Worship a traitors flag and kill a bunch of people in a predominantly black church and its not a hate crime. Guy goes on stabbing spree, "oh obviously he's a Muslim." Its can't be easy juggling prejudices.
Quote:True, but a pair of puncture marks on the ol' Jugular of a corpse found in Transylvania makes it reasonable to think that a vampire just might be involved.
Well, yeah, and if the victims had puncture wounds on their neck during a trip to Transylvania (or, you know, shot on a military base or blown up during a marathon), I'd agree, but these are people stabbed on a college campus. If the assailant's motivation had really been to cause maximum casualties and launch a personal jihad, there are much more efficient ways of going about it.
I have a serious issue with the chancellor of the university calling it a "tragic accident". Dudes slashing people with big knives are not accidents. If the "substance" in his backpack (which was blown up with a police explosive, not with whatever was inside) comes back as an explosive, then I'd obviously revisit my stance and have to consider that he was plotting a terrorist attack. Right now, though, it feels more like a whackjob with a knife living out his fantasies.
Quote:Worship a traitors flag and kill a bunch of people in a predominantly black church and its not a hate crime. Guy goes on stabbing spree, "oh obviously he's a Muslim." Its can't be easy juggling prejudices.
Who said that wasn't a hate crime?
Quote:Well, yeah, and if the victims had puncture wounds on their neck during a trip to Transylvania (or, you know, shot on a military base or blown up during a marathon), I'd agree, but these are people stabbed on a college campus. If the assailant's motivation had really been to cause maximum casualties and launch a personal jihad, there are much more efficient ways of going about it.
I have a serious issue with the chancellor of the university calling it a "tragic accident". Dudes slashing people with big knives are not accidents. If the "substance" in his backpack (which was blown up with a police explosive, not with whatever was inside) comes back as an explosive, then I'd obviously revisit my stance and have to consider that he was plotting a terrorist attack. Right now, though, it feels more like a whackjob with a knife living out his fantasies.
These are people attacked in a "gun free zone", exactly where those cowards usually hit.
I hope you're right, that it's nothing more than mental illness. Concurrent events in the world make it feel like something more to me.
Quote:Who said that wasn't a hate crime?
I was drinking. My words were chosen poorly.
Why must insanity and religious extremism be mutually exclusive reasons for this man's actions? There are millions of Muslims in this country, and I've no doubts more than a few disagree with our government's policies. Still, as bad as these incidents are, they are very isolated and rare. It's not a stretch to say this was an act of a crazy person, whatever his motivation may have been.
Quote:Why must insanity and religious extremism be mutually exclusive reasons for this man's actions? There are millions of Muslims in this country, and I've no doubts more than a few disagree with our government's policies. Still, as bad as these incidents are, they are very isolated and rare. It's not a stretch to say this was an act of a crazy person, whatever his motivation may have been.
It's also not a stretch to say that radical Islamic terrorism is increasing here in the U.S..
From recent history of some of what was reported in the national media.
11/5/2009 - A Muslim psychiatrist guns down thirteen unarmed soldiers while yelling praises to Allah.
4/15/2013 - Foreign-born Muslims describing themselves as 'very religious' detonate two bombs packed with ball bearings at the Boston Marathon, killing three people and causing several more to lose limbs.
4/19/2013 - Jihadists gun down a university police officer sitting in his car.
6/25/2014 - A 19-year-old college student is shot to death 'in revenge' for Muslim deaths overseas.
7/16/2015 - A 'devout Muslim' stages a suicide attack on a recruiting center at a strip mall and a naval center which leaves five dead.
Just a short time ago on social media, attacks by stabbing by "lone wolfs" was called for by a group claiming to be ISIS. There has been an increase of such attacks in Israel recently. All of the sudden something like that happens here.
Coincidence? Maybe, but the evidence that I've seen so far points to otherwise.
Quote:It's also not a stretch to say that radical Islamic terrorism is increasing here in the U.S..
From recent history of some of what was reported in the national media.
