RE: 20 dead in Orlando gay club shooting
June 13, 2016 at 2:43 pm
(This post was last modified: June 13, 2016 at 2:44 pm by Neo-Scholastic.)
I will say this from personal experience in Chicago. Just this year, I have heard with my own ears 2 shootings - 5 rounds less than a half block from my building and 17 rounds 2 blocks south. Last month 5 people were shot dead about 4 blocks from me. The situation in Chicago is somewhat unique because, as I understand it, the gangs here are organized differently that those in NY or LA making law enforcement more difficult. The violence in Chicago is not right-wing gun fanatics or Islamic terrorists; but rather gang related. They are criminals. They buy guns illegally, mostly in Indiana. I do not blame lax gun laws. I blame drugs and gangs.
Now I realize this is AF and the tendency is to lump all religions in together. I've already seen lots of comments equating Christians and Christianity with Islam and Muslims. Say what you want about Christians, call us bigots, etc.. The fact is Christians, to the extent they care, will preach or verbally condemn. A few refuse to bake cakes or photograph gay weddings. I think there is a world of difference between not baking a cake and shooting 50 gays. Those of you who have made that false equivalency, I hope you are satisfied. You've made your point at the expense of distracting everyone from the real enemies.
The enemies are an international network of cold-blooded Islamist killers, timid & apologetic politicians, tacitly supportive citizens, and explicitly supportive foreign governments. Not gun lovers. Not the mentally ill. If these were white-supremacists, the FBI would infiltrate their organizations and take them down from within. Their white-supremacist ideology, not "gun-culture" would be seen as the motivation for their violence. But because of the close relationship these killers have with Islam, our officials are reluctant to do the same. Muslim citizens do not come forward, which is understandably difficult sometimes. Non-Muslims do not report suspicious behavior for fear of being seen as racist. And politicians avoid the conversation about very specific religious doctrines of one particular faith tradition.
Now I realize this is AF and the tendency is to lump all religions in together. I've already seen lots of comments equating Christians and Christianity with Islam and Muslims. Say what you want about Christians, call us bigots, etc.. The fact is Christians, to the extent they care, will preach or verbally condemn. A few refuse to bake cakes or photograph gay weddings. I think there is a world of difference between not baking a cake and shooting 50 gays. Those of you who have made that false equivalency, I hope you are satisfied. You've made your point at the expense of distracting everyone from the real enemies.
The enemies are an international network of cold-blooded Islamist killers, timid & apologetic politicians, tacitly supportive citizens, and explicitly supportive foreign governments. Not gun lovers. Not the mentally ill. If these were white-supremacists, the FBI would infiltrate their organizations and take them down from within. Their white-supremacist ideology, not "gun-culture" would be seen as the motivation for their violence. But because of the close relationship these killers have with Islam, our officials are reluctant to do the same. Muslim citizens do not come forward, which is understandably difficult sometimes. Non-Muslims do not report suspicious behavior for fear of being seen as racist. And politicians avoid the conversation about very specific religious doctrines of one particular faith tradition.
