Love Conquers All

'To say that we are winning the war on crime because we've head to put everyone in prison, in short, is like saying that we're winning the war of disease because we've had to put everyone in hospital'

- someone surnamed Currie in my current textbook 

 Or like saying we're winning/are going to win the war on terror because we've stereotyped one religion and abused them all, or denied them entry to our countries. 

The terrorists that have attacked the UK most recently have done so for three main reasons: the West have destroyed massive sections of the Middle East and have not rebuilt or improved them to a decent standard; the terrorists hate our way of life; they believe a highly distorted version of their religion of Islam supports them. 

The first point, the West pretty much have to own. Yes, the removal of Saddam Hussein was a necessity, but leaving Iraq and Afghanistan in wreck and ruin has not been a good idea, and it all seems a little hypocritical when you look at relationships with the Assads. However, you can't fight fire with fire. So them attacking us for attacking them is not going to bring about a solution, just as much as us attacking them for attacking us is going to achieve peaceful resolution. The second point is completely on them. Especially when they attack our way of life by attacking a pop concert full of teenagers. There is nothing wrong with what we do day to day, and there is no way we should stop it just because a minority have decided to have a problem with it. The problem they have is the third point; their massively distorted view of Islam. The Islamic God is the same as the Christian and Jewish God, the only difference really is believing Jesus was the Son of God, both Islam and Judaism recognise him as a prophet. All three religions are based in love, and care for one another, not violence and hate.

'We're not broken just bent and we can learn to love again'
- Pink

My dad sent me a text saying he hoped I wasn't scared about going to London with work today after the recent attacks. I told him, 'If a terrorist gets me, I won't be on their conscience then, so they're not on my worry list now'. He told me this was 'very phlegmatic', which I googled, and the example sentence it gave was 'the phlegmatic British character'! And lots of things came together in my mind, making me very proud to be a phlegmatic Brit. We have this stiff upper lip that means we care about each other, and we care about what's right, but as soon as you're wrong you can do one thinking we're going to pay you the time of day. The concert in Manchester wasn't a response to a terrorist attack, it was a celebration of 22 people's lives, love, music, and Britain.  I have an overwhelming sense of British perseverance within me at the moment. We're going to be ok, we're going to get through this, and we are not going to bow down and be defeated.