Cold_Zero wrote:No offense T and we have talked about this before, but I never can really understand the apparent lack of focus and lack of outrage in the Muslim community (especially in the United States) when things like this happen. Instead of focusing on the fact that this guy is a s*** head, trying to hijack your religion and make it something out to be something that it is not. No you are far more worried about this will affect you (as a Muslim) being perceived in society/media and how you are the victim in all this.
Far more? No.
Let me explain it further: I am a Muslim, and TOTALLY and WITHOUT reservation, condemn Hasan's murderous actions. They are the actions of a lunatic who was clearly self-serving in his acts, and no sane person - Muslim or otherwise - can, or should, ever be supportive of them. That should be strong enough to make it clear where I - and other rational Muslims - are coming from.
But, here is my added point: if this was clearly the actions taken by a religious Muslim, extremist person or group, then the Muslim community should and must be outraged about that - more than other groups perhaps. But (as I think is the case here ... without real knowledge, of course), if it is simply the self-serving actions of an insane individual - no matter what his religion - then the outrage must the same as everybody else, and no special or additional outrage should be expected of the Muslim community.
I may be wrong (and I apologize if I am) but it seems to me that you are asking to see additional outrage from the Muslim community about Hasan, without that certainty of knowledge that it was more than just a guy being/going totally nuts.
My sensitivity starts when this kind of horrific action is instantly and continually labeled as being done with religious motivations - from an extremist religion - or is branded as typical of the religion or its followers. And it begins based on the name of the perpetrator! That happens a lot in the western media and that is where the rub lies for me.
To put it more bluntly, it becomes too easy for media-pap-fed people to then associate the religion with such insane acts (or even far lesser ones) and assume that (a) the religion condones it or (b) that all followers of that religion condone it. The worst part is that even far lesser crimes are then treated - by the media and by the people reading about the crime - as having religious motivations and underpinnings simply because of the faith of the perpetrator. This is a slippery slope indeed.
Yes, I feel sensitive about this issue, but not more than the anger and sadness that I feel about the loss of thirteen lives and the hurt and pain caused to the others - they and their families are the true and only victims here. No doubt about that at all. My sensitivity is far, FAR less than the personal pain felt by the families of those soldiers, but it is what I can talk about here, because I don't have that personal pain of a family member loss.
I don't think that you can understand this sensitivity unless you experience it yourself - although perhaps African Americans can perhaps relate a bit when they hear the "oh, the perp is black, he must be guilty" or "most criminals are black" crap that used to be tossed out so easily just a few years ago. It is the guilt-by association that is the underpinning of the problem.
Let me try to create a scenario: imagine having all criminal acts - including the "office shootings" that have occurred here in the past - be looked at with an eye on the religious belief of the killer. After that, it is very common to hear the average person on the street talk about that religion, and only the religion, as being the cause of the problem.
From there, it is a short step to general discrimination.
Take a look at this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...lated. This video may initially seem funny to rational people, but look a little deeper beyond the stupidity. The average person on the street is hearing and seeing all anti-Muslim hoopla, and starting to think in ways that Nazi Germany did to their Jewish population just prior to WWII. After enough exposure, the same de-sentization occurs to rational people, who ought to know better, too.
Another one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...lated done by ABC. Watch it through completely to understand the openness of the discrimination and why people get sensitive.
Yet more:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9KpuffLcL4&NR=1.
So, is this scary? Hell, yes! Impossible to have Nazi Germany happen here? I sure hope so!
Right now, the average Muslim in this country - and in other western countries - is having their fears about this possibility cause them to stay more silent than usual ... (not me, though! ). Stay quiet and you may get overlooked. Or change your name to avoid finding yourself in guilt by association:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...e=fvw.
As always, of course, only the extreme voices get the air-time in the media. Sad.
Z
