The death toll rises

We're stunned, and we should be. We're shocked, and we should be. We're feeling vengeful, and we should not.

What happened in Paris last night deserves our strongest condemnation: the killing of innocent civilians, for whatever reason, is a reprehensible act of barbarism. There is no justification for it. None. And yet, it our shock and sadness and, yes, anger, we must beware ... of ourselves. Can we -- you and I -- become what we hate. We must be careful, for it can happen all too easily.

Two mistakes must be avoided right now: identifying one, singular, unified enemy and blaming victims. I'm concerned that both are about to raise their ugly heads.

Let me repeat: last night's actions were committed by individuals, acting together, it is true but hardly representative of anything but themselves and their own distorted vision of reality. It will most likely turn out that they will have claimed adherence to one particular flavor of a faith, and in our anger and lust for vengeance, we run the risk of placing all adherents of that faith into one basket. There is not a single religion on the face of this planet that is singular, monolithic and the same to all of its adherents. Every religion has its major and minor groupings and individually accented believers. Such diversity is celebrated in one's own religion, but too often mistakenly denied to others. That would be a mistake. We in the West celebrate the individual, and we need to carry that view over to those with whom we disagree and, above all, to those whom have done us wrong.

It would be just as mistaken to use this incident to justify a rejection of the flood of refugees coming to Europe at this time. First and foremost, the vast majority of these refugees find themselves in Southern, Eastern, and, most recently, Central Europe, not in France. It would be naive, to say the least, that there are no terrorists or terror-inclined individuals amongst that flood. The thing about terror is that it has the ability to take advantage of all opportunities it finds. These refugees are fleeing from precisely that terror -- the unreasonable, unexpected, sudden and drastic taking of human life -- that we are mourning today, only they have experienced it longer and on a much larger scale than any of us. They are not fleeing for the fun of it. They are being driven. The refugees are the victims of a greater terror and we need to acknowledge that.

A pitiless, merciless retaliation -- as has already been promised -- is hardly the appropriate response. It is said that and eye for an eye can only make the whole world blind, and although we are getting there, we are not all blind yet.

We can not respond in kind to senseless, irrational actions. What terrorists do is meant to instill fear, but it is the light of reason that keeps us from falling into the darkness of fear. Terrorist, regardless of how murderous and bloody their actions may be, act for a reason, they feel justified in what they do. Until we recognize that and deal with those reasons, we can only expect more of the same.

I don't know about you, but I've had more than enough of this insanity.