11/5/2009 - A Muslim psychiatrist guns down thirteen unarmed soldiers while yelling praises to Allah.
4/15/2013 - Foreign-born Muslims describing themselves as 'very religious' detonate two bombs packed with ball bearings at the Boston Marathon, killing three people and causing several more to lose limbs.
4/19/2013 - Jihadists gun down a university police officer sitting in his car.
6/25/2014 - A 19-year-old college student is shot to death 'in revenge' for Muslim deaths overseas.
7/16/2015 - A 'devout Muslim' stages a suicide attack on a recruiting center at a strip mall and a naval center which leaves five dead.
Just a short time ago on social media, attacks by stabbing by "lone wolfs" was called for by a group claiming to be ISIS. There has been an increase of such attacks in Israel recently. All of the sudden something like that happens here.
Coincidence? Maybe, but the evidence that I've seen so far points to otherwise.
Was your evidence laid out in a tin foil conspiratorial way like your previous post on here?
Quote:Was your evidence laid out in a tin foil conspiratorial way like your previous post on here?
No. I actually have been doing some reading/studying about Islam and the Middle East. After all, you must understand your adversary in order to beat him.
Do I think that Islam is "evil"? Absolutely not. Do I hate or am I afraid of Muslims? Again, absolutely not.
Part of my post above was copy/paste from things that I have read. There are of course, misleading things in those quotes, the first being that most Americans think that Muslim = Islam. That really is not the case. That's kind of like saying that a white southern male = Baptist. Most people here in the U.S. would probably be shocked to find out that there are Muslim Jews as well as Muslim Christians.
What really drives these radical Islamic extremists is not really about religion, it's more about power and jealousy. Their prey is on the weak and at this point in history they see us as being weak, therefore there are many more attacks here. They use whatever means necessary to carry out their Jihad, and part of that is what we are seeing now. The mass number of "immigrants" into Europe as well as here in the U.S. is not because they are fleeing anything, it's because they want the power.
The power that they are wanting is both militarily and economic. Believe it or not, in places like Iran or Iraq, having something "American" such as Nike shoes or an American made automobile is a "status symbol". The only power that they possess right now is the power over their own people, thus strict Sharia Law in some places.
If people took the time to actually research and study this stuff, they would probably find it fascinating. What has been happening for several years, and continues now is that countries that really want to raise these people up to be a part of the global community are battling hard line extremists. These hard line extremists are against certain "westernized" or "European" things such as women having certain rights, freedom to speak freely against their governments, etc.
People don't understand also that these hard line extremists are modernized and make use of modern venues such as social media to spread their word. It's very easy for impressionable young people that practice the Islamic religion to be convinced to do extreme and dangerous things.
Quote:It's also not a stretch to say that radical Islamic terrorism is increasing here in the U.S..
From recent history of some of what was reported in the national media.
11/5/2009 - A Muslim psychiatrist guns down thirteen unarmed soldiers while yelling praises to Allah.
4/15/2013 - Foreign-born Muslims describing themselves as 'very religious' detonate two bombs packed with ball bearings at the Boston Marathon, killing three people and causing several more to lose limbs.
4/19/2013 - Jihadists gun down a university police officer sitting in his car.
6/25/2014 - A 19-year-old college student is shot to death 'in revenge' for Muslim deaths overseas.
7/16/2015 - A 'devout Muslim' stages a suicide attack on a recruiting center at a strip mall and a naval center which leaves five dead.
Just a short time ago on social media, attacks by stabbing by "lone wolfs" was called for by a group claiming to be ISIS. There has been an increase of such attacks in Israel recently. All of the sudden something like that happens here.
Coincidence? Maybe, but the evidence that I've seen so far points to otherwise.
Of course the propaganda of al Qaeda and ISIS could send an insane person down a path of violence, I'm not delusional.
There are a few here that readily characterize a transgendered individual as mentally ill, but won't accept that a student randomly knifing strangers is crazy, not matter what their motivation.