

Politicians see that people fear ISIS and take advantage to further their agendas. Instead of targeting just the militant group, they intentionally portray all Islamic followers as a problem that will be taken care of, ignoring the fact that their own religion has its own share of crazy people.

Their constituents will clap and cheer.

“While politicians like Trump and Rubio are often quick to demonize all Muslims and blame them for acts of terror, little to no effort is given to really understand the root causes and motivations for such terrorism,” Ambassador Seyed Hossein Mousavian said. “With such a mentality, it is impossible to pursue a truly effective counterterrorism policy.”

Islamophobia is a growing epidemic in our country as a result of skewed media and political agendas.

“Casting blame on the whole religion of Islam is not only nonsensical, but also immensely counterproductive,” Mousavian said.

We are in an age where people want to be informed as quickly as possible. The increase in the speed of information leads to an inevitable decrease in accuracy.

A large portion of the American population gathers their news from systematically biased sources and takes them as legitimate simply because they are on the internet. Coupled with individuals who believe any picture with words on it, it’s clear we live in a frustratingly uninformed society.

As a country we are doing exactly what the terrorists want us to do. We are voting for those who divide us, fearing people whom we shouldn’t and hating those who don’t deserve it.

Just like the philosophy Philip of Macedonia came up with hundreds of years ago, we are becoming weaker by division. The U.S. has always been a strong nation in large part due to the cohesion of the members of this great nation.

We may not all look the same here, but we must once again come together to overcome those who want to defeat us.

Opinion columnist Reagan Earnst is a print journalism junior and may be reached at [email protected]