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TechnoratiTrying To Stem the Tide
Entirely understandably, Arab-Americans are already on the defensive in the wake of the Fort Hood shootings by a devout Muslim. Expecting a racist backlash that no doubt is zealously forming all across the right fringes of the country, the Association of Patriotic Arab Americans in the Military, formed after 9/11, has issued a statement. It states the obvious. It probably won't help.
In the aftermath of this terrible tragedy, it is more important than ever that we not make the same scapegoating and broad stroke mistakes that were evident in the aftermath of previous tragedies. The Association of Patriotic Arab Americans in Military urges the media, government officials and all of our fellow Americans to recognize that the actions of Hasan are those of a deranged gunman, and are in no way representative of the wider Arab American or American Muslim community."
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These assertions by Muslims resonate about as well as similar assertions by Christians. I'm not convinced that the religious beliefs of the APAAM didn't play a major role Hasan's action. They sure didn't stop him. Other than the fact that he ended up in the U.S. Army, he seems indistinguishable, ideologically, from Muslim fanatics in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Nonetheless, I think it's a good time for those of us who believe in preserving the good in our society, as well as stopping the killing in the Middle East, to remember the importance of the First Amendment, which applies to all levels of government in the U.S. thanks to the 14th Amendment. Government shouldn't try to suppress religious belief, which resides in us as a result of millions (?) of years of evolution. Like other human traits – sexual desire, desire to accumulate property, intelligence – religious belief can be a force for good, or for evil. The role of government, under our system, is to be sure religious belief doesn't drive public law and policy, and that each of us is free to believe or not believe as our conscience, not the law, dictates.
The challenge posed by Major Hasan is to discover when someone, for whatever reason, has decided to commit crimes like his, and stop them before they do. Even as we renew our pledge to religious freedom, which certainly should satisfy the APAAM, we must watch for signs of trouble like those Hasan displayed, and tighten control of guns and other dangerous weapons that should never fall into the hands of someone like Hasan.
Arabs can be either Muslim or Christian or Druze, which happens to be a branch - if you will - of Islam. So the APAAM represents a wide spectrum of religions.
Part of the problem is that many Americans, especially those of Christian background, know very little about other religions or political issues in the Middle East where their own government is currently occupying two countries and interfering in the affairs of a few more.
I was just reading the comments on Glenn Greenwald's Salon page and one commenter wrote that "Jesus didn't preach to kill infidels", implying that the Muslim prophet considered Christians to be infidels.
That is false, however. Muslims believe that Christianity, Judaism and Islam are all part of the "People of the Gospel". They believe in the same god, too. Moses, Jesus and Muhammad, are all revered in the Qur'an as well as by the vast majority of Muslims. Another sophomoric commenter said "....piss on allah. That's right, I spelled it with a lower case a".
An infidel is someone who does not believe in a god, any god, an atheist. An infidel is someone who rejects his own religion, be it Judaism, Christianity or Islam.
But, the unfortunate reality is that Islam is perverted by a small group of fanatics, western media sensationalizes the story and politicians (Rumsfeld, Bush) add their rhetoric because it serves their interests. There is also an element of racism behind these sentiments too.
Then, suddenly, we have every Christian in the intellectual bubble that is the US assuming that Muslims are taught from birth to murder them, or that the Qur'an preaches to murder them. Then they go on citing verses from the Qur'an, which incidentally, Muslims themselves often don't understand due to the Shakespearean Arabic style in which it was written. So, mangled translations become fact, truth, and we end up with these religious, ethnic and social tensions. Some even cherry pick the verses that support their argument, context be damned. And as you know, neither Judaism, nor Christianity considers Islam to be God's message, whereas the opposite is true.
You don't have to believe this or consider it, neither am I expecting any rabid bigots to understand what I wrote above. They have their minds set on hating others and no fact to the contrary can persuade them. They are convinced that the spin and hyperbole often presented in Hollywood movies or morning TV talk shows are true.
By the way, one side of my family are Muslims and although many studied the Qur'an at a young age, none of them believe or view either Christianity or Judaism to be "cults" as many bigots usually say when referring to Islam.
PS: I posted a similar post to this one on a mainstream news site, and one of the responders said my post was "full of venom"; sometime I feel like I'm talking to a coffee table.
PPS: Personally, I don't think there really is a god and I don't believe in a god of any kind. Despite all the Muslims around me, I've 'survived to tell the tale' so to speak. Imagine that.
Good night, and good luck.
mohawk November 7th, 2009 1:40 am -- Thanks for pointing out that the APAAM consists of people of Muslim and other religions. My comment should have said that Islam, which Hasan claims to have embraced all his life, didn't prevent him from doing what he did.
