The Boundary Between Murder and Terrorism

After the shooting of former Prime Minister Abe, many politicians and media outlets provided the following statement: "We must not succumb to despicable terrorism." However, is Mr. Abe really a victim of terrorism?

What separates murder from terrorism? For example, if I were murdered by someone, the perpetrator would be called a murderer, but not a terrorist.

By searching the Internet a little, I found many different definitions of terrorism. Yet, a few key words are common in those definitions: Violence, fear, and purpose. Terrorism is the use of violence to achieve political or other ends, and it spreads fear in society to suppress speech and action.

According to reports, the perpetrator hated the Unification Church, and his motivation for the murder is the strong relationship between the Unification Church and Mr. Abe. If the reports are correct, the incident has nothing to do with terrorism.

Curiously, the man who assassinated former Prime Minister Abe is considered a terrorist. In other words, politicians are "special" people, different from ordinary people.