If it turns out that Hicks murdered these three young Muslims because
of their religious beliefs, and if it is true that Hicks hates all
religion, and if by hating all religion Hicks believes he has a right
or a duty to gun down people he determines to be religious, then Hicks
has declared himself unfit to be free in the world. And that goes for
all the Hicks in the Land.
To doubt the existence of a God is one thing. But to hate religion?
What does that mean? If it means that someone believes religions have
caused great suffering over the ages, that is my own position. But I
don't hate religions. And I don't hate those people who hold deep
religious beliefs. To say, "I think your trust is misplaced," is one
thing. But to hate you enough to kill you over your beliefs? That's
insanity. And by the way, it is just as insane to murder three young
Muslims over a parking space dispute.
You know, I hate guns. But does that give me the right to go about
murdering gun nuts?
The truth is that there exists great anger and fear just under our
"civilized" hides. We would all be better off if we put aside all our
toys of mass destruction and set out to do good in the world.
Carl Jarvis
On 2/12/15, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@optonline.net> wrote:
>
>
> Tikun Olam-תיקון עולם
> Promoting Israeli democracy, exposing secrets of the national security state
> North Carolina Muslim Murders
> by RICHARD SILVERSTEIN on FEBRUARY 12, 2015
> in Mideast Peace, Politics & Society
>
> Deah Barakat, his wife Yusor Mohmammad Abu Salha and her sister, Razan
> Mohammad
> Yesterday, a white North Carolina man, Craig Hicks, murdered three young
> Muslims near the University of North Carolina campus, where the victims were
> students. At first, since the women wore traditional attire and all were
> active in the local Muslim community, many feared this was a hate crime.
> Deah Barakat had also posted comments on social media supporting Palestinian
> rights, but opposing religious hatred of all kinds, including against Jews.
> He had traveled to Palestine to offer dental services to children with
> special needs. You may donate to the website he established to provide
> dental services to Syrian refugees.
> It may still turn out that Islamophobia played a role. But the killer's
> wife, who was in the process of divorcing him (his first wife divorced him
> as well), claims the murders were motivated by a dispute over parking spaces
> at the local condominium. She further claimed the killings had no religious
> or racial element. While this may be the proximate cause, no one in their
> right mind murders three people for a parking space.
>
> The murderer's gun proudly displayed on his Facebook page
> Her attorney also added:
> …The shootings highlight the need for greater access to mental health care
> services. However, he did not address whether Craig Hicks has mental health
> issues.
> If Hicks did have mental health issues it would confirm why it's such a
> great idea for the NRA to prohibit states from severing the mentally ill
> from weapons. In fact, Hicks proudly displayed his gun on his Facebook
> account. Other stories say he menaced the victims before the killing with a
> rifle as well.
> I reviewed his profile and didn't see the usual racist hate messages one
> would expect from an Anders Breivik type. Clearly, Hicks hated religion and
> believers. This is one of his more colorful rants:
> "When it comes to insults, your religion started this, not me. If your
> religion kept its big mouth shut, so would I. But given that it doesn't, and
> given the enormous harm that your religion has done in this world, I'd say
> that I have not only a right, but a duty, to insult it, as does every
> rational, thinking person on this planet."
> Even this harangue doesn't seem to devolve into the rhetoric from someone
> who turned into a serial killer.
> But neighbors did say that Hicks was a bully and that they lived in fear of
> him. They even held a community meeting to discuss how to deal with his
> angry behavior. A number of people were afraid of what he might do to them
> and others.
> My guess is that there was a stew of factors that escalated this man and
> drove him to mass murder. But whatever they were, I maintain that the
> national news media have performed abysmally in covering this story. As has
> the President of the United States. He gave a major press conference today
> to promote his authorization bill regarding ISIS. But not a word about this
> brutal murder. In comparison, he publicly denounced the kidnapping of three
> West Bank Jewish youths within hours of the crime. Apparently, some lives
> are politically more expedient than others.
> The truth is that Obama's refusal to use terms like "Muslim terrorism" has
> driven the Islamophobes in the GOP to distraction. So the President decided
> that he couldn't weigh in on the story until more was known about it. It
> was a terrible waste of the bully pulpit.
> Look at the pictures of these three handsome, smiling, youthful faces.
> Think of their potential to bring good to the world. Think of the wonderful
> model they were for their faith as well. Murdered by a mentally imbalanced,
> religion-hater prodded to a boiling point by a parking space. And given a
> gun thanks to the gun lobby.
> I hope as well that these Muslim murders in North Carolina will shine a
> light on another act of Islamophobia in that state. Duke University planned
> to permit the Muslim call to prayer to be played in the campus quad along
> with church bells. Last month, when evangelist Franklin Graham got wind of
> this, he took to Facebook and threatened the University with a massive
> alumni campaign calling for a fundraising boycott. The school quickly
> capitulated. So Christian fundamentalism and Islamophobia won yet another
> battle in North Carolina. I hope now the University will rethink it's own
> cave-in to bigotry.
