"Greg, they're going to hate you for writing this," said my neighbor and confidante.
Yes, that's the issue I'm addressing, hate. All are capable of it. Some dress theirs in pure white linen, clasped by crucifix or crescent moon, while others in red, white and blue.
In 1942 Roosevelt issued the Japanese Internment Order. In 1988, Reagan apologized to the American Japanese.
Although 2001 census data puts the number of Muslims at 2.8 million, the estimated actual number is probably between 6 and 10 million. The number of American Muslims who killed 13 people at Ft. Hood on November 5 was one. It appears the rampage by Major Nidal Malik Hasan was a solo, un-orchestrated with his Muslim brethren.
Hasan was an Army psychiatrist, American born and a convert to Islam. His aunt Noel Hasan is quoted as saying, "He must have snapped."
A cousin in Palestine said Hasan, "Spoke very fondly about his life in the United States," and was excited to have joined the Army. The cousin said Hasan began to complain that he was being mistreated, feeling discriminated because of his ethnicity and religion.
A Pennsylvania radio station reporter interviewed a member of the Muslim Association of the Lehigh Valley. "Unfortunate thing with people is they seem to incriminate the whole community rather than the individual who did the crime," said a man named Mohamed.
The Council on American Islamic Relations condemned the attack. A byline on the CAIR web site says, "In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful."
Remember following 9-11, the furor (an interesting homonym) against Muslims as radical extremists? The contagion eventually spread globally, until Danish cartoons, riots in France and conflict in Amsterdam appear as media blips with irregular frequency. A recent conspiracy case coming out of Colorado, that of suspect Najibullah Zazi demonstrates that so-called "radical Islam" is a phenomenon that we can put our finger on. But, I need to point out that radical Islam is different from Islam as a whole, just as radical Christianity is different from Christianity at large.
How many Christians, after all, identify themselves with fellow Christians Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, two radical and zealous self-proclaimed patriots who blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Building in 1995, killing 168 people, many of them children at a day care? The Oklahoma City Bombing remains the deadliest domestically conceived terrorist attack. The Southern Poverty Law Center has documented a rise in what it calls "domestic terror plots" linked to white supremacist groups.
Last May, Sgt. John M. Russell, white and Christian, shot and killed five of his comrades at Camp Liberty in Iraq.
The Sherriff's report on the 1999 Columbine Massacre indicates the attack was " not about killing jocks or black people or Christians...it was about killing everybody. " The two killers were high school students Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris. In what might be interpreted as prophetic irony, Harris wrote in a suicide note, " Surely you will try to blame it on the clothes I wear, the music I listen to, or the way I choose to present myself "
There is a fairly long list of tragedies perpetrated by troubled minds. In 1929 45 people were killed in a bombing at Bath School, Michigan. Most of the children were between 7 and 12 years old. School board member Andrew Kehoe, not a Muslim, reacted badly to a property tax.
Many of us, like Kehoe, hate taxes. Maybe your fears about radical Muslims are misplaced. We hated the Soviets and China, but death came like the proverbial thief in the night from Arabia. Now, we hate Islam. It is such an easy, ignorant and mindless hate; so easy to spread. Just turn off the brain and wrap a flag around your plump, pink body. "Those people" hate the American way. Apparently, though, so did Russell, McVeigh and Nichols, Klebold and Harris, and Kehoe.
Freelance journalist Gregory G. Lewis was a regular contributor to the West County News of Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts. As a correspondent to several Franklin County towns Mr. Lewis was better known by his Arts & Entertainment contributions, especially On the Marquee, a review of the region's outstanding art, music and drama.
"My assignments took me to dinners and breakfasts with the Governor; and to the 2006 Massachusetts Democratic Convention where I met candidate Deval Patrick, US Senator John Kerry, and even Kitty Dukakis," said Mr. Lewis.
Since the West County News closed its doors in August, Mr. Lewis has pursued the night life and high life of South Florida, in the
Proustian tradition. He now carouses tropical climes and exotic personalities, capitalizing on years of experience thrusting himself in the public eye.
» left by Ferret from Austin (9 days 23 hours ago.)
Most of the people that will hate you for this likely won't leave comments. They'll just mumble to each other about how you're obviously a Liberal (or some other group they don't agree with) or have been brainwashed. That's how stupid people think, after all.
Thanks for reading Ferret. I think we are all capable of stupidity, and every other human condition. That is why we have each other, to keep us out of harm.
» left by Brianna Popsickle (9 days 15 hours ago.)
Right on Gregory! I commend you for speaking your mind. I hope your article causes people to stop and consider your point of view, instead of so easily jumping on the 'hate' bandwagon.
