I Wonder Why

[H2O Man]

"Soldier, your eyes, they shine like the sun
I wonder why
Soldier, your eyes shine like the sun
I wonder why

"Jesus, I saw you walkin’ on the river
I don’t believe you
You can’t deliver right away
I wonder why

"Jesus, your eyes shine like the sun
I wonder why"
--Neil Young

I enjoy listening to Neil Young when the outside world seems unstable. Thus, I listen to a lot of his music.

I have an intellectual understanding of people who have violence in their hearts. And I can appreciate the right to self-defense. But it makes me feel ill to read some of the messages that a few of my casual friends, employed in the local media, are making on an internet forum known as "Facebook" today. They are interpreting the terrible bloodshed at the military base as part of a Crusade, and demanding "revenge."

The violence at the military base was a horrible thing. I feel terrible for the dead, the wounded, and their family and friends. The individual who committed the attack must be held fully responsible. And, if the investigation uncovers evidence of others being involved, then they, too, must be held responsible.

Yet the angry, unfocused, and paranoid calls for "retaliation" are both sick and unpatriotic. This nation has far too much fear and hatred, and far too much violence in its cities, streets, and homes. The embracing of any ideology – religious, political, economic, or otherwise – that advocates aggressive violence, a force that always devours the innocent, threatens the soul of our country.

When I was young, I was taught that the nation that is richest is the one that is inhabited by the highest percentage of happy, compassionate, and noble people, for the dignity of humanity is the greatest treasure in any land. I think of that when I see the fear and hatred destroying human beings in our country, and how that fear, hatred, and violence is defining our culture, and as such, becoming our largest export.

I wonder why.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

1. 2 million Americans in the pokey and not for nothing.... well, quite

a few of them almost for nothing... and Europe? One eighth of that. Much like my ancestors, 90 percent of our problems lie within our borders and not halfway around the globe.

[20score]

2. Very well said! K&R.

[Me.]

3. You Knew That As Soon As His Name Was Mentioned

'They' were going to go there.

[H2O Man]

15. Right.

While my wife and I were having our evening meal, I said that his name alone was going to add to the hatred in America. It would be better if people could focus on the act, and what led up to it. That is terrible enough, even if his name was "Smith" or "Jones."

[Me.]

18. Reading The Tea Leaves Has Become Easy

Ever since the Dick and his fellow neo had a desire to to inflict fake wars on us and the world. The hatred they used as a means was infectious especially among frightened ignoramuses.

[NYC_SKP]

4. I was taught what you were taught.

And it turns out to not have been true, at least not in the simplest use of the term.

Of course the definition of "abundance" has great bearing on this, and I learned a different personal meaning for abundance.

Thus, our country may have wealth, but it does not have an abundance of compassion, of patience, of empathy.

K and R.

[Solly Mack]

5. Thank you

K&R

[AntiFascist]

6. The sad fact seems to be...

that Hassan was driven over the edge after years of harassment following 9-11. How many other Muslims are driven to violence after years of violence being directed toward them?

Some are even coming forward to say that there is no way that Hassan himself could have killed and injured so many, even with 2 semi-automatic handguns. What may have happened were innocent bystanders being wounded or killed as the result of an instinctive response to a "terrorist" threat.

Violence begets violence.

[snagglepuss]

7. Baloney. The sad fact is that he was a religious fanatic incapable of nuanced

thinking. An army shrink should be able to handle verbal hostility but since med school he displayed irrational thinking. When other students gave presentations related to their field of study, he raved about non-believers burning in hell and having hot oil poured down their throat.

[AntiFascist]

8. Black and white thinking....

he experienced hate crimes and harrassment since 9-11, according to his family. I don't believe that his religious fanaticism alone could have led to such acts, but perhaps his isolation and the anger directed towards him caused him to immerse himself in the religious fanaticism. Your reasoning sounds like the tired reasoning the Bush Administration used to "fight them over there so that we don't have to fight them here." Well, guess what...

[snagglepuss]

10. Its very naive to believe that religious fanaticism isn't enough to put people

over the edge. I don't think it is a coincidence that his imam, Anwar Al-Awlaki was a “spiritual adviser” to two of the September 11 hijackers.

