Making sense of a senseless mass murder (II)
No less a person than the U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey echoed this fear in a recent interview with CNN. “You know, there’s been a lot of speculation going on and probably the curiosity is a good thing,” said Casey of accused killer Nidal Malik Hasan. “But we have to be careful […]
No less a person than the U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey echoed this fear in a recent interview with CNN.
“You know, there’s been a lot of speculation going on and probably the curiosity is a good thing,” said Casey of accused killer Nidal Malik Hasan. “But we have to be careful because we can’t jump to conclusions now based on little snippets of information that come out. And frankly, I am worried—not worried, not worried, but I’m concerned—that this increased speculation could cause a backlash against some of our Muslim soldiers, and I’ve asked our army leaders to be on the look out for that. It would be a shame—as great a tragedy as this was— it would be a shame if our diversity became a casualty as well.”
Already some fringe conservative groups are suggesting that a systematic purge of Muslims from the U.S. army be carried out urgently. Of course, this suggestion will be hard to implement not only because it will violate America’s much cherished values of inclusivity and tolerance but because the pool from which to recruit new members into the U.S. army has been shrinking at an alarming rate lately.
According to CNN, 75 percent of the America’s young people between the ages of 17 and 24 are unfit for military service. Army statistics, CNN further said, show that many youngsters are ineligible to enlist for a number of reasons ranging from a lack of education, illegal drug use, being overweight, being out of shape, to having a criminal record. Recent immigrants now constitute the dominant pool for army recruitment because they tend to rise superior to some of these problems.
Now, what could be the motivation for Major Hasan’s insensate cruelty? It is easy to conclude that it was inspired by religious zealotry, especially because he reportedly screamed “Allahu Akbar!” before he opened fire on 13 of his comrades. But, although he is said to be an observant Muslim, it has also been confirmed that he is an alcoholic who “frequented” strip clubs. Now, that’s not the picture of a good Muslim. Of course, you don’t necessarily have to be strictly religious for your acts to be actuated by religious extremism.
People who rationalize Major Hasan’s savage murders remind us that he had been at the receiving end of harassment because of his faith; that, recently, his car had been vandalized and the bumper sticker he placed on his car with the inscription “Allah loves” was ripped up and torn. It has also been said that he didn’t want to be posted to Afghanistan and had, in fact, considered leaving the military. But none of these reasons are good enough justification to fatally turn against an institution that single-handedly paid for his education from bachelor’s degree to medical school and that gives him a six-figure salary—an opportunity his ancestral land would probably never have been able or willing to give him.
It seems to me that Hasan is a deeply psychologically disturbed man who would have done what he did even if he were an atheist.
Racist Louisiana Judge Who Refused to Officiate Interracial Marriage Resigns
I wrote a two-part series about a Louisiana Justice of Peace by the name of Keith Bardwell who refused to officiate the wedding of a black and white couple because of his personal revulsion toward interracial marriages. Well, in the wake of intense pressures, the man whose tenure would have expired in 2014 has thrown in the towel.
According to the Associated Press, Keith Bardwell, in a one-sentence statement to Louisiana Secretary of State Jay Dardenne, said: “I do hereby resign the office of Justice of the Peace for the Eighth Ward of Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, effective November 3, 2009.”
Several public officials, including Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (whose parents are Indians from Asia) and U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu representing Louisiana, had called for his resignation.
“What he did was clearly wrong and this resignation was long overdue,” Gov. Jindal said in a statement.
Senator Landrieu, for her part, said Bardwell’s refusal to marry the couple has exposed Louisiana to international ridicule. “By resigning … and ending his embarrassing tenure in office, Justice Bardwell has finally consented to the will of the vast majority of Louisiana citizens and nearly every governmental official in Louisiana … We are better off without him in public service,” she said.
But Bardwell’s troubles are not over. Beth Humphrey and Terence McKay, the couple whose request he turned down, have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against him.
A nice end to a sad story.