Well thanks G. I will not write what I had purposed to write --- you covered the bases quite nicely. Five stars doesn't begin to express my appreciation.
If you haven't already, please read my piece: Turning Racism Upside Down To See It Rightside Up: The Remix.
Very nicely done. Islam is the current whipping boy, of course, since it isn't p.c. to hate people of color or gays anymore. People will hate because they need to blame someone (or anyone) for everything. Well done.
Thanks so much for writing this. It expresses beautifully everything I think and feel.
I might add that bullying is a common component in many shootings, i.e. the shooters had been the targets of much abuse from peers at school or work. This certainly seems to have been the case for Hasan, albeit along with other issues.
If we could teach tolerance as well as the embracing of diversity in all its many shapes and forms, the world would be so much better off... It's important for all of us to speak up when necessary against hate and violence in all its disguises. It's up to us to set the example.
Thank you for reading this, Debi. You picked up on a common thread throughout many of these tragedies, that these were often people who accumulated a lot of anxiety over being picked on, bullied, shunned, neglected, unheard, or abused. Then we wonder, "what happened?"
I'm not sure it's true in every case, like the Oklahoma City Bombers, and genuine terrorists that show a strong ideological component to their madness.
Leiberman (?, CT) wants to head an investigation into whether or not this was a bona fide terrorist attack that could have been foreseen. He's politicizing and grandstanding, as usual. I'm concerned there might be a streamlining of evidence, because no politician wants to look like he was barking up the wrong tree. we have only to look at the Iraq War to see how public perception is manufactured.
I will not condemn all Muslims but I have some serious questions. I happen to know history. I know the history of Islam. It is a religion born of the sword. I would like to know why the rest of the Muslim community doesn't stand up a shout and the top of the lungs that they do not agree with the radicals. All I hear is silence. I will not turn the other cheek to them. I think that secretly many (if not a majority) agree with the killers. A basic tenant of Islam is that 1/2 of the worlds population are slaves. I was in combat. I have MANY doubts about Islam. Respond to this comment
The Muslim community, as you call it (as if all Muslims belong to some cohesive, unified community) did come out and condemn this latest act. I mentioned that, but readers will only see what they want to see, and acknowledge only what confirms their prejudice. Did you, as a non-Muslim shout at the top of your lungs when John Russel shot five of his comrades in Iraq last May? Do you shout at the top of your own lungs whenever white supremacist groups stage their spectacles, as a self-styled Nazi group recently did in Los Angeles, or is shouting at the top of your lungs only something those other groups are expected to do, because you are above that?
Your sweeping judgment on what you know about Muslims are clearly not based on your knowledge of them in American society, and I question whether you know any American Muslims.
I do not fear the majority of Muslims in our country. I happen to have two clients right now who are Muslim -- neither one is intent on destroying our country.
My fear, however, is for someone like Major Hasan who definitely has issues and would like to see us dead. My fear is for those who kill their daughters -- honor killings -- because they are becoming too Westernized. My fear is of the sole jihadist in New York who plans on blowing up a bridge or a tunnel.
I find your statement about McVeigh odd. His motive for the Oklahoma City tragedy was because of his hatred for the government. I don't think he would have referred to himself a Christian. He was reported to have said that science was his religion and never took to the ideology of the Catholic Church. Simply put, I doubt he attended mass before the bombing.
Another way to simply look at the picture is to check out Major Hasan's business card on which were the Initials SoA. SoA is commonly used on jihadist Web sites as the acronym for Soldier of Allah. I don't remember hearing that McVeigh had business cards saying, I'm on the Pope's team!
Whatever McVeigh's personal ideology might have been, this is the issue: We didn't demonize his particular demographic, the way we tend to globally demonize and mistrust the entire world of Islam when an Arab-descended makes the news for some horrific act. After the Oklahoma City Bombing Americans didn't generally cast a suspicious view of long haired skinny white men with a southern drawl.
When I watched the World Trade Center collapse, a man standing next to me, Mansur, from Pakistan, was very quiet compared to the others standing near me. I could read in his face a deep worry, that he knew he would be the odd man out if it turned out, which it did, to be an act perpetrated by Muslims. I've always felt bad for Mansur, because he was no terrorist, nor any other Muslim that I knew, and I know many.
I'm going to have to stand with my conscience on this one, and take the least popular path, in defense of innocent until proven guilty, and in opposition to mob rule.
Great article! Hate comes strait from the devil so it can go right back to him. I have seen him kick and scream everytime Jesus wins, which of course, is always.
Disclaimer: All information on this site is provided for informational purposes only! By no means is any
information presented herein intended to substitute for the advice provided to you by any health care or other professional
or organization.
You are a member of Gregory Lewis's Fan Club!
tweet this!
