How do you respond to an act of war?

That is the question the world has been asking following Friday’s terrorist attacks. With at least 132 dead and hundreds more injured, French President Francois Hollande rightfully called the attacks in Paris “an act of war committed by a terrorist army.”

“Faced with war, the country will take appropriate steps,” he said, which were carried out Sunday night with massive air strikes on the so-called Islamic State’s de-facto capital in Syria. Beyond attacks on Islamic State targets in Syria and ongoing efforts to track down members of the sleeper cell responsible for orchestrating the attacks in Paris, the next steps remain undefined.

President Barack Obama called the violence an “attack on the civilized world,” and Russian President Vladimir Putin urged “global efforts” to confront the threat, but there has been little indication of how world leaders intend to react. Leaders of nations gathering in Turkey for the G20 summit condemned the actions, and others have used the attacks to call for tighter border controls in Western Europe.

Here, on a more personal level, we are saddened and outraged by the needless loss of life in Paris. We feel such attacks must be answered, and a message must be sent, but we also note it’s too easy to send the wrong message. In recent days, we’ve seen too many people lash out against an entire group of people and their religious beliefs based on the actions of extremists, and we’ve seen others who call for a wait-and-see approach, criticizing the French airstrikes.

It’s hard to know what the right next steps are for France, for America or for the world. Sorrow and public support is becoming the immediate response to international tragedies, such as those seen in France or in the bombing of a Shiite district of Beirut and the sudden crash of a Russian airliner, all of which have been claimed by the Islamic State.

As the next steps are considered on a global scale, it also remains important we as individuals measure our personal responses. We must realize we are part of a larger global society where many allies share our values in regard to human life and freedom. It is those values that should guide our actions, both at home and on a global scale.

Every terrorist attack, whether across the globe or at home, should serve to remind us of those values and be seen as an opportunity to show the world that they are what we cherish most.

We, as individuals and as a nation, will be measured by how we respond to this and future crises.

— Rochester Post Bulletin, Nov. 16