Martyrs, Murderers, Heroes and Psychopaths

Another mass shooting, this time in San Bernardino by two Islamic extremists.  Before that, a mass shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic by a Christian extremist. And of course there are others before those too numerable to mention, from heinous elementary school slaughters to movie theater massacres. Are these people psychopaths, murderers, heroes or martyrs?  The sad truth is that they are all of the above.

I read a book several years ago about the Columbine shootings.  The author provided evidence that the two boys were psychopaths, not just troubled teenagers who had somehow been traumatized into a murderous rampage by adolescent grievances.  These types of killings (Sandy Hook, Colorado Movie Theater, Virginia Tech, etc. etc.) are clearly the result of twisted minds.

How does someone shoot down people in cold blood without being somewhat of a psychopath?  Even in moments of burning rage, I cannot imagine doing what these people have done.

The perpetrators of these ghastly crimes come from very different backgrounds and appear to have a wide variety of motives.  For some, the act must simply be an expression of a deep sickness and tortured soul.  For others, the act is inspired by some sort of political or religious zeal – white supremacy, radical Islam, radical Christian or others.  In decades past, revolutionary and ideological fervor was often the cause of such attacks.

We cannot ignore the fact that human beings are violent creatures.  When we line up on opposite sides based on tribe, or country or ideology or religion, we do not hesitate to commit the most hideous torture and murder imaginable.

The assailants in Paris a few weeks ago were generally miscreants with criminal backgrounds.  But somehow they were converted to deep religious belief that inspired them to kill innocent people and sacrifice their own lives in the process.  The murderous San Bernardino couple is a bit more troubling.  They did not appear to have the traits of psychopaths or criminals, but were somehow convinced that the community around them was their enemy and that the murder of their colleagues was justified.  They probably believed they were doing a noble deed in the cause of their faith.  And they will be hailed as heroes and martyrs by more than a few people.

At first this seems irrational.  How can the murder of innocents ever be justified?  But of course every government rationalizes the murder of innocents in its efforts to implement its military and political goals.  Oh no, you say, we never purposely target innocent civilians.  Sadly, though, that is not true.  We try to ‘minimize’ collateral damage, but the cold calculus of war often ‘requires’ the sacrifice of innocents.  In World War II, the allies purposely targeted civilian populations and killed millions of ‘innocent’ civilians in order to break the will of the enemy.  War has no conscience.

We are always at war; at war against Islamic extremists, at war against Christian extremists, at war against Hindu extremists, at war against white supremacists, at war against drug gangs and cartels.  One group’s madman is another’s hero.  Many of the horrible deeds are done by psychopaths, but some are done by thoughtful, introspective intellectuals.  The human psyche is still a mystery.

We make heroes out of killers, because they further our cause.  Is a Navy seal who kills whomever he is ordered to kill under any circumstances a hero or a villain?  He is both.  We are all capable of becoming killers.  I would kill to protect my family, or perhaps even to avenge it.  And so it goes on.

How many potential Islamic extremist killers are out there, waiting for the opportunity to wreak their mayhem on our society?  How many Christian extremists, or anti-government nutjobs are sitting in their gun-filled basements, preparing for mayhem and destruction?  We just don’t know.

But one thing we do know:  only a tiny, tiny fraction of the Muslims in the U.S. will ever commit a violent act, and only a tiny, tiny fraction of the Christians in the U.S. will do the same.  Will we allow ourselves to abandon our principles of fair treatment, multi-culturalism and a free society in a desperate and futile attempt to feel safe?  I hope not.  The world will never be totally safe.  We are infinitely more likely to die young from an auto accident or an illness than from a terrorist act.

In the end, we must choose love over hate, while doing our best to stay safe and prevent these tragedies from occurring.  We are awash in weapons, in hateful speech and uncontrolled emotions.  We must learn from the best models available how to preserve our democracy while being vigilant. Compromise is in order - let's allow the NSA to listen more closely so that we can identify potential terrorists of any stripe (and put safeguards in to avoid misuse of that data), but let's also get rid of every military style weapon in the country.  Australia and Scotland did it and they have reaped the rewards.  Let's learn from others!