The Texas Shootings

As we've all been informed, there was a mass shooting at a military base in Texas yesterday afternoon. We've learned this morning the name of the shooter, and that he was in fact a Major, and has been in the Army since 1995. And his name is Nidal Malik Hassan. As I'm reading the news on my iPhone, still in bed this morning, I realize I'm going to need a lot more than tea to get my blood pressure under control today. The article prefaces itself by accounting the "no religious preference" the Major has listed on his official paperwork, and that he was born and raised in the US. Two paragraphs later they are interviewing Muslim organizations in the US and claiming Hassan yelled the "Allahu Akbar" phrase (which this country has somehow agreed to associate with terrorists) while on his shooting rampage. I find it incredibly insulting, but not surprising, to see that this country and its media have yet to move past the stereotype that Arab=Muslim=terrorist. There is no one at fault here other than the journalists' for promoting this ridiculous idea even further. Simply because the man has an Arabic and Muslim name does not mean he is Muslim, and most definitely does not present a plausible defense for his actions. When the press felt a need to mention his lack of a religious preference, they should have left it at that. Whether the assailant is Muslim or not should have no place in the context of this tragedy. Being Muslim does not motivate people to kill, in this or any other country. Terrorists from all walks of life, for centuries, have cloaked their missions in religion, but it is their person that commits these acts and not their religion. Journalists who insinuate otherwise are the cancer that is preventing this country's prejudices from healing.