There are basically two ways people can respond to someone who is being victimized. One way is to empathize in hope of calming the person and pointing out that bullies are ignorant and that not everyone in the world share their views. The other way is to exploit the person's sense of victimization and fuel their rage. Given that Hasan is a violent fanatic we can easily surmise that his imam was preaching compassion for all sentient beings.

[AntiFascist]

11. I think we can compromise at some level...

"exploiting the person's sense of victimization and fueling their rage" may very well lie at the heart of it. I still feel that my question is relevant, how many other Muslims feel a sense of victimization and rage due to the violence being directed toward them?

[snagglepuss]

12. A friend from work is Pakistani but spent most of his life in Kuwait.

He related a very humiliating experience at Heathrow and well as negative experiences in Canada and at the US border because he is Pakistani and a Muslim. Despite all that he says it was worse being Pakistani in Kuwait where Pakistanis are held in contempt and Kuwaitis don't aren't ashamed about it.

So to answer your question I don't think its at all clear how individual Muslims respond to the current situation. It really depends on how each decides to frame it and that to a certain extent depends on how their immediate community frames it.

[AntiFascist]

20. I understand...

and I realize that its always a bad idea to lump all Muslims together in one group. I'm particularly concerned about what has been going on in Afghanistan over the past several decades. First, we provide arms to the mujahadeen in a covert operation and Osama bin Ladin leads in the effort to help defeat the Soviets. We don't provide any followup funding to help cleanup the mess and support the schools. Instead (there are reports) that we distribute radical literature further radicalizing those who we previously supported with arms. Consequently, Bin Ladin turns against the US and Al Qaeda is born. Now we have a real enemy in the ME that we can always point to and rely upon for terrorist actions. Also, now we are beginning to confuse the Taliban (Afghanistan's religious leadership) and Al Qaeda. We are attacking the Taliban and herding them from one city to the next. Is it not likely that a lot of these religious leaders will become radicalized and perhaps join the ranks of "Al Qaeda"?

[snagglepuss]

21. I totally agree with you that the US is largely responsible for the radicalization.

Saudi financed Wahabbism also bares blame. But even there the US is blame worthy because its actions have given Wahabbism a foothold it would not otherwise have had.

[G_j]

9. revenge against what?

he was a one man army, no pun intended.
Do they want revenge on him, or others?

[H2O Man]

14. Him and others.

I feel the need to explain that the more obnoxious of the two is someone I've never met. I only "know" him through a friend who also works at an area tv station. We've only communicated over the internet, and a couple of times at that. The two are involved in making short, independent films, and my friend has often used me as a resource for ideas on communicating messages.

The angry man made a few posts, ranting about the ABC and NBC coverage of the shootings, saying the reporting was biased. He believed the news was "attempting to cover-up" that the gunman was a Muslim, and "making him sound human." He wrote about the "war" between Islam and Christianity, and noted that the "truth" needed to be reported, even if "a few" innocent Muslims were hurt as a result. And he said that he now hates Obama.

I never read the nonsense from the right-wing sites, or even the DU posts about them. I do not care to entertain their diseased thinking. But, I assume this crap was similar to what one would find there.

Strange days.

[Blue_In_AK]

13. Thank you, H2O Man

Very well said.

[livetohike]

16. Thank you H20 Man

I have friends with sons in the military and I'm sickened by what they and those who respond to their posts on Facebook are saying. Not good....at all.

[rosesaylavee]

17. Facebook is very challenging this way

So unlike DU where I know the mods will remove hateful people and we all have our real names out there for all to see. I have a few of these hate-filled people as friends of friends and tho I haven't seen this particular hate worked up yet (been off line for a few days), have seen other posts just as bad. Hopefully your friend will come in and tone them down. In some instances, I have attempted and had a modicom of luck bringing them into reality by asking them how ideally **we** as a country or community can address an issue. If probed deep enough, they move off the talking points that have been drilled into their heads and they can become more human and humane. Or not. Strangely they sometimes want to become facebook 'friends'. Ha. Fat chance on that.

[mmonk]

19. Bookmarking to read more slowly when I get back this evening.

Thanks.