Sleep Well, America
Douglas J. Hagmann
4 March 2005: One can almost hear the collective sigh of relief of many that the first names of the suspects arrested in the Armanious murders were Edward and Hamilton and not Abu and Mohammed. Robbery, not religion was the apparent motive for slaughtering a family of four. Two punks with more charges between them than their ages were arrested, neatly culminating a murder investigation that caused every Islamic group to yell "foul" at the very mention of the possibility that Islam was a factor in these brutal slayings. In this case, it remains to be seen whether there was any religious component to the brutal slayings of this innocent family. The investigation is continuing, and all of the facts are not known.
While this slaying was indeed horrific, there is a greater problem permeating our society today. To their future peril, people are missing the larger picture, choosing instead to minimize or ignore altogether the undercurrent of hate that will soon eclipse anything we have seen in recent history. The tenants of radical Islam have made their way into a large number of mosques in the U.S. Those who dare call attention to this are labeled as "Islamophobic," intolerant, or worse. That same ideology is rampant on the Internet; I'm certain that if the Armanious family were still alive, they would tell you just how pervasive it is. So, how do we, as a society, respond to this hate-filled ideology? Take a look at how the federal law enforcement agencies charged with investigating such crimes is dealing with this issue.
To insure that every federal law enforcement agent in the U.S. is made aware that Islam is a peaceful religion, sensitivity training and cultural education is administered under the direction of Islamic organizations such as CAIR, the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations that describes itself as just another civil-rights group.
CAIR has an interesting track record for defending militant Islamic terrorists, such as the perpetrators of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the conviction of Omar Abdel Rahman, the blind sheikh who planned to blow up New York City landmarks. They even demanded the removal of a Los Angeles billboard that described Osama bin Laden as "the sworn enemy," stating that they found it "offensive to Muslims."
Regardless, such training will hopefully de-emphasize the Islamic connections of John Mohammed, the DC sniper and a convert to Islam, and Kerron Lavern Otis, the Beaumont, Texas man who stated that he was a Muslim and sought out Christians to kill. Oh, and the beheadings, well, that only happens "over there," and those who cite the Qu'ranic references noting its approval of such brutality are admonished that it is a misinterpretation.
In our current social and political environment, you can bet that a religiously motivated murder by Islamic fundamentalists will never receive the same public exposure as the murder of an African-American by a Caucasian, or a homosexual by a heterosexual. Not surprisingly, the hate speech spouted by Islamic fundamentalists in numerous mosques rarely warrants a mention in the major media, even though such sermons fuel hatred in an already polarized society. Such activity will continue under the radar of public perception until the slumber is again aroused by a mass casualty event.
Undoubtedly, most Americans will sleep better tonight with the assurances that the brutal murder of the Armanious family had no roots in religious hatred because the motive, as we are told, was simply robbery. Meanwhile, all across America, there are those who are willing to enforce Sharia penalties, and there will be those who will meet the same fate as the Armanious family. Sleep well, America