Hatred, not Islam, is to blame for the murderous gay bar attack

Maya Angelou wrote that hate “… has caused a lot of problems in this world, but it has not solved one yet.” That is why it is so difficult to understand how one man has the capacity to walk into a nightclub with two firearms, including an assault rifle, and do so much harm.

On Sunday (June 12) we woke up to the horrible news that, as the national media reported, “A gunman who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State opened fire inside a crowded gay bar and dance club here [Orlando, Florida] early Sunday, leaving 49 people dead and 53 injured in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, authorities said.”

Too much emphasis was placed, I believe, on the fact that the perpetrator of this horrible crime had called 911 just prior to the massacre and pledged his allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State. The man in question was Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old security guard from Fort Pierce, Florida. Was his an act of terrorism? That answer is a very simple and resounding “yes!” The act of a man who fires indiscriminately into a crowd leaving 49 human beings dead and scores of others badly wounded cannot be called anything else. Worrisome too, though, are the implications of that word – terrorist.

Thankfully, President Obama reacted immediately with somber and precious thoughts. He said the massacre was “a further reminder of how easy it is for someone to get their hands on a weapon that lets them shoot people in a school, or in a house of worship, or a movie theater, or in a nightclub. And we have to decide if that’s the kind of country we want to be. And to actively do nothing is a decision as well.”

Precious words because the president reminded us that this is not the first time we have seen or experienced a deadly act of this kind on U.S. soil. And to blame it on Islam, as many are wont to do, is a mistake.

It’s why I would refer to Omar Mateen as a hater, a sick and violent man (as described by his ex-wife), a criminal, a mass murderer, but not a radical Islamist – words that help stir passions and create fear and uneasiness among perfectly good citizens in this country. Misused words that to many now mean guilty for being Muslim. And there are some in this country, one in particular who is running for president, who wants you to think of terrorism when you hear the words Muslim, or Islam.

Who better to explain the rants of the Trumps of the world against Islam then Muhammad Ali, laid to rest last week before the massacre in Orlando. After hearing Trump disparage Muslims in one of his many speeches on his way to the Republican nomination, Ali answered Trump with these words: “Speaking as someone who has never been accused of political correctness, I believe that our political leaders should use their position to bring understanding about the religion of Islam and clarify that these misguided murderers have perverted people’s views on what Islam really is.”

The attack in Orlando offers us another (and they are already so many) example of why there needs to be a serious discussion on gun control in this country. And for those who cite the 2nd Amendment, I will grant you your right to bear arms. (Although I don’t believe in guns. Period.) But an AR-15-style weapon? Seriously…

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, no stranger to demagoguery, also weighed in. He told The Washington Post:

“If Muslim beliefs were behind the attack, common sense tells you he specifically targeted the gay community because of the views that exist in the radical Islamic community with regard to the gay community.”

There you go. Stoking the fires… pointing fingers at the “radical Islamic community.”

It’s the same Sen. Rubio who had voted AGAINST an amendment proposed by Senators Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia, and Pat Toomey, a Republican from Pennsylvania, that would require background checks for commercial gun sales that was rejected by a 54 to 46 vote. Sixty votes were needed for the amendment to advance.

I wonder… if the shooter in Orlando had been a Christian from Missouri, would Rubio have called him a “radical Christian”? And would he have cited the Bible (Leviticus, Chapter 20 verse 13), for example, which states: “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.”

I began with a quote and I will finish with another, this one from Nelson Mandela:

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”

At Progreso Weekly we mourn with the families and friends of the victims of the tragic and hate-filled attacks that occurred in Orlando.