Good points Ghazala. I would only add that we should also be grateful for the courage of Officer Kimberly Munley in acting so quickly and with little concern for her own safety and stopping the shooter before any more people were injured or killed. Our prayers for the families in this time of great sorrow.

“The fact that the perpetrator is a Muslim should not be a reflection on Islam.” Why?

Ghazala - Unfortunately there are a whole lot of Muslims that interpret the teachings of Islam as a license or duty to murder any non - believer. Too many of your religion have a penchant for strapping on explosives and walking into a group of children and blowing themselves up in the name of Allah. I here very little objection coming from the imams (if any.)

Presumably for the same reasons that priests that rape children should not be taken as a reflection on Christianity.

Simian

My own view is that we rush to quickly to those conversations to avoid the pain and suffering of the loss. It is my same reaction to Matson’s cartoon. The rush to find blame and fault serves only as a pretense at numbing the pain.

Be with the loss. Our faith provides us with the strength for this.

“Imbeded” and patient. Centuries of hatred, centuries-not years-
give terrorists the patience to go ‘under’ for years, and then strike.
We do not understand that level of patience. That lack of understanding
is proving devastating.

Presumably, our faith encompasses our aspirations. We can spout theology all we want but the proof of what we really believe is reflected in our actions. Mankind is not made for religion. Rather, religion is made for mankind. As the creator of religion, we define it with words and deeds - not only the clergy but every member who aspires to be a member of a particular religion. That is why I question the statement: “The fact that the perpetrator is a Muslim should not be a reflection on Islam.”.

Hey davel,

Indeed, “man was not made for religion”, and instead, “religion was made for man”. I think you need to take just one more step: Religion was made by man! That’s why there are so many, and why they have too often been the source of Humanity’s suffering throughout history. Admittedly, they have also contributed to our advancement in numerous ways, but the time for Humanity to awaken from its dreams of supernatural assistance, magic powers and magic miracles, and everyone-who-Believes-wins-the-lotto (after death) has passed. “God”, “Vishnu”, “Odin”, “Zeus”, are merely inventions of Humanity (primitive men, actually, and simply perpetuated by a few self-appointed and self-perpetuating organizations) and have no powers or promises except for the ones we imagine (or are compelled to accept). They are all “made for man” and are all made by man.

Hassan’s victims were terrified as they were mercilessly slaughtered. Do you think any of them were happy that they were about to “join God forever and ever”? I doubt it, because each and every one was likely thinking just how precious their own life was to them and the ones they loved. They weren’t thinking about an Eternal Reward, but if they were, it was simply a self-delusional distraction to minimize the pain they perceived was about to strike.

Was Hassan motivated by his religion? There are plausible grounds for saying so. Maybe he thought he could trigger a religious backlash that could lead to a glorious war, just like the 9-11 murderers? If so, it’s yet another indication that religion has outlived its purpose.

Maybe Hassan had fear of living in a war zone? That’s an unfortunate consequence of joining the military, and a good reason for Humanity to work towards peaceful means for conflict resolution instead of violent means. God, as we can all read in the Old Testament, was a strong proponent of using war to support his “chosen people”, and this is yet another indication that we need to remove “God” from the normal course of Human activity.

Dave, if the shooter had been a white evangelical from middle Tennessee, would his race or religion even be reported? It’s simple for me, if religion is germane to one act of violence, then it is germane for all.

Dave
Just as the religion of the people who commit massacres such as the Columbine High school, Virginia Tech and at the engineering firm in Miami, have little to do with their act, so also is the creed of the perpetrator of the Ft Hood massacre not a reflection on his religion. More disturbing is the fact that signs of critical mental illness were missed by those who are specially trained for this, or at least were not acted on. This was the case for the some of the other above cases too. These are severely mentally ill people whose cultural background or beliefs have little to do with eventual emotional breakdown.
Maheen