Fort Hood shooting

THERE HAS BEEN ANOTHER SHOOTING AT ANOTHER MARINE BASE IN NORTH CAROLINA. WHAT IS GOING ON

As a psychiatrist I'm very sure he was an officer and as an officer he could have resigned and got out of the Army and not been deployed to Afganistan.

He is a terrorist or an idiot, pick which ever you want.

My point of view, formed during reading the Old Testament back in Sunday School Days, is that religions largely exist is to provide ideological and psychological support for destroying ones enemies.

I don't understand how religions, unless constantly remade in the image of the social order and culture du jour, can encourage peace among societies that otherwise have economic and political reason to battle.

Islam is not a peaceful religion.

"Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued." (Surah 9:29)

The idea just expressed by the show's guest is absolutely correct - religion becomes a justification for violence that has its roots in political situations. Those who like to characterize Islam as "spread by the sword" forget that spreading Christianity was a major justification for European colonial expansion, an extremely violent process. That being said, the Fort Hood shooter seems more likely to be explained by individual psychology rather than political sociology.

incorrect usage of "serial killer", this would be a "mass murder", no?

I whole heartedly agree with Rich in Palms. For all the comfort and direction organized religion has offered to many people over the centuries it often has been a root cause of way too much strife and pain. I am so soured on organized religion especially the religious idealogues who seem to control much of the direction of religious organations and drive much of the pain in the world today.

Larry,
I understand why you felt obligated to make this the top subject of today's show (as all media will for the next week) but I'm sure you also see the futility of trying to discuss an event which has so little actual verified information available... Every question asked can only be answered as "unconfirmed" or "allegedly". I'm sure in time we will learn what went wrong here and then we can have a more productive conversation.
Thanks for making it only a 1/2 hour segment...

It is more significant that the shooter is a psychiatrist than that he is a muslim. As such, it is ludicrous to speculate why there was no "intervention" for whatever "mental disorder" he may have suffered from. It is virtually certain that he has been treated for "mental illness", and extremely likely that he was under the influence of psychopharm medication at the time, given that there is evidence that such medications are rampantly overprescribed in the military, and sometimes available without prescriptions. Certainly a military psychiatrist would have access to such drugs for himself. I would be more interested in knowing what medication he was receiving, and whether it is known to have side-effects of violent thoughts, suicidal thoughts and actual violence, as many of these medications do.

with great sympathy to those killed and their families...

People who say religion is not about hate and violence have not read their 'holy' books. The Qur'an, Bible and Torah are all extremely clear: kill the infidels (everyone who does not believe exactly as you believe). This had led many, many, many otherwise intelligent people (more than a few Islamic fundamentalists have been Ph.D.s) throughout world history to commit heinous acts against fellow humans, and it is the most frightening thing about the accommodations we make in our society to our American religious right wing fundamentalists. Freedom is the distance between temple/church/mosque and your mind.

ecorona: Please cite a single instance where Christ approved of an act of violence against anyone. He taught the exact opposite. As to Islam, we see in the world TODAY the oppression of someone, somewhere. Women are worth less than a farm animal and are mutilated and killed in many Muslim societies. Instances of fathers killing their daughters (as just happened last week) are on the rise in this country and in the name of Islam.

Whatever went on in Europe hundreds of years ago is now history. Evil done in the name of Christ was just that and it was those voices which spoke the truth who prevailed. Where are the Muslim voices today? The facts are clear, from the simple covering of head to the head to toe humiliation of the berka, women must in some way make a public statement of their oppression. The overbearing requirements of "true" Islamic religious piety is just that, overbearing and oppressive. And. there is always the "Infidel", those who needed to be eliminated.

Like a berka, Islam is a religion of oppression. Name the Islamic Nation who is leading the way medically, technologically or in any other way. The simple fact is that if all Middle East oil dried up tomorrow, those societies would be as worthless to the 1st world as the Continent of Africa and much of Asia.

So, as we make excuses for the nut case fanatics which make up much of Islam, Fort Hood, 9/11, etc. are just the beginning.

Ray: I agree that Christ was remarkable in his pacifism (excluding his anti-free market rage at the Temple of Jerusalem). But although his teachings were often cryptic, and so it is hard to know exactly what he meant, I think what passes for Christianity in the US would hardly be recognizable to Christ -- take attitudes toward homosexuality, for instance, or the Calvinistic position towards wealth.

I think that you provide the answer as to why Islam is often oppressive in its modern form. To put it simply, the Islamic world has contended with Christendom for centuries, and they have clearly lost. Christians have mostly won, and so need not rely on incantations and holy war, except occasionally in places like Serbia. As you say, Islamic nations no longer contribute much to modernity, despite their past greatness (kind of like the Romans). What they retain, however, is a threatened cultural identity with a sense of pride not unlike our own. For those relative few that actively continue to act violently against the West, religious fanaticism is their best remaining weapon.

I have heard Muslims say that they relate to fundamentalist Christians much more than to an agnostic like myself. I might say further that they are closer to the roots of their religion than are most Christians -- indeed, in the future, when this current struggle is largely over, I would not be surprised if a faction of Christians look back misty-eyed at their defeated enemies and realize that the Jihadists were the last best hope for fundamentalism, perhaps giving rise to a radical Christian and Islamic alliance to wage words against the evils of the secular, mercantile world.

As we look to celebrate Veteran's Day and join in moments of silence for the families of the fallen and wounded; there is something we can all do! We can stand and speak up in solidarity with Arab Americans and the Islamic community as the acts of a deranged individual must not be allowed to reflect on any ethnicity, creed or community in California or the United States.