Is it Religion or the individual?
Mike Ghouse
Was the Fort Hood mayhem caused by religious motivation or was the individual solely responsible?
The right wing media finds it easy to collude with the Neocons, who are obsessed with hating some one or the other and Muslims have reappeared on their radar since first deliberate mistranslation of Quraan in Latin by Robert of Ketton in 1143 and paint Muslims negatively for their gains. The Neocons find it convenient to blame Islam and Muslims, and their gullible team goes to work and cooks up justifications.
Dave Gaubatz in an interview says, "Malik Nidal Hasan is a terrorist supporting the ideology of Al Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah, and yes, CAIR. Ken Eisold writes in the Psychology Magazine, “Some politicians are quick to speculate that it might be a plot, but some conservative commentators, not waiting for evidence, have concluded that Hasan is a "trained terrorist."
No criminal should be spared; the rule of law must prevail. Major Nidal Hasan’s crime should be dealt with accordingly.
It is our duty as a nation to keep law and order and faithfully guard the safety of every citizen. Hate is one of the many sources of disrupting peace in a society and it is our responsibility to track down the source of such hate and work on mitigating it. Bringing harmony should be our consistent goal. Each one of has an obligation to maintain a balance in the society.
A decade ago, in the very same town Killeen some loony walked into Luby’s cafeteria and randomly killed 23 people dining in peace, a crazy opened the fire in McDonalds in San Diego and I believe he killed 21 people. They were people with real or imagined grievances against society who went on indiscriminate rampages, but they did not make any claims of motivation by religion or any religious group. A white supremacist and a Holocaust denier opened the fire in the Holocaust Museum in DC and there are umpteen incidences like that.
So why do they pick Islam?
Sadly, it is because Major Nidal Hasan uttered the phrase “Allahu Akbar” before opening the fire. Didn't the murderers who wore Christian labels claim they were doing God’s work killing the Doctors at the Abortion Clinics? Didn't Pat Robertson say that Katrina was God's curse? Didn't Falwell say that we are cursed because we allowed Gay and Lesbians to live their lives? Should we dis-regard the words of these loonies? Had Robertson and Falwell lived in the old west, would they have slaughtered any one who differed? Didn't the Missionaries do the same thing with the indigenous people of America; didn't Ferdinand do to the same to Jews and Muslims in 1492?
Nidal Hasan said “Allahu Akbar”. Those who have the desire to find the truth will understand that this phrase is simply a cue for readiness to start a good thing and acknowledging the greatness of God, inversely it is an expression of humility. Although, in religious wars, Christian, Hindus, Muslims and others have made God’s name a battle cry, it should not been said to shoot some one or slit someone's throat. It should uttered when some one saw something great happening like the man landing on the moon, or seeing pictures of the planet earth or when some one is doing well. Allahu Akbar is meant to be used to show one’s humility by admiring the creator, apparently Nidal Hasan, the psycho did not know the difference.
Unfortunately, there is a pattern here by those murderers who recite the name of God, as murderers wearing different religious labels have done it.
Who is responsible?
The responsibility to bring about harmony falls squarely on the shoulders of Muslims and the society at large equally.
Muslims should be the first ones to be asking why does this happen? Should they make an effort to teach every where that Allahu Akbar means humility and not an incitement or a cue to kill as portrayed on the media over and over again? Indeed, the Muslims are doing everything to let the world know that they recognize the problem and are fighting to correct it. They need the media to give them a hand, especially the moderate majority.
The Muslims are appalled at this while a few ugly ones are rejoicing it, let’s hope that the media reports these happenings proportionately to let the world know the truth.
So why do they pick on Islam?
The Republicans are a loosing lot, they are not in tune with the Americans and resorting to a variety of tactics, they needed something to latch on to even if it is not truthful. They are letting the extremists among them speak for their party, hoping that a few nincompoops will lend support for their anti-Muslim rhetoric; sadly it sells and brings funding to these extremists.
It is déjà vue and similar to believing that Osama bin Laden was elected to speak for Islam, they are letting their evil men and women speak for the Republican Party and I am still a Republican Party member.
Those few handful and their cronies like Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck, Savage and others love these tragic situations. These vultures feed on bad news to up their ratings, shame on those who watch them and give them their bounties.
One cannot kill an intangible thing like religion, punish or imprison it and bring justice. Blaming the religion is no more than barking at the wrong tree. You can certainly punish the instigators or the individuals committing the crime. If I murder someone, incarcerates me; my kids, my parents, family, my nation or religion has nothing to do with my crimes. You can punish me and bring justice; you cannot do a thing with religion other than propagating hate and harming the structure of the society. Blaming the religion is escapism – a gutlessness to face the problem squarely.
Mike Ghouse is a founder of the World Muslim Congress, committed to be a voice of the moderate majority. He is writer speaker and an activist of pluralism, co-existence, Islam and India. He is a frequent guest at the TV, radio and print media offering pluralistic solutions to issues of the day. His websites and Blogs are listed on http://www.mikeghouse.net/
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