Killings at Fort Hood, Causes Unknown
Posted by docapc at 4:53 am
The horrendous killings at Fort Hood have caused much speculation among talk show hosts, print media and the experts interviewed to provide answers to the puzzle regarding these horrendous acts.
Did the psychiatrist act because he is a Muslim? Or because he was overwhelmed caring for the men and women whose souls were ravaged by war? Where his actions due to a brain tumor or some other unknown physical cause? Could he have been psychotic and was hearing voices telling him to kill?
The answer to the above questions, although all have been implied recently, is we don’t know. We don’t have the facts and despite this reality many continue to act as if we do.
Did you know that recent scientific evidence has indicated that 41% of all people between the ages of 12 and 19 will die from the N1H1 flu in the next two years? Did you know that if people who contract the flu in those age ranges don’t die they have a 78% chance of irreversible heart damage?
Did you know that the information in the previous paragraph is completely false? If you were tempted for a moment to believe what you were reading you were not using your God given capacity for empathy.
Empathy, the capacity to understand and respond to the unique experiences of another, is based on objective truth. The most critical means of expanding and employing empathy is to slow down, discern the facts and don’t get caught up in the emotion of what your hearing or reading. Great negotiators employ empathy to read others accurately; they seldom react quickly or impulsively. Couples who get along well, even in the midst of differing opinions on important subjects, slow down, and employ empathy as a means of understanding the others point of view.
I am encouraging you to employ empathy in accessing the Fort Hood situation. Notice I have not used the psychiatrists name in this blog. I have done so purposely because there is a more important issue at stake than his actions as an individual. Killings like this have unfortunately happened before. It is our understanding, ability to identify and treat men who kill innocent victims that is even more important than this individual. You help our society in this cause when you are one of the individuals that react objectively with reason and the intent to correct the problem. Rather than accentuating the hatred we all have been exposed to lately.
I can assure you of a few findings so far. This is not a Muslim problem. Could it be fueled by fundamentalism, of course? But fundamentalism exists in all the major religions and the majority of Muslims would never consider committing such atrocities. Could it be his profession? Possibly but unlikely as many mental health workers counsel veterans and they as a group do not commit homicide. Other possibilities are unclear. I encourage you, in the face of these uncertainties, to continue to develop your empathic range to protect yourself and others from untruths. Being part of a group mentality that wants answers immediately and yet hardly considers the consequence of impulsive judgment continues the trend toward conclusions based on emotion and prejudicial thinking. Being a thoughtful, compassionate person requires patience, tolerance and a commitment to discerning the truth regardless of time and energy expended. Truth seekers have far fewer regrets than those who live with unearned certainty about the human condition.