Your comment reminds me of the claims by Bush after 9/11 to the effect that Islam is a "great religion" and "a religion of peace." There's nothing wrong with saying many Muslims are peaceful and good citizens wherever they live. But to say that only "extremists" or those who "pervert" the religion would do what Hasan did is naive. He's a Muslim, just as Scott Roeder, who shot abortion doctor George Tiller in church, is a Christian. People have to be judged individually. Their declared religious beliefs are only one clue to their inner nature.
I agree. Part of the problem is that wackos out there can twist anything they want to convince themselves that their barbarism is somehow justified. Some use religion, others use ideology, ecology or environment as an excuse for their actions. They fail to see how their senseless actions are not only hurting them, but hurting others in the process.
mohawk November 8th, 2009 12:06 am -- Good comment.
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"I don't believe in a god of any kind."
The question is not: "Do you believe in god?"
The question is: "Would god believe in you?"
Excuse me?
would any force of love say you were an ally?
only you know the answer.
After a thorough investigation the military concluded that PTSD is contagious.
Ok, not funny...
An op-ed piece in the Baltimore Sun by a Vietnam veteran and psychiatrist asks, only half-facetiously, “Is post-traumatic stress disorder something you can catch from your patients like a virus?”
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/nov2009/pers-n07.shtml
"The Association of Patriotic Arab Americans in Military urges the media, government officials and all of our fellow Americans to recognize that the actions of Hasan are those of a deranged gunman, and are in no way representative of the wider Arab American or American Muslim community."
Sorry my Patriotic Arab American friends but leaving it at "a deranged gunman" is not good enough; and AS A MATTER OF FACT: THE DERANGED GUNMAN...IS...A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ARAB AMERICAN AND AMERICAN MUSLIM COMMUNITY -- THE DERANGED GUNMAN...IS...REPRESENTATIVE OF ALL OF AMERICA!
To merely hide behind the facade of madness named "deranged gunman" does nothing to further the cause of greater human understanding for helping us move toward a human society unshackled from the chains of fear, extreme violence and war as commerce.
If you truly want to help your personal support community and the greater human population, then call on President Obama to renew his relationship with the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, and open a dialogue of what Liberation Theology really means and how it relates to the torch Lady Liberty holds high in New York -- how this Torch was a beacon guiding Arabs and people from all the cultures of the world toward what liberation?
Hiding behind a bandage of "deranged gunman" will do little to stay the torrent of blood flowing from our chosen behavior of extreme violence! Be bold. Use this moment to make a stand for a greater dialogue between all people and all nations.
"the torch Lady Liberty holds high in New York"
is she still there?
I thought she got knocked down with the WTC towers.
With all that "huddled masses" stuff she should be disassembled and sent back to France - "Thanks, but no longer needed".
All morning, I combatted anti-Muslim troglodytes. Wow, it is frustrating and tiring!
This has happened before. Just replace Muslim with Japanese and you'll have it. The same bigoted hysteria and finger pointing then. I wonder how long before the Muslims are rounded up and put in detention "for their own safety?"
Malcolm X's chicken coming home to roost circa 2009?
With the rumors of this guy being persecuted for being an arab and a muslim, and the idea of being sent in afghanistan/iraq to help kill more middle eastern people, is it any surprise that at some point some guys will crack?
Understanding is not condoning.
It is sad that some americans seem too far off the scale to be reasoned with. An appeal to reason, like what was stated by APAAM will only work with people who are honest listeners.
Just take a look at these comments, it is the sickly-sweet whiff of fascism that is upon us again:
http://www.breitbart.tv/co-worker-ft-hood-gunman-made-outlandish-comments-condemning-us-foreign-policy...
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Wrestling with religious sectarianism in the military is like trying to nail jello to the wall, hold back the sea with a teaspoon, or going to war for peace.
It short circuits conversations that never occur because recourse to arms has become primary recourse of a "civilization" that claims its perspective is the only option- and a truncated excuse for a way of being at that.
The posting of Derrick Jensens piece today seems like perfect counterpoint.
war is not the answer
I agree that we should not believe that Hasan represents the views of all Muslims. While the Extremist are a small minority of all Muslims, regretfully they receive 99% of all media attention. If this individual had been either of the Jewish faith targeting Muslims or a right wing nut case, I can almost guarantee the media, CAIR, and members of Congress would been demanding legal action and for heads to roll.
Mohawk you are exactly right, the media does play a role in hate mongering. Let me write a couple of headlines that Fox News and others will probably post: MUSLIMS HAVE INFILITRATED MILITARY! OBAMA HAD CONVERSATIONS WITH HASAN!
Yeah, it's tough to counter the media's bias toward inflaming a bad situation. During the first few days of the Muslim Imam being shot by FBI agents in Detroit last week all the head lines had at least a sub caption stating the dead "suspect" was out to over throw the US government and establish a Caliphite using violent means, even though the raid had only criminal charges (no homeland terror charges) related to it.
