Eroding Trust

I just finished reading this great op-ed by Thomas Friedman in the New York Times. He is writing about Al Qaeda and their strategy to create a closed American society by causing an erosion in trust.

"By turning human beings into walking missiles and instruments from our daily lives — cars, airplanes, shoes, cellphones, backpacks — into bombs, Al Qaeda attacks the very feature that keeps our open society open: trust. If you have to fear that the person next to you on a plane or in a theater might blow up, there can be no open society."

It is a scary thought that it is up to all of us to keep an open mind and an open heart regardless of how chaotic things become. Once we, as a society, allow fear and prejudice to separate and isolate us from each other, they win.