Murder At The Tree Of Life

Last updated on: October 28, 2018 at 4:48 pm by Tom Swiss

Murder At The Tree Of Life 2018-10-28T16:48:37-04:00 Tom Swiss

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

A few thoughts around the awful shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue.

• When a thing is obvious, it usually doesn’t need to be said. But when a thing is important, it should be said even if it is obvious. So: anti-Semitism sucks. If you’ve got a heart full of racial or ethnic hate, get help, something has gone wrong in your brain; in the meantime, you are not welcome anywhere where I am.

A few years ago, I was of the opinion that anti-Semitism was something we’d gotten past in this country. Sadly, I was wrong.

• A GoFundMe has been set up for the congregation: https://www.gofundme.com/tree-of-life-synagogue-shooting.

• (It also shouldn’t need to be said, but since the point is likely to arise I shall: shame be upon those who try to deflect criticism of the government of Israel for its human rights violations by crying “Anti-Semitism!”. Or to those who try to justify anti-Semitism by citing the sins of the state of Israel.)

• The shooter (may his name be eaten) had 20 minutes to slaughter people and entrench himself before cops got there. The police cannot protect you when sudden and immediate serious violence happens. They are not omnipresent. As we take steps to improve security we have to accept that “when seconds count, the police are minutes away.”

Of course the best solution is to fix our society, our criminal justice system, and our mental heath care systems so that we don’t have violent people walking around unsupervised. But until that utopian day, we have to make realistic plans for dealing with violence, including serious mass violence, when it arises; and “wait for the police” is not a realistic plan.

• Usually, people who commit serious violence have a history of previous lesser violence or of obvious serious mental illness. The recent Kroger shooter had a history of violence and mental health issues. The recent mail bomber had previously threatened to bomb Florida Power and Light and had a history of criminal and bizarre behavior. We could and should, with better policy, be keeping such people under supervision while getting them the help they need to reform and heal and do better.

But so far, this shooter seems to be an exception to that pattern. He was obviously full of hate and bad ideas, but had no arrests or convictions. He had not previously crossed the line from speech to behavior, at least from the information currently available.

It may be that those committing ideological violence are less likely to be prior offenders.

• Both the frequency of terrorist attacks and their ideological motivations have changed over the years.

Data from a 2017 report from the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) at the University of Maryland. Fair use.

According to the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) at the University of Maryand, in comparison with the decade 2000-2009, from 2010 to 2016 there was a sharp increase in the percentage of attacks from right-wing and religious (including Christian, Jewish, and Islamic) extremists and a decline in attacks from leftist and environmental extremists.

That does not mean that your conservative cousin or your Trump-voting neighbor is responsible for these acts, any more than that you Democratic Socialist cousin was responsible for the higher proportion of leftist attacks in the 1970s, or your Green neighbor responsible for “ecoterrorism” in the 2000s.

Failing to make that distinction — “You voted for the Republican candidate for county council! That’s the same as supporting Trump! That makes you a Nazi! You’re responsible for this mass murder!” — is not helpful. (I exaggerate only slightly the tone of some recent social media posts I have seen.)

Previous Post

October 20, 2018

Thank You For Letting Me Be Myself, Again

Next Post

October 29, 2018 The Veil And The Void

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 2017 52 Makeup 2020 52 Makeup Always Roaming With A Hungry Heart Art Because I Could Not Stop For Death Caught On Video COVID-19 Culture Discordianism Ethics, Virtue, and Right Living History Magic(k), Ritual, and Mysticism My Blogging Life and Times Philosophy Podcast Poetry Random Wednesdays Religion & Politics Seasonal Musings Techno-Pagan Theology Uncategorized Warrior Path Zen

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 March 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 September 2024 August 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 December 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 October 2022 September 2022 June 2022 April 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What was Ezra's profession?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Priest Scribe Soldier Farmer