Consider the following questions:

1) If a tree falls in a forest and nobody hears it, does it make a sound?

2) If a tree falls in a forest and nobody hears it because the sound of sawing is so deafeningly loud, do you then set fire to the headquarters of the lumber company?

The first question has been debated time and time again, conflicting over differing points of view, having different ways of judging the same scenario. The second question seems a bit less up for debate, but surprisingly has also encountered a dangerous range of responses– as can be seen in Marshall Curry’s documentary, If A Tree Falls. The Earth Liberation Front (ELF) was an organization set on saving the environment, mostly through property destruction in the form of arson. Although this was certainly a moral and legal wrong, the term applied to the members of this group makes me feel uneasy. “Eco-terrorists” is the label they have been given. The judge may argue that everyone who inspires fear is a terrorist, but given that the word terrorist inspires a reflex of instant hatred in a post-9/11 world, it seems like a gross misrepresentation of the group’s motives and desires. They never hurt anybody physically. They never threatened human life. In fact, they actively tried to avoid harming others. Even when they were busy burning buildings to the ground, they always made sure they were empty before they begun. Not only were their methods , but the reason for the birth of the group was understandable. Police were brutalizing non-violent protestors– inevitably, some protestors reached the conclusion that another path would have to be taken to get any sort of real results.

Property destruction? Sure. Wrong? Of course. Jail-time? Makes sense.

Terrorism?

I think not. But if a tree falls in a forest…