Pretty close with the second one.
http://mediamatters.org/research/200911060011
This reminds me of the experiences many African American combat soldiers experienced during WWII while serving in the US military only to return to the US and be treated like third class citizens.
I think the media plays a major role in hate mongering.
Dozens of US troops have been killed in Afghanistan, a few this last week were killed by fellow trainees from the Afghan army. There was little to no outrage over those incidents. The minute it happened stateside, and local and national media picked up the story, everyone went into panic mode. As long as the killing and the death of either US soldiers or innocent Afghan children was thousands of miles away, very few cared. The minute it happened in Texas, it was too close to home.
What does that tell us? It tells us that there are many cowards and bigots out there who could care less about the death of the people sworn to protect them or the death of children in far away lands. The minute their own personal safety is threatened they wake up only to reach the wrong conclusions regarding the "threats" they perceive.
PS: The Ft. Hood incident is fishy. How is it that two other suspects were detained and then released, what warranted their detention in the first place? There seems to be either confusion or some kind of coverup going on here. We'll find out soon.
This entire story is extremely fishy, now "they" are saying that the guy had ties to Al Queda [which is just a CIA created 'boogeyman'] and 9/11. "They" quickly made this sound like the shooting was the actions of a "typical Muslim". I get the feeling there is WAY more to this than what will ever be officially revealed.
At first the shooting to me sounded very similar to the numerous other murders that have been committed by returning Iraq and Afghanistan war vets, with the only difference being it took place on a Military base. A criminal act committed by a person who, like in so many other cases, had "brought the war home".
But of course this is not how the shooting was treated, instead we immediately hear that the guy is a Muslim and the act was not a criminal act, instead it was an act of terrorism.
Now, because of how this shooting is being used politically, I am beginning to think that the CIA had a HUGE hand in it. I wouldn't be too surprised if the guy had been profiled by the CIA so the shooters Islamic beliefs could be played up after the act had been carried out. There is a lot of fishy aspects of this story that makes me believe the guy could very well be a "manchurian candidate".
The only genocidal, death cult that I'd like to see placed in a detention center of some variety is the CIA. Then, at least they won't be able to pay off the Taliban, ship drugs all over the globe, set up dictators, create revolutions in countries, murder millions of people and become leaders of the NeoCons.
I think eveyone would be well advised to view the "official accounts" on what happened at FT Hood with suspicion.
Just as example a Fox reporter claims the large number of casualties in such a short period of time may have been caused by richochets. Highly doubtful.
The problem is given the history of US Government duplicity all manner of "Theories" as to what happened will circulate. (Ie some have claimed there was in fact a mini-mutiny with some soldiers refusing to deploy. This would seem absurd but it FACT that in the Vietnam war officers that were fragged by their troops were reported as having been killed by enemy fire).
This is the inevitable legacy of the continual lies and propaganda they feed the public.
Remember the anthrax scare and how it was initially pinned on "Muslim Terrorists". The United States Government now has a convenient patsy upon which they can blame any wrong. Even something like "Forest Fires" are pinned on Muslim extremists.
"How is it that two other suspects were detained and then released, what warranted their detention in the first place?"
Probably CIA "assets". Does anyone think that the CIA would not infiltrate our own armed forces?
"I think the media plays a major role in hate mongering."
I KNOW the media plays a major role in hate mongering.
VERY fishy..especially how he miracoulously raised from the dead after 12 hours of being reported killed...why was Civilian cop Kimberly Munley on base and the first to respond?..IS she the only armed person on a MILITARY base?...why does one report say he cleaned out his apparment the day before...but the military say they took a computer and a dumpster full of stuff from his apartment?
Also weird..White house flying the flag at half mast for this..but never did for those killed in Iraq and Afganistan
Could all just be the result of typical junk reporting...but we should all be careful of believing anything the US Military says after the Pat Tillman episode.
"The only means of strengthening one's intellect is to make up one's mind about nothing, to let the mind be a thoroughfare for all thoughts." - John Keats
"Could all just be the result of typical junk reporting...but we should all be careful of believing anything the US Military says after the Pat Tillman episode."
The media seldom gets anything really correct. It is full of half truths and conjecture stated as though fact. And, I agree wholeheartedly about the military attitude as expressed by the Tillman episode.
So, it could be typical media confusion over the facts, or it could be evidence of a psyops situation. Who knows? Will we ever know?
I have most definitely not thrown out the psyops possibility yet. I considered that angle right from the beginning.
Fishy? Officer Munley is a Department of Defense police officer of the Fort Hood Police Department. On most instillation police departments, officers are both civilian and military.
Need a reason for propaganda, pogroms, public rage?
Contact the CIA. Incidents created, governments destabilized, people slaughtered, agents provocateur supplied. No creed, no people, no nation (including our own) is immune.
Remember our motto, "Join the CIA, visit exotic places, meet interesting people, kill them!"