By Irene Conlan -

What happened?  What brings a man to the point of needing to kill to work out his own religious beliefs or his own angst? What is it about killing innocent people, people you don’t know or may have never seen before, that gives relief to the killer? Is it designed to give relief or is it simply a way to “pay back” society for the hurts he is experiencing?

The first man – an American, a Muslim, a soldier, a psychiatrist – killed thirteen people and wounded thirty others in a room filled with soldiers being processed going to or coming from Iraq.

The soldiers in the room were concerned about their own debarking to Iraq and what it would mean to themselves, their families and their friends. Would they have to kill another human being? Would they be blown up in a land mind?  Would they be able to handle it?  Would their loved ones be o.k. while they were gone?

Some were on their way home after their tour of duty – excited, their minds on what was ahead and the eager anticipation of seeing the ones they loved the most. Would they fit in after being in Iraq? Would everything/anything be the same? They wanted to get processed and be on their way home. Home. Yes!

Whether coming from or going to Iraq they were unarmed, unprepared, innocent – unaware of what was about to happen.

Major Nidal Malik Hasan had lived in this country all his life – grew up like the other American children in his neighborhood. But since September 11 he had been teased because he was a Muslim – called a “raghead” and a “towelhead.”  In his anger at the teasing he began to identify more and more with the Muslims in Iraq than with his American roots. Is that what it was?  A news story said he was “conflicted” because he didn’t know how to chose between his love for Islam and his allegiance to the U.S. Military. That’s what the news reports say. He was on his way for a tour of duty in Iraq and he didn’t want to go. Was this his way to defer?

He came in with two high powered guns that he had purchased at a local gun store. Each held a 30 round clip. As he shot, he cried out to “Allahu Akbar” “God is great.”  Did he act out of some warped religious conviction?  Or was it revenge for the teasing?

Soldiers don’t shoot other soldiers.  Or so they thought.

The second man, 40-year-old Jason Rodriguez, fired from his job two years previously because of job performance, lost his unemployment pay and something in him must have snapped. He went to his former company with a gun because he said they “left me to rot.”  He killed one person and wounded five. Now he’ll be rotting in a jail cell or a mental institution.

What is going on?

Is it the influence of movies and TV programs that make killing another human being look so easy, so matter of fact, so ordinary? Has killing become glamorized to the point that it’s the “best case scenario” when a person feels troubled or is having problems in his life?

Is it a religious thing? Do they come to believe it is a righteous act to kill those that don’t believe like they do?  Do they somehow get “off track” and believe God wants them to kill?

Are they in such deep despair that it’s the only thing they know of that will ease the pain – to kill?
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Is it a call for attention? Is it a call for help?

Because both of these men lived after their carnage, we may be able to learn something about what was going on in their minds that brought them to the point of murder.

In the meantime remember the died and wounded in your thoughts and prayers.

What can we who are interested in self improvement take away from these incidents?

What do we need to ponder? Perhaps we need to:

• Be kind to others. (Teasing about faith, race or status is never kind).
• Be aware of the pain of others and offer a helping hand when you can
• When you are hurting ask for help – from a relative, a friend, a professional counselor. Let your needs be known and do what you need to do to recover.
• Keep your thoughts positive. When you are busy being grateful or practicing bursts of appreciation, it is more difficult to become depressed or to stay angry.
• Love – yourself and others. (This isn’t as easy as it sounds)
• Live in the moment and live life to the fullest. As Joseph Campbell said, “Follow your bliss.”
• Remember that your freedom ends where my nose begins.” (And, conversely, my freedom ends where your nose begins). We have no right to harm or take the life of another.
• The greatest teaching – Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.

Simplistic? Yes. Pollyanna? Maybe. But it certainly beats the alternative of killing or being killed.