With the recent shootings at fort hood I've been hearing some complaints (from callers to various shows airing on NPR; which I listen to throughout the day as I drive for a living) about the "political correctness" of not calling the shooter "what he is"; namely an Islamic terrorist. In my opinion he was most likely a guy really fucked in the head who happened to be Muslim. Sure, the guy was not happy with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (but who isn't?)
We always want to slap a label on somebody.
Do we want to go down that road? I'm sure it's already too late as far as the media is concerned. If in fact the media does indeed propogate the notion that this troubled man was an Islamic Terrorist and in the end he is summarily executed many Islamic fundamentalists across the globe will hold him up as a martyr for Islam. Granted, there are broader and greater issues to address this horrible circumstance but giving religious fundamentalism the green flag to uphold Nidal Hasan as a martyr (if indeed he get's the death penalty).
By jumping to conclusions about Nidal Hasan's motives the media and most of the public have pretty much set the stage for his tribunal. Nidal Hasan's attorney has expressed deep concern that his client will not likely get a fair trial because of the publicity. And in my opinion I don't think he will get such a fair shake because of the Islamophobia that is rampant in this country. Essentially, we do have to wittle this Islamophobia down to it's core; to it's roots. Islamophobia is essentially religious bigotry and I don't think that there is much "fear" as there is hatred involved in the discussions concerning the Muslim faith and the Christian faith. We don't describe Christian "fears" of atheists as "atheistophobia"!
Until we are clear on Nidal Hasan's motives I think we should stay away from labeling him as an Islamic terrorist.
