America--no, the world--was saddened this past week by the events at the Boston Marathon. But terrorism didn't win. We will go on. Terrorism didn't stop yesterday's London Marathon, and it won't stop the Chicago Marathon, either. Oh, the organizers will take a few extra precautions, but thousands of marathons will continue to be held.
Take the London Marathon. The organizers increased security but went ahead as planned. Great Britain is used to terrorism attacks and has long known how to minimize them at events with large crowds.
Roland and I took the kids on vacation to England and Scotland in 1996, and while there we went to see the Tattoo. The Tattoo is an annual review presented by military bands and (bag)pipe and drum corps. It is held outdoors on the Edinburgh Castle esplanade during three weeks in August. As you can see from the picture, it's a big event.
On the way to the performance, we stopped and got ice cream bars. Three of us had finished ours and thrown the garbage away before we went through the gate, but John was still eating his. When he finished, we looked around for a trash can. We couldn't find one, so Roland asked a guard where they were. The guard told him that there weren't any garbage cans because that is where the IRA likes to plant its bombs. He told Roland to throw the trash on the ground, but as well trained as we are not to litter, Roland put the messy stick and wrapping in his pocket, instead.
The point is, there are precautions that event organizers can--and probably should--take, but terrorism threats can't stop us from holding those events. If they do, the terrorists win. And that isn't an option.
Psalm 27 says, "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" (Psalm 27:1, ESV)
Not terrorists.
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