When I heard the news that the Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords had been shot in front of a grocery store, I was in a state of denial and shock. These things are not supposed to happen in the USA. Just a few days ago, Salman Taseer, the prominent governor of the Punjab Province in Pakistan had been assassinated for opposing the religious right in Pakistan. As tragic as his murder was for his family and Pakistan, it had occurred in a faraway country, where even the former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto had been murdered. Even though we have learned about the tragic assassinations of Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy through the history books, we do not usually think about such events occurring in the contemporary USA.
The early reports had suggested that Congresswoman Giffords had been fatally shot, but later reports confirmed that she was in surgery and there was a significant chance that she may survive the attack. I felt a great sense of relief at that moment. This feeling was quickly tempered by the reports that a number of other victims had died, including a nine-year old girl, a judge and one of the Congresswoman's aides. Just the thought of the parents of the girl made me want to cry.
Then the name of the alleged shooter was released: Jared Loughner. For a brief moment, I felt sense of relief that the name did not sound Muslim and there did not seem to be any connection to Muslim terrorist organizations. I think that the image of Salman Taseer's recent assassination had me worry that the shooter in Tucson may have also been somehow linked to religious extremists. However, the moment I felt the slight relief that there did not appear to be a "Muslim connection", I also immediately felt saddened by my sense of "relief". There was nothing to feel relieved about. Six people had been murdered and a great Congresswoman who had been doing her job and talking to her constituents was now fighting for her life.
We do not yet know the exact motivations of the shooter, whether he suffered from a mental illness and whether he was acting alone or as part of a group. Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik had the courage to say that the "vitriol" of anger, hatred and bigotry can affect unbalanced people. It is likely that he will be severely criticized and attacked for these comments, because we know so little about the motivations of the shooter, and whether the shooter was indeed responding to the current "vitriol". However, there is little doubt that hatred and anger can promote violent and tragic acts. This has been true throughout human history, and it is just as true in Pakistan as it is in the USA. At this point we can only hope and pray for the recovery of Congresswoman Giffords as well as the other survivors of the attack. We can pray that the families of those who were murdered will have the strength to recover from the tragedy.
At this time we must also think about the fact that our words can indeed impact fellow humans, in ways that we may not be able to predict. Every time we utter or tolerate words of anger and hate, we may be contributing to a culture of violence. Disagreements are not only common but even necessary when we discuss topics such as religion and politics. However, the tragedy in Tucson may remind us that we have to convey our disagreements in a tone of respect and with the intent of achieving true dialogue instead of hostility.
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My very first thought on hearing that a Democratic congresswoman had been attacked at a meet-and-greet in her district in Arizona was "Ah - Palin's Teabaggers using 2nd Amendment remedies".
Not all of us are bigots. Some of us are well aware that there are nutjobs to the left of us, fruitcakes to the right (here I am, stuck in the middle with Huffpo)
It's not a hate speech term - it's ridicule - there IS a difference.
Also, bigotry depends on someone not being able to change the thing for which they are hated - color of skin, gender, etc. A teabagger "COULD" concievably learn from the error of their ways and ... oh who am I fooling? Once Rushbo has you under his evil spell, apparently there's only one way to go - further down.
I understand.
You feel relief because lately, most of the "nuts" committing these kind of acts have been Muslim.
The subtext is that all violence is the same, no matter what its source. The cure is to stay civil in our disagreements. This attempt at moral equivalence falls apart on inspection.
Some violence is inspired by individual personalities and belongs to that person alone. Some is inspired by the devotion to an ideology, but the act itself is in violation of the ideology's rules and standards. Still the responsibility of the individual.
Then there are violent acts carried out on behalf of an ideology that encourages such acts in its rules and standards.
The murder committed by Jared Loughner and the murder of Governor Taseer are not equivalent.
On one side of this war are those Muslims who are working for the return of Sharia law as the only law of the land wherever Muslims live.
On the other side are the Muslims who want to live under secular governmentÂ.
Which side are you on riff?
It is very sad indeed that we have come to this.
God forbid if that guy had been a Muslim - the Glen Becks, the Sarah Palins, the Newt Gingrich, the Limbaughs, the O'Rielly's, the Hannitys etc etc would have gone berserk. They would have started spilling venom and hatred on an entire religion and would have added to the poison which they already spewed now for a long long time.
Many more Jared's will come out of their closets if the words thrown on the the TV and Radio by these personalities continue without thinking about the consequences.
I would also beg to differ that the “right wing†is even in a defensive posture on this one because I cannot figure out how in the world the anti-right could mount an attack based on the fact the shooter happened not to be Muslim – it proves nothing.
