fear

[cellio]

Apparently, last Friday night FBI agents visited several synagogues and told people to lock their doors during services. I am curious whether they also visited mosques and churches during worship services. I haven't heard of this happening at synagogues Saturday morning, by the way, and for many congregations that would be the larger gathering.

It reminds me of last September. As the high holy days and the anniversary of 9/11 both approached, a few people asked me how I could possibly consider going to services and being a target. Excuse me while I decline to panic. If we refuse to go on with our lives and do the things that are important, which for me include worshipping in my community, then the terrorists and fear-mongers will have won. And if a synagogue has ushers who greet people as they come in, I personally think that's a better compromise than locking the doors. There is a continuum from "reckless" to "paranoid", and the correct point is somewhere in the middle.

And while we're talking about extreme responses to fear... the folks at FEMA have apparently suggested that Americans stock up on plastic sheeting and duct tape, so we can seal ourselves into our houses in the event of a chemical attack. Here's a wonderful response (link provided by chite).

Comments

[jducoeur]

I'm with you on this. This nonsense of plastic sheeting reminds me of nothing quite so much as 50s duck-and-cover exercises: somewhere between useless and actively harmful, feeding the general tone of paranoia.

Personally, my attitude is to keep my eyes open, but not really change what I do. There would have to be a lot of attacks (or a really huge one) for them to materially affect my day-to-day chances of injury or death. The simple reality is that the plate of carbonara I just finished is probably more dangerous to me than terrorist attacks...

[cellio]

This nonsense of plastic sheeting reminds me of nothing quite so much as 50s duck-and-cover exercises: somewhere between useless and actively harmful, feeding the general tone of paranoia.

Yup. When I was a teenager I sent away for my free copy of some government agency's guide to nuclear war (FEMA? someone else?). It was a fascinating read, and taught me how to build a bomb shelter in my backyard with tools around the house and what to put in it. Said bomb shelter might have protected me from a conventional bomb, but wouldn't have done squat against anything bigger. Same with the plastic and duct tape.

I wonder if Fred Small has updated his song "Dig a Hole in the Ground"? (I intended to learn it during the last gulf war, but concluded that it was too dated. It might be worth another look....)