> This tragedy brought back an old memory of another murder over a parking
> space. This too was a gruesome killing in Dobbs Ferry, NY. The killer's
> father owned a deli and the victim parked his car in the deli lot and
> crossed the street to buy a pizza. The deli owner was angry that people who
> didn't patronize his store abused his parking lot. When confronted, the
> victim pulled out a baseball bat and began swinging. The deli owner's son
> got a gun and the result was a brutal, stupid senseless murder. I don't
> bring this up because I'm arguing the North Carolina tragedy only involved a
> parking dispute. I bring it up because I lived three blocks from the site
> of the murder at the time and drove past the scene of the crime every day on
> my way to work. Naturally, when such a thing happens it shakes you and you
> reme
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>
> Tikun Olam-תיקון עולם
> Promoting Israeli democracy, exposing secrets of the national security state
> North Carolina Muslim Murders
> by Richard Silverstein on February 12, 2015
> in Mideast Peace, Politics & Society
>
> Deah Barakat, his wife Yusor Mohmammad Abu Salha and her sister, Razan
> Mohammad
> Yesterday, a white North Carolina man, Craig Hicks, murdered three young
> Muslims near the University of North Carolina campus, where the victims were
> students. At first, since the women wore traditional attire and all were
> active in the local Muslim community, many feared this was a hate crime.
> Deah Barakat had also posted comments on social media supporting Palestinian
> rights, but opposing religious hatred of all kinds, including against Jews.
> He had traveled to Palestine to offer dental services to children with
> special needs. You may donate to the website he established to provide
> dental services to Syrian refugees.
> It may still turn out that Islamophobia played a role. But the killer's
> wife, who was in the process of divorcing him (his first wife divorced him
> as well), claims the murders were motivated by a dispute over parking spaces
> at the local condominium. She further claimed the killings had no religious
> or racial element. While this may be the proximate cause, no one in their
> right mind murders three people for a parking space.
>
> The murderer's gun proudly displayed on his Facebook page
> Her attorney also added:
> …The shootings highlight the need for greater access to mental health care
> services. However, he did not address whether Craig Hicks has mental health
> issues.
> If Hicks did have mental health issues it would confirm why it's such a
> great idea for the NRA to prohibit states from severing the mentally ill
> from weapons. In fact, Hicks proudly displayed his gun on his Facebook
> account. Other stories say he menaced the victims before the killing with a
> rifle as well.
> I reviewed his profile and didn't see the usual racist hate messages one
> would expect from an Anders Breivik type. Clearly, Hicks hated religion and
> believers. This is one of his more colorful rants:
> "When it comes to insults, your religion started this, not me. If your
> religion kept its big mouth shut, so would I. But given that it doesn't, and
> given the enormous harm that your religion has done in this world, I'd say
> that I have not only a right, but a duty, to insult it, as does every
> rational, thinking person on this planet."
> Even this harangue doesn't seem to devolve into the rhetoric from someone
> who turned into a serial killer.
> But neighbors did say that Hicks was a bully and that they lived in fear of
> him. They even held a community meeting to discuss how to deal with his
> angry behavior. A number of people were afraid of what he might do to them
> and others.
> My guess is that there was a stew of factors that escalated this man and
> drove him to mass murder. But whatever they were, I maintain that the
> national news media have performed abysmally in covering this story. As has
> the President of the United States. He gave a major press conference today
> to promote his authorization bill regarding ISIS. But not a word about this
> brutal murder. In comparison, he publicly denounced the kidnapping of three
> West Bank Jewish youths within hours of the crime. Apparently, some lives
> are politically more expedient than others.
> The truth is that Obama's refusal to use terms like "Muslim terrorism" has
> driven the Islamophobes in the GOP to distraction. So the President decided
> that he couldn't weigh in on the story until more was known about it. It was
> a terrible waste of the bully pulpit.
> Look at the pictures of these three handsome, smiling, youthful faces. Think
> of their potential to bring good to the world. Think of the wonderful model
> they were for their faith as well. Murdered by a mentally imbalanced,
> religion-hater prodded to a boiling point by a parking space. And given a
> gun thanks to the gun lobby.
> I hope as well that these Muslim murders in North Carolina will shine a
> light on another act of Islamophobia in that state. Duke University planned
> to permit the Muslim call to prayer to be played in the campus quad along
> with church bells. Last month, when evangelist Franklin Graham got wind of
> this, he took to Facebook and threatened the University with a massive
> alumni campaign calling for a fundraising boycott. The school quickly
> capitulated. So Christian fundamentalism and Islamophobia won yet another
> battle in North Carolina. I hope now the University will rethink it's own
> cave-in to bigotry.
> This tragedy brought back an old memory of another murder over a parking
> space. This too was a gruesome killing in Dobbs Ferry, NY. The killer's
> father owned a deli and the victim parked his car in the deli lot and
> crossed the street to buy a pizza. The deli owner was angry that people who
> didn't patronize his store abused his parking lot. When confronted, the
> victim pulled out a baseball bat and began swinging. The deli owner's son
> got a gun and the result was a brutal, stupid senseless murder. I don't
> bring this up because I'm arguing the North Carolina tragedy only involved a
> parking dispute. I bring it up because I lived three blocks from the site of
> the murder at the time and drove past the scene of the crime every day on my
> way to work. Naturally, when such a thing happens it shakes you and you
> remember.
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Blind-Democracy mailing list
> Blind-Democracy@octothorp.org
> https://www.octothorp.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-democracy
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