As news spread of the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, I remember holding my breath hoping that the alleged perpetrator didn’t have a foreign sounding name.
As it turned out, the convicted bomber, Timothy McVeigh, was raised as an Irish Catholic in Lockport, New York. A United States army veteran, McVeigh was later convicted of the Oklahoma City bombing where 168 people died—the largest number of Americans to die on U.S. soil as a result of a terrorist act prior to 9/11.
Upon the release of McVeigh’s name and background, Irish Catholics felt no need to make a special apology or worry that his action would lead to random acts of retribution against American Catholics.
That was a different time.
As word about the tragic shootings of soldiers at Fort Hood spread, many American Muslims winced as the suspect’s name was released—Major Nidal Malik Hasan who is reportedly a psychiatrist.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) immediately issued a press release condemning the Fort Hood shootings as a cowardly attack and calling for the perpetrators to be punished to the full extent of the law.
When McVeigh was charged with the Oklahoma City bombing, there was no need for Irish Catholic organizations to repudiate McVeigh. As nearly as I can tell, The American Foundation for Irish Heritage or Irish American groups felt no need for disavow themselves from that odious act.
That was a different time.
Had the name of the alleged Fort Hood shooter been, Clark Kent, there would have been no CAIR a statement. If his name was Abraham Moses, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) would not have felt compelled to rebuke the shootings.
There are unconfirmed reports that Major Hasan was a convert to Islam and originally from Virginia. He was reportedly scheduled to deploy to either Iraq or Afghanistan and was unhappy about it.
What if he had recently converted to Christianity? What if he had recently declared himself an avowed atheist? What if—his religion has nothing to do with the fact that he snapped?
What if this story has nothing to do with religion or political ideology but reflects the fragility of a human being so overcome with mental suffering that he wrought terrible suffering on other human beings? Unfortunately, this happens all the time.
Whatever his religion, he obviously went off.
Time will tell what sickness drove the shooter to kill. For now, we don’t know. It should be obvious however, that the guy’s name is as irrelevant as was that of say—Timothy McVeigh.
What is relevant is that Islamaphobia has a way of bubbling up in this culture. The way to overcome a phobia is to face it head on. Overcoming Islamaphobia requires facing it and this is what CAIR is trying to do. When it comes to a phobia, you’ve got to name it and claim it before you can let it go. This is not only CAIR’s job, but also everyone who cares.
Comments
Outstanding observation!
I have to admit: I was holding my breath, hoping that Dr. Hasan wasn't Black. Bigotry and judgmental behavior (especially among alleged Christians) abound.
He was a moslem who for years reaped benefits from the American system and even took an oath of loyalty to protect that same America. When he realized he would have to stand up for the country who gave him everything he had, he made a choice to MURDER his own brothers and sisters in arms. He chose to do a great service to his religion and his self rather than serve the country that gave him freedom. Ultimately that is the end game for Islam. Moslems know it.... Everyone else in the world knows it. Except for Americans.
Thanks for such a practical, common-sensical and timely response to the Ft. Hood shootings. NO doubt there will be a xenophobic reaction among a few as we all try to make sense of what happened. It is important to remember our history and that violence has no nationality, no religion, no single trigger.
As a psychiatrist, Nidal Malik Hasan is not qualified to care for American soldiers suffering from war fatigue or other issues. He is not sympathetic or even empathetic to their cause. Being in the US Military was a wrong choice for him since he did not support the ideals of the USA. The military should have realized this, maybe they did but due to political correctness were now permitted to relieve him of his duties. Maybe this guy convinced the military he was still capable, and maybe the military decided to test his loyalties by sending him to the war zone. He failed this test as easily as anyone with divided loyalties would. He became the aggressor he despised.
* sorry - I meant 'not permitted to relieve him of his duties'. (I said 'now' in previous post, meant 'not').
Thanks Bob. This is an incredibly important message that we all need to hear.
Dr. Hasan has been counselling young soldiers who were suffering "battle fatigue". There have been 10 suicides this year alone at Fort Hood and 75 in the last 6 years. His job alone could have put any compassionate physician over the edge. The possibility of redeployment to a war zone and a war he may have seen as nothing but destructive to all his people - his comrades in the military, his Islamic brothers here and abroad may have caused him to revert to that same violence.
Perhaps, the message here is not about the god-awful and truly devastating tragedy at Fort Hood or Islamic xenophobia, but about violence and violence as an inept and heart-breaking solution to both personal and community conflict.
Violence begets violence, in the name of anyone's God.
What a stupid, ignorant column. If Hasan had recently converted to Christianity, it's highly unlikely that he would have shot the place up. The reason that his name matters is that his name reflects a religion that influenced who he was and what he did. Jonah Goldberg, in his most recent solumn, goes into great detail about Hasan's Islamist, anti-American, downright treasonous views that he'd loudly proclaimed for years, and how, because of political correctness and a desire to be seen as non-judgmental and non-discriminatory, nobody did anything about him. Far from suddenly snapping, he was bound to end up doing something like this.
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