This afternoon a tragic and horrifying act of violence occurred at Ft. Hood in Texas. Many are dead after an individual, apparently a soldier, opened fire at the base. Media reports state the suspect, also dead, is Major Malik Nadal Hasan. He has been described as a mental health professional.
Already bigoted websites such as Jihad Watch are speculating, without evidence, that this was an act of religious terrorism.
We have no idea why this happened and even if there were religious motivations involved you cannot legitimately indict an entire religion based on one or even a series of acts.
The Christian faith is a peaceful faith and Jesus preached non-violence but for many centuries acts of violence have been carried out in religiously-inspired crusades in the name of Christ.
As a minister in the United Church of Christ, I can promise that history does not make the Christian faith a violent religion. Sadly, all religions have their extremist and fundamentalists elements.
In any case, we should not speculate at such any early stage without solid information.
Our prayers should be with all those at Ft. Hood with the full knowledge that Christians, Jews and Muslims serve our nation in the armed forces - at Ft. Hood and elsewhere - with dignity and honor.
Let us resolve in the midst of violence and fear to offer hope. As Scripture tells us, blessed are the peacemakers.
