By now you’ve likely heard about the massacre yesterday at Fort Hood, Texas that left 13 dead and many more injured. The shooter was Major Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist born in Virginia. After initially reporting that Hasan had been killed on the scene, authorities now say he is alive and in stable condition, despite being shot four times during the incident.
Much is being made of the fact that Hasan, although a native-born American and career military man, is a lifelong Muslim who was outspoken in his opposition to US actions overseas (to be fair, not an unusual position for many citizens). He reportedly shouted “Allahu Akbar! (God Is Great!)” during the shooting.
So, is Hasan a Muslim terrorist, a one-man sleeper cell wreaking havoc at the heart of the Great Satan? Or is he a mentally unstable soldier who just happened to be a Muslim? Even if we have some answers soon they won’t be satisfying.
John asked: “So, is Hasan a Muslim terrorist, a one-man sleeper cell wreaking havoc at the heart of the Great Satan? Or is he a mentally unstable soldier who just happened to be a Muslim?”
NH Baritone responded: No disrespect intended, but I fail to see how terrorist thinking and mental instability are mutually exclusive. The answer to your questions may be contained in the questions themselves.
The answer to this will not be simple, unfortunately the answer we are likely to get from authorities is likely to be as simple as what you asked, terrorist or crazy?
As freethinkers, we should have an advantage in looking at this situation a little differently.
He has been outspoken against the war, so have I, and so have millions of people, probably a huge percentage of the democratic party. I imagine his religion added to that somewhat. Ever since, I imagine he has been persecuted for being muslim, especially in light of the fact that there has been a concerted effort on the right to ‘christianize’ our troops. Atheists, muslims, jews, whatever, have all been subject to this problem. Many groups such as FFRF, MRFF, MAAF have been combating this for some time.
In his job he dealt with returning soldiers with PTSD among other things. I’m sure he heard lots of horror stories that turned his stomach, and may have meet with some hostility from his patients as well for his religion.
I imagine all those factors combined to send him over the edge with disastrous consequences. The same issues are also at play in creating more insurgents in the war regions as well. If we as a nation, if our politicians, if our soldiers, all had a much stronger secular outlook on the world, not only might this situation not have happened, but neither might have the wars we are in, and there might even be a much higher chance that the Middle East would be a much more peaceful place than it is.
Lets not look at this indecent so simply as just terrorist of nut bag, but examine it more thoroughly to expose it as a symptom and almost expected outcome of the christian/sectarian attitudes that the right breed so strongly particularly during the previous administration.
I am pleased that Maj Hasan survived, and hope he returns to health to explain his actions. He will certainly pay dearly for his crimes, but hopefully his explanations will help us to better correct the error of our ways as well.