A Little Friendly Terrorism?

Terry Loewen not only had an effect on criminal law in Kansas when he attempted to bomb an airport in Wichita this past December; he also changed civil law. As a result of his antics, the House Corrections and Juvenile Justice Committee will hear a bill that will, if it becomes law, allow victims to sue convicted terrorists for damages in civil court. It will enable victims to recover up to three times their losses, or ten thousand dollars, whichever is greater. The definition of "terrorism" still appears to be a bit vague, however. It's a word that gets thrown around a lot, these days.

The mother of a boy at Frankfort High School, in Kansas, got very angry with yours truly, once upon a time, for refusing to allow her sons to spend time alone with my daughters in a bedroom of their house. The Pagan discipline followed by my family

embraces the making of careful choices in sexual relationships and contrasts rather sharply with the Midwestern Christian open acceptance of sexual exploitation among high school students. The mother rightfully felt ashamed of the way she had brought up her sons, yet she could not bring herself to simply admit it. Instead, she waited until she had a moment alone with my oldest daughter, (this took place at the school.....a conversation with an adult that should NOT have taken place at school with my daughter) and told her that I am a "terrorist", because she "felt terrorized" when I informed her of what local young people do in her house behind her back. The conversation she and I had did not take place at either of our homes, and was caught on surveillance, so my daughter was able to see that I did not "terrorize" anyone, and was actually quite subdued about the whole exchange, given the matter at hand. The faithful member of Annunciation Catholic Church in Frankfort Kansas was merely attempting to harm the relationship between my daughter and myself. How very Christian.

A few months later, those very boys drove an SUV on my lawn, grazed my porch, and proceeded into the neighbor's lawn, almost driving through her picture window into her living room. They did this multiple times. Law enforcement was unconcerned until they nearly hit two small children. Each time, my lawn was where the vandalism was focused. It finally resulted in a formal "no trespass" order for these two Christian young men; they will be arrested if they return. The use of a vehicle to scare my family and tear up lawns and porches was definitely meant to frighten and "terrorize". Would this be the intent recognized by the local court? Probably not, as police almost didn't bother with the problem. Yet, when the mother of these two monsters "felt terrorized" after a simple conversation, she howled and cried about it to my daughter, and a whole town is supposed to feel sorry for her because she was "terrorized" by someone who is not a Christian!

Meanwhile, lawns, gardens, trees, bushes, windows, bricks, siding, doors, ect., can all add up, monetarily. Ten thousand dollars may only be a mere drop in a bucket. The suit for "terrorism damages" would probably have to be filed separately from the suit for all the other damages. The damage done to my children by this woman's unfortunate mouth cannot be tallied, sadly, as cannot the loss of human life, should the Catholic Christian mother never get around to teaching her sons not to terrorize others.