is it terrorist act if it looks too much like non-terrorist act?
An Atheist, a Christian, and Muslims are responsible for the last three “major” mass shootings in America. Definitions are fungible, and we’re getting into this new figure where you have to spell out what you mean by “more occurrences than were days in the year”, but this is what’s stuck in the 24/7 news cycle. (Now I also see this arbitrary number of a category defined by “at least 9 killings”, which is kind of — if cringe-ily– amusing.)
And I’m either assuming or siding the Roseburg Community College shooter as an atheist in order to fit the narrative — for convenience sake — Secular to be sure — possibly the query upon shooting demanding they share their religion — or maybe I’m sliding into a line of response from people who are defensive about calling out anti-abortion rhetoric for the Planned Parenthood Act of Terrorism…
who, say what you you want about these three shootings (I imagine it starts and ends with “Good God Almighty, Again?), at least makes some sort of sense and follows a logical thoughtline, so when you see the news that some guy shot at a Planned Parenthood — you know what it was about. (“NO MORE BABY PARTS!” was his stated reason.)
[I assume he was a Christian. Somehow I don’t see this being a Nat Hentoff-esque political contrarian of an Atheist Jew anti-abortion advocate.]
Leaving aside the Community College shooter, which is forever going to be understood as him still smarting at being declined for a date at some high school dance — (surely there’s more in whatever manifesto he handed over, but here’s where I’m going to shuffle into the “No Notoriety” meme and state I don’t much care what’s in it) —
— This is what makes the Santa Berbendino act a little… funny(?). ISIS did it. Or, two radicalized believers in Holy Jihad. Apparently. But it’s… just a bunch of random shootings. So the first assumption I’d make when I heard “a tragedy in California” was… some random (white) miscreant dude. But no, there’s a political aim here… the crazy Islamic Militants set out to disrupt American society, by…
… um… doing a variation of an act done in American society anyways? The most darkly comedic comment I can make is that the perpetrators of this act of mass violence are fully assimilated into American society, after all.
… and that a radical Muslim committed to waging war against the American Satan best find something to differentiate, because this needs too much explaining.