Unfortunately, rhetoric like yours has been far more effective in bringing the Faisal Shahzad and Mumtaz Qadris “out of the closet†than the Rush Limbaughs are bringing out the Jared Loughners. The implication that Sara Palin or those of her ilk have any accountability for this event is totally absurd and based solely in spite.
As member of the majority, I know I don't have to worry about being profiled when I walk around town. No one pressures me to apologize for something some other white guy did. And yet, some people expect Muslims to publicly denounce every violent statement made by Islamic extremists halfway around the world.
I note that the far right is upset to find the shoe on the other foot right now. They are vigorously refusing to denounce inflammatory statements made by members of their own group.
Mass killings are common in the United States from the school yards to public places. Also, the rabble-rousing and pouring of fuel to the fire of hate by the Republicans was an invitation to violence. Finally, associating Muslims with violence is wrong because there are radicals in every religion and community. Also, just like Christians, not all Muslims have the same culture or ethnic background or national origion.
There will always be those that do not see the consquences of their actions (Palin, Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity, O'Reilly, tea party nation, et al) but hopefully the majority will come to our collective senses and stop the madness. Let's all commit to doing that in Rep. Giffords' name, in the name of the 9-year-old, in the name of our country. It needs to be done!
(I am sure there still are some people that will have to pick apart details of that analogy (like “aliens don’t existâ€),so for those, just please assume you are in a situation where you are inclined to answer honestly and reasonably)
For the survival of the planet Earth, read the following news headline and identify the correct perpetrator(s):
“A Bomb exploded in a market today killing 85 people including childrenâ€
a.) A mentally deranged individual
b.) Catholic aid workers
c.) Islamic Militants
And the correct answer was ‘A’.. Wow! What a relief! Well, a “sad relief†because of course I chose answer C and lost the gameshow BUT at least something I believe in is not going to “look bad†again today.
That is sad commentary on a tragic event.
I suspect she had been ginned up to act by irresponsible talk-show radio and TV personalities railing against the "blasphemy" the art work was supposed to portray. Outside a few Christians had been peacefully protesting the same thing -- but they strongly condemned her act. A local church invited the artist to create a new work of art for their building.
Nonetheless, from some of the posts on HP, this woman was a "Christian terrorist," the protesters were almost as bad, and her act was "terrorism."
So, it all depends on who's holding a grudge against whom.
I understand the relief on a more personal level, too. I was reading stuff related to the shooting and I saw one of the resident anti-theists here (one with a blantantly anti-Christian username) whining about how this was the fault of people trying to establish and evil Christian theocracy. I did not engage this person, but I wanted to shout at him "the suspect is reported to be an atheist, LIKE YOU!" I don't think the suspect's religion/lack thereof had anything to do with his motivation, which seems to have been politics and paranoia, but the point is "NO, YOU CAN'T PIN THIS ONE ON JESUS, OR ISLAM or any other religion, so trying so hard to merely shows YOUR OWN ISSUES."
So, yeah, I'd say relief isn't something to feel guilty about. I think a lot of people have it. If this guy *didn't* play video games, I can tell you that a lot of gamers are really relieved right now, as well.
You see it on these comments every time Timothy McVeigh is mentioned. Someone claims that religion is the cause of such acts. Someone else will invariably claim "McVeigh was an atheist", based on some of his statements. Another person will fire back "McVeigh was Catholic". Argument ensues. The same will happen with Loughner, just like it always happens.
We humans tend to judge other groups by the actions of their worst members, while at the same time judging our own groups by their ideals. For example, Christians tend to judge themselves by the best ideals of their teachings, but they judge Muslims by the acts of a small number of extremists.
This is in our nature, but it is a nature we need to learn to avoid, just as we need to avoid are natural tendencies for vioIence.
What you've describe is their "Hitler Ate Sugar" entry. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HitlerAteSugar
(People argue over Hitler's religion all the time - to the point where I think none of us really knows what it was. Either way, he hate sugar).
I noticed one of the Tea Party leaders (whose name escapes me) yesterday denied that the Arizona shooter could in any way be ginned-up by all the violent rhetoric the Tea Party in Arizona flung at Giffords during the health care reform debate. But he didn't stop there. The shooter was a "LIBERAL loony" he said -- no evidence, of course.
So many people with an ax to grind against some group they don't like will always find a way to keep on demonizing those folks, regardless of lack of evidence or even relevance to the facts.
When it comes from people who claim to be on some higher ground -- anti-religious "rationality" or conservatism or whatever -- it's really striking how blind they are to their own irrational prejudices while squalling about even the slightest perceived slight to themselves.