Our Disarmed Forces - Violence at Ft. Hood

A shot rings out. Bullets begin flying. Instinctively, every person in the room hits the floor. They've been here before. They've faced adversaries wielding weapons of every kind. They've seem their comrades fall. The only thing different this time, is that they're at home. They're in a place of comfort. The fear and trauma they've worked so hard to repress and work through has become a reality. There really is no place of refuge in this world, for these people, these soldiers.

The Ft. Hood shootings are a shock to the world that cannot be shocked anymore. We gasped when we heard about Columbine, we sighed when we heard about Virginia Tech, and now we are awe-struck. The very people who risk their lives to protect our country abroad have demonstrated that their lives are at risk even at home. Not just those who died or were injured, but the shooter as well.

The murmurs about the religion of the shooter have begun, but the silence surrounding his mental health will surely become deafening in the weeks to come. How was he allowed to slip throught the cracks? How could a person giving out psychiatric care, a person who received negative evaluations, be allowed to continue practicing, and even further, be allowed to deploy to Afghanistan. Where is the compassion for our soldiers? What are we doing to these brave men and women?

If Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan is in fact Muslim, I urge you to not let that piece of information cloud the real tragedy that we as a country are facing with this slaughter of innocents. His religious affiliation should in no way determine your response to this situation. He was a human being, one who has fallen through the cracks like every other mass murderer. And he has taken his untreated mental illness out on those who would give their lives to protect him.

Our brothers and sisters of the Islamic faith do not deserve any more unjust hatred. I beg, plead, and pray that this situation does not add fuel to that fire.