![Sri Lankan army soldiers secure the area](https://wordandway.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/webRNS-Sri-Lanka1-042219-1200x675.jpg)
Inspired by the devastating impact of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and enabled by the largely unchecked freedoms of social media, individual extremists have launched a steady series of assaults on religious institutions around the world, the latest at a California synagogue.