The Miracle at Fort Hood -- Three Perspectives

Yesterday's happenings at Fort Hood, Texas should cause us to examine the roots of such tragedies. I have been pondering the reports (while trying to contain the anger that comes from seeing my Army brethren gunned down from within) and have been exploring them from three primary perspecties: religious, rational, and that of a U.S. Army veteran still dedicated to his nation and to those who share the American military tradition.

The religious perspective is the most positive one. The events at Fort Hood confirm the Word of God and should therefore, deepen the faith of many people and strengthen their belief in God. When I heard of the shooting, I immediately thought of a section of The Holy Quran: Chapter Eight, which deals with The Spoils of War. Let's back up just a bit and look at some of what transpired at Fort Hood:

One man, who was already under investigation by the military, managed to get two handguns into a military building on one of the nation's primary Army posts (SEE NOTE 1). In a thoroughly policed area like that, he then managed to kill 13 people and injure another 30 before being shot four times by police. And he lived. Casualty counts at colleges and high schools by people with multiple semiautomatic rifles and no military police presence don't manage those kinds of numbers. And the shooters generally end up dead. This was an instance of violence that went against statistics. And what is the usual term that the faithful use for instances that stand outside the statistical norms? Yes, a "miracle."

Greater evidence to the miracle theory is given by the words of the shooter (it has been reported that he exclaimed "Allahu Akhbar" at some point during the attack) and the Word of God (which I will quote shortly). There was a clear religious involvement here, which means, if you believe in the supernatural, that the Hand of God was at play.

"Allahu Akhbar" means, essentially, "God is great." Combined with the definition of the word
"Muslim," which translates to "one who submits (to God)," we see our Islamic National Motto, "In God We Trust," in the thick of this violent episode. If we -- and I mean anyone who trusts in God -- actually do trust that God, then we can (and should) go forth bravely and act upon the Word of that God. And we should expect the outcomes of those actions to be in line with the Word of God. Now read Chapter 8, Verse 65 of the Holy Quran along with me:

O Messenger! Rouse the Believers to the fight. If there are twenty amongst you, patient and persevering, they will vanquish two hundred: if a hundred, they will vanquish a thousand of the Unbelievers: for these are a people without understanding.

Pretty clear, huh? What is even more miraculous is that God promised a ten-to-one kill ratio here, and this Army Major got thirteen kills. That's pretty close to, but even better than, that promised by God (SEE NOTE 2), and it happened under very challenging circumstances.

And he survived four gun shots! On a military post, you would expect a one-shot kill, not a four-shot wound. Any faithful person has to see that as Divine Intervention.

So I think this episode at Fort Hood is one that religionists can use to support their belief in God, and can use to help sort out which is the One True Religion (in the Quran, God repeatedly refers to Islam as the perfection of religion). There are many more passages that reinforce the above, but I suspect that the point is made and more transcriptions of verse would only add verbosity.

From a rational point of view, I think things are much different. I am certain that rationalists are of the opinion that this is another example of what religion does to people. When people believe strongly (i.e., have faith) in a deity, or collection of stories, or ideology, they are too often driven to extreme deleterious actions. This is often known to rationalists as the "those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities" problem (it is based on a statement by Voltaire, I believe). And what is more absurd than an invisible magical father figure who encourages violence, hate, and all sorts of nasty things, while still pretending to be loving, merciful, wise, etc.? In the rationalist view, the contradictions and twisted faux-logic of religious scripture inevitably lead to incidents like this in many people who take that stuff as fact. This sort of violence is an unfortunate "I told you so" to a rationalist.

The two perspectives above should show one of the main problems with the power struggle between religionists and rationalists: Horrible events like this reinforce the worldviews of both sides, and that does not bring us closer to solving these issues.

I would like to add a third perspective; that of my own as an eight-year military veteran with a deep love of the Constitution and the nation which it created. Few things are more disgraceful or tragic to my military mind than the idea of a military member purposely killing his own. It is among the most heinous of offenses a member of the military can commit (after the purposeful harming of nonmilitary beings while representing the nation, which brings disgrace to the entire nation and its legacy). I would gladly, and I mean this literally, pull the trigger on this bastard myself. Death with honor and legitimate purpose is something to be welcomed as a member of the military. Death without honor and legitimate purpose is a tragedy (SEE NOTE 3).

The hideous disregard for Constitutional cautions about religion are dragging America down. The fundamentalist/evangelical tainting of American politics and policy has created great problems for us, and will continue to do so (at least we kept Sarah Palin out of D.C.... Phew!). We have a solid foundation for our nation, a document (and colonial history) that should teach us that mixing government and religion hurts both. The more we violate that, the more our society and our government will be degraded. Few things can be more disturbing to a military veteran who stills believes in his oath to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic" and "bear true faith and allegiance to the same."

I feel for the many people whose lives have been destroyed by this tragedy, but I also feel the pain of knowing that it will be a wasted opportunity to, with the intent of finding honest answers, ask questions about what the hell we are doing to our nation.

XXX

NOTE 1: Fort Hood is not much different in military scope and importance, and therefore security and associated policies, from my two stateside posts: Fort Bragg, NC and Fort Campbell, KY. I never would have dreamed, even 25 years ago, that someone could possess a private weapon on post, let alone two, and get away with it.

NOTE 2: Those who carried out the 9/11 attacks far exceeded that ratio, of course. And then there is the obvious divine protection of Osama bin Laden, who has managed to evade the greatest military and technological power the world has ever known for more than eight years. Note, also, the "people without understanding" comment in the passage. You will probably hear words/phrases like "why," "how come," and various other expressions of non-understanding by non-Muslims about this for a long time. This is further confirmation of the Word of God, of course.

NOTE 3: This is why I opposed the occupation of Iraq before it ever happened, and why the death toll there is doubly tragic to me.