So, what do you get…

When you add a little bit of religious fundamentalism, some possible alleged mental instability, some hate, and a part of ‘Murica, we can have high powered assault weapons… The combination is almost always never good.

This morning there was a shooting in a nightclub on Orlando (I’m not going to link to it. Just go to your favorite search engine for details). Everyone wants to just pigeonhole these tragedies into one simple cause. To blame one thing, and then use this as a reason to suppress it. But it’s lot more complicated than it seems to be. Some people are going to say that because the perpetrator was Muslim, that all Muslims are to blame. No. This is not Islam. If we were to judge the entire Muslim world by these actions, and the person who perpetrated it, then we should also judge all of Christianity by Westboro Baptist Church. This could be just a Lone Wolf act. Or it could be that the person was on the radar of the FBI (as has been alleged) and they either dropped the ball, or they could do nothing (often times, you just have a sixth sense impression, and that is not enough). Personally, I think the cause of this is going to go down as a little bit of column A, a little bit of column B, etc. Some hate, some untreated mental illness, access to firearms, and you have a tragedy in the making. In this case IMHO, religion was just an unfortunate coincidence.

BTW, this wasn’t some Syrian refugee or an illegal Mexican. The shooter was a US citizen, born in the USA.

But my thoughts on the matter don’t justify it at all. Violence is inherently evil. Irregardless of what the cause is about. Sometimes force is necessary, even justified. But to use it to force your religion/way of life/political view on somebody else, especially when they have the right under the law to practice however they wish, is never acceptable.

We are always going to be targeted. Because this is America. Land of the free. Where you can hold whatever opinion you pretty much want. Where you can worship any God anyway you choose. Where you can love whoever you want (as long as the other person is of age, and is capable of giving consent). Some of these items you might not agree with (and yes, I’m one of those who doesn’t). But that doesn’t mean you can resort to force of arms to foist your beliefs on others. From my times when I was on Usenet, I learned that you can ‘agree to disagree’. It is possible to have a difference of opinion/religion/lifestyle with someone else, and still get along. America is one the the few countries in the world where the political scene can dramatically change every four years. And not only that, but it happens peacefully. And some people have a problem with that.

Having said all this, my thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their loved ones. Having lost my mother last week (I’m still trying to come to grips with it), I can start fathoming the pain that these people are going through. These martyrs of freedom….