Isolated Incident or Sign of Things to Come?

The killing spree in Ft. Hood, Texas yesterday kept me up half the night, trying to make sense of this senseless, tragic act. And hearing that the shooter was Muslim, and shouted to Allah as he killed his fellow soldiers made me wonder how anyone could think the fear of more Muslim attacks could be anything but evident.

It is hard for the average American to wrap our heads around the difference between Arabs, Islam, Muslims, Osama Bin Laden, terrorists, fanatics, jihad, Afghanistan, and what has happened today, death at the hands of a man whose name rings that same scary foreign bell. It is all tied together in our minds. Islam equals 9/11.

Even though I voted for Obama and defend him on my blog, truthdaily.com, my instant reaction when reading all of this is to think of that old saying, “No good deed goes unpunished.” It feels as if our “give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses” has come back to bite America in the ass. It is virtually impossible to believe that this murderer’s religion had nothing to do with what happened today. That seems really naive to think that. First reaction for me was “we are being attacked from the inside again.” I never thought I’d see the day that I had to worry about something like that in America.

And how in the world can US soldiers continue to trust their comrades with any sort of background in or ties to Islam? Whether people realize it yet or not, I think this is a big game changer, and not in a good way. Call me simple minded, or ignorant, but I believe I am reflecting how the majority of Americans are feeling right now. Torn at the very least. And very worried.