Let us speak plainly about Maj. Hasan
Posted: under Journal.
Dear Friend,
As I write this posting, the talking heads are saying “terrorist” and “crazy” and “Pre-Post Traumatic Stress Disorder” (my favorite). As we look back over Maj. Hasan’s life, we need to ask very hard questions and be prepared for hard answers. Let me make one thing clear: Maj. Hasan was not crazy, he did not snap, HE WAS NOT SUFFERING FROM PRE-POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER! All of the above disorders provoke crimes of passion, not planning, and one needs only to look at his choice of weapon to reach this conclusion. While he did purchase and bring a .357 magnum to the base, it is uncertain if he ever fired this particular weapon. Most of the injuries seem to have been produced by the 5.7 round which is noted for being effective against body armor, up to and including level 3, like what would have been found on the base. He chose his weapons carefully to maximize his devastation, he took measures to settle many of his affairs in the days and weeks leading up to the attack; this is not the behavior of someone suffering from an emotional unbalance, but a premeditated act. But the question still remains: what drives someone to commit such an act?
I’ll be honest here, I’ve re-written this from scratch at least three times now. My first version was focusing on our attempts as a society to hide from the horror of an act we couldn’t control. In truth, I was the one hiding. I was doing the same thing I accuse everyone else of doing: not facing and speaking the truth. This is the truth: Major Nidal Hasan committed this atrocity because of his honest and thoughtful interpretation of the Quran. When a terrorist from another country commits horrendous crimes we like to discuss how they were “radicalized” by poverty, a lack of education, and the extremist religious views of a handful of clerics. But none of these describe Maj. Hasan. He was well-off, well educated, and American born.
In truth, the most frightening aspect of his religious views is that he seemed to gravitate to the same opinions, interpretations, and beliefs that drive the higher-ups in al-Quieda. It must be noted that many of the terrorists we are fighting are well educated, coming from wealthy families. They, like Maj. Hasan, came to an understanding of the Quran based on a “fundamentalist” mind-set using “literal” interpretations. Simply put, it was a religiously motivated attack. There are no other circumstances that forced Maj. Hasan to do this horrible act. Does this mean that every Muslim is a potential terrorist? No.
The vast majority of Muslims around the world do not share the same views as Maj. Hasan and Osama Bin Laden. This being said, though, we do need to finally admit to ourselves that this interpretation of the Quran is not a manipulation of Islamic scriptures but an honest, heartfelt theology. I know what I’ve just said is not politically correct (not that I ever am) but it is factually correct. We have spent so much time over the last nine years telling ourselves that Islam is a “religion of peace” and that the terrorist have “hijacked this great religion” to appease our own liberal sensibilities that we have white-washed the truth with our own naïveté. When looking at Christianity we do not say that Baptists have “hijacked” anything from Catholics or any other denomination, but rather that they have honest interpretational differences. That being said, one could make the argument that the KKK is Christianity’s al-Quieda and that Bin Laden should be seen as such.
But let’s look at the KKK a little closer to see if this analogy fits. The KKK is driven by white supremacy, a belief that the white race is superior to other races and expresses itself by manipulating the beliefs that the individuals hold: Adam and Eve become the first white humans, Israel leaves the Middle East and goes to Europe while other “impure” races come in to become the Jews, and eventually kill Jesus the “White Messiah”. Depending on who you speak to, the other races are either created through bestiality with apes or that they simply evolved from other primates. There is a history of white supremacists altering the text of the Bible in order to validate their agendas. A white supremacist’s primary identity is as a “white person” just as many others who commit terrible acts and claim Christianity as their religious affiliation identify themselves by political philosophy rather than religious belief. This is not the case for al-Queida.
Suicide bombers, lone gunmen, independent terrorists, and those affiliated with larger groups all identify themselves as Muslim. They reject political affiliations and nationalities; the only identity that matters is Islam. These are not individuals who manipulate their scriptures to serve greater political or racial agendas but rather see devotion and fidelity to the Quran to be the highest agenda. Maj. Hasan was a religious Muslim who arrived at his beliefs on his own; he was not brain-washed or manipulated into committing his crimes. Obviously there are millions of Muslims here in America and across the world who do not want what Maj. Hasan wants, millions of Muslims who want to live peaceful lives. So how can there be such a difference in interpretations if everyone is working from the same book, the same cultural understandings?
I could take the easy road (and shorter) by noting all of the different denominations within Christianity that often disagree on many details…and that would be fair. Or I could point out that people, regardless of religion, often hold contradictory views…but I don’t like the easy road. Instead I look back to the early days of Islam for my answer. As a matter of history, Mohammed started the first jihad and eradicated thousands upon thousands of people, conquered dozens of countries, subjected or eliminated all other religions in the areas he dominated. Those who followed after him continued his dream of political domination into Persia, India, and Europe. Like Rome in its own heyday, though the Muslim world was often in conflict with everyone else, the larger, wealthier cities prospered peacefully. It was in these cities where modern Islam was born. An Islam that had no infidel to conquer became more spiritual in nature and less concerned with political conflicts. Over time the modern Islam became wealthy and began trading with the west, exploring, and creating while the older Islam maintained political control through military might.
While there are dozens of denominations within Islam, they fall either into the classic version of Islam or the more modern version, and some are in between. Ultimately what we saw and continue to see in Maj. Hasan is the classic form of Islam on parade, and there is nothing we can do to get rid of it. We have to accept that the Quran says what it says, and the end result is that some people will read it and commit heinous crimes; others will not. Political correctness will only hinder us in our exploration of this issue; we need to speak freely and truthfully about what we face. However, this does not leave us with a solution, if there is one.
To be honest with you, my reading of Revelations and Ezekiel leads me to believe that there isn’t really a solution; we will not have victory over classic Islam. With that in mind, I leave you with this: as Christians we face this problem the same way we face every problem, with faith. We trust in our Lord Christ Jesus for wisdom and strength. We preach the Word, we do good deeds, we live our witness. We show the love of Jesus to be the one true path to God and save who we can. We do so unrelentingly and unashamedly.
Reflectfully yours,
E. Christian
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Nov 16 2009