When Religion and Nationalism Collide
(Svadilfari photo.)
As I read the background on the Fort Hood shooter, Nidal Malik Hasan, a familiar pattern emerged. He was the son of immigrants— Palestinian in this case. He moved a lot, attending three colleges in different parts of the country (including, ironically, Virginia Tech) before joining the military. And, according to his family, he had few friends. This pattern fits many recent shooting-spree perpetrators, from Virginia Tech to Salt Lake City.
But there was another wrinkle in Hasan's story that caught my attention: he reportedly told classmates that he was "a Muslim first and an American second." The article suggested this is a bad thing.
Too often, nationalism co-opts religion, turning it from a moral guide to a tool for hatred and destruction. But what happens when religion and nationalism collide? When your country contradicts your religion, which do you choose?
No matter your religion or your country, if confronted with a choice like that, I hope you choose your religion. What we believe must come before our loyalty to any nation, ethnic group, relationship, or profit. Otherwise, we don't believe it very strongly.
To put this another way: If a Christian is confronted with a choice between serving the United States and staying true to the teachings of Jesus, and he or she chooses nation over God, they're not much of a Christian.
Hasan happened to be a Muslim. Several sources indicate that he saw the war on terror as a war against Islam. It's hard to argue that when at least one Pentagon general has said exactly that.
I have no idea what went on in the mind of this "dedicated soldier" (as some who knew him described him) before he pulled the trigger and killed 13 people. I won't try to justify his actions— in my mind there is no justification. But in the interest of understanding why such violence occurs, which would be essential to preventing future outbreaks, we might look to the stress caused by the irreconcilable loyalties between a man's religion and his oath to perform actions his religion cannot tolerate.
And we might look to our own religious inclination. Do we really believe strongly enough to defy those who tell us what is good for the country, when our religion says something else?
Posted by DJ at 11/8/2009 9:26 AM 
Categories: Religion and Theology,Iraq and the Islamic World
Tags: violence
Categories: Religion and Theology,Iraq and the Islamic World
Tags: violence
some people are just more disturbed or more dysfunctional than others.
In the beginning they take comfort and structure in religion. It helps them get through life, and give meaning to their lives.
later, sometimes, they build up the meaning of their religion more. Religion is like a surrogate father. people want their fathers to be powerful, capable, and approving. The day to day frustrations people feel they direct toward their religious notions. As offenses against their surrogate father.
These people then stop trying to work out their problems on an interpersonal level. Their problems mount, they become much more stressed internally.
Then they might veer into some kind of aggressive religious fixation. they want to vent their frustration, but they don't or can't do this rationally. whether it involves an inability to confront their own pain or reality...or is mostly just rage. when the shooting rampage comes they feel a sense of being unburdened and resolute. approval and empowerment and perhaps even rightness. Maybe it is some kind of manic episode.
This is the flipside of the kind of religious experience that allows guys to stay sober or stop beating the wife and kids, or hanging out with the junkies and petty criminal friends and doing the same stuff that got them thrown into prison in the first place.
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