“Terrorism is violence used in order to create fear, but it is aimed at creating fear in order that the fear, in turn, will lead somebody else—not the terrorist—to embark on some quite different program of action that will accomplish whatever it is that the terrorist really desires.” So wrote David Fromkin back in 1975 in Foreign Affairs.

The terrorist desires to anger the enemy, so that the enemy acts unwisely in the emotion of the moment. The anger may be justified, but the actions may not be.

Some have suggested that our budget-busting military responses to the 9/ll terrorist attacks played into our enemies’ hands, leading us to near bankruptcy. They suggest that more terrorists were created by our actions than have been killed in military campaigns. The longer-term goal of tracking funding for terrorism may have proved more effective. This longer-term process, however, garners fewer headlines than military responses.

Be angry and sin not, the Christian apostle Paul advised, surely knowing how difficult that advice is to carry out. Injustice or the deliberate taking of innocent lives, as happened at the Boston Marathon, should anger us and encourage us to right such wrongs. The trick is to avoid “eye for an eye” retribution but rather to act “for the good of all.”

Striking for the opponent’s eye often is tempting and may accomplish short term goals. Working for the common good takes longer but wins more long term battles. Retaining the moral high ground requires discipline and patience.