Argument by Analogy

Terrorism would usually be related to a word such as coercion. Although we don’t want to think of terrorism as anything positive, terrorism can be also thought of as a form of patriotism or loyalty. Patriotism is the support and honor in one's nation. Terrorists display this differently but still have the underlying fact of being loyal.

Citizens of a nation show patriotism for their county in many different ways.

Patriotic citizens display the nation’s flag to declare their loyalty to the nation. Another example of patriotism is singing the national anthem. Men and women of the secret service and army put themselves in danger for the government all the time. These people are willing to sacrifice their lives to defend their country.

Similarly, a member of a terrorist group would also give his or her life to show loyalty to the organization. Terrorists, however, show loyalty using much more violent methods. In Japan, Kamikaze’s (Delete the apostrophe.) are seen as patriots and are honored before they leave for their final flight. The Japanese definition of Kamikaze is “divine wind” whereas the English definition is “suicide attacks”. The Japanese military, to our surprise, has never had a problem recruiting for the position of a kamikaze because the Japanese find that position as a way to honor their families and to prove themselves with an extreme action. This definition alone is a great example of how terrorism and patriotism is the same thing, but it depends on the point of view. For example, the definition of terrorism as defined by the United State’s point of view cannot be used due to the fact that the U.S. declared war against terrorists. (How does that invalidate the US definition of terrorism? What is the US definition?)

In 1937, the Japanese military was stationed in southern Beijing when they asked to cross into the Yuanping County of China claiming that they had a missing soldier. Once China had let them through, the Second-Sino Japanese War had started. Due to the Second-Sino Japanese War, over six million people in mainland China were murdered because of their custom and culture. Since Japan had deceived China into letting them cross over to the Yuanping County, China would see this act as terrorism seeing as war had not been declared beforehand. This example shows that patriotism of the Japanese is, at the same time, terrorism in the eyes of the Chinese. This clearly shows the similarities between these two words. (How so? It just shows that people see things differently. No one is saying that patriotism and terrorism is the same thing, or even similar.)

Another example of how terrorists are similar to patriots is the events on September 11th. The events that took place were the result of Afghanistan patriots doing what they thought was right and honorable. But in the point of view of the U.S. and good morality, this is considered terrorism. These are just some of the many examples of how terrorism is similar to patriotism. The words are essentially the same, just differeng by the point of view.

I’m not saying that terrorism is at all good in any way, but in the mind of the terrorists, their acts are justified by their intent. Terrorists are not exactly similar to any proud citizen of a nation. The difference between citizens being loyal to their country and terrorists being loyal to their organization are the intentions. Terrorist organizations attack others to prove their allegiance to the terrorist organization. Also, nations are recognized organizations of people. Terrorist groups are not condoned by a majority of the world or UN. Patriots of a nation, on the other hand, defend and support the nation and population. Patriots also defend their nation's morals. An example of this is intervening with the Holocaust.