We are almost to the point where people return to business as usual and forget about the 50 lives lost and the 53 survivors whose lives will never be the same because of what happen the night of Saturday, June 11, 2016. But before this horrendous event like so many others that have occurred recede into the recesses of our minds I want to provide an answer to two questions, “What type of society produces people who murder, in this case, 49 people most of whom where under the age of 40?” and “What might we do in our own personal lives to reduce such production?”
Every society is judged by the type of people it develops. Therefore, the development of the Orlando shooter is but another reminder of how far our society has drifted away from social systems which don’t develop people who have lost their humanity. There will be more Omar Mateens because he is but an extreme example of an embodied recapitulation of a deeper issue just like Dylann Roof, Adam Lanza and others whose names are well known to us. In short, we develop mass murderers because we fail to recognize the need to test the truthfulness of long held traditions because our cultural norms don’t develop people who are ready to put traditions into question. People like Mateen are developed by a society that enshrines its traditions rather than constantly questioning them for the purpose of insuring such beliefs are meeting their true purpose which is to form citizens who have the skills to manage the dangers in their milieu insuring their true nature remains unviolated. There are two long held traditions that no longer contribute to developing citizens who act in accordance with their nature and I am not sure if they ever did.
All traditions resourcing the claim that the sole purpose of our society is to provide a sense of security and all traditions anchored in stories of purity develop people who act contrary to their nature as human beings. Omar Mateens was an example of this. Mateen was formed by some version of traditions rooted in purity (i.e. sexual and/or religious purity) made deadly by traditions rooted in safety and security (i.e. the right to bear arms) or some combination thereof. This cannot be denied given the nature of his acts and even more the rational he gave for them. Mateen haphazardly expressed allegiance to a number of terrorist groups claiming Islamic ties while in negotiation with Orlando police before the SWAT team mounted an assault on the club which resulted in Mateen’s death. He also had a reputation for expressing his disdain for homosexuals supported by his religious beliefs. While mental health may have played a role in his actions it hardly gives full voice as the sole reason for them. Mental illness is subject to a context and the context which formed Omar Mateen is that which we all are formed in. And our expressions of how we are formed by these same traditions which developed Mr. Mateen may be different but contribute to us acting in ways contrary to our nature although more subtle, reasonable and religiously motivated. But they are just as deadly because they perpetuate the same self- deception at the heart of Mateen’s actions although revealed differently.
Traditions rooted in sexual and/or religious purity and those anchored in narratives of security made Mateen into a person who believed to kill other human beings is natural. It is contrary to our nature to murder other human beings. Hence, when murder happens it is a form of self-denial because killing is learned denying it’s unnaturalness. Previously mentioned traditions are conduits to such learning because they lead us to deny this reality. This was the case for Mateen but he only represents only one example of how these traditions allows us to deceive ourselves.
The Orlando Massacre secures our belief in our own safety. The two to three week inundation of news regarding the event along with the periodic updates to follow will not disturb our belief in our own security because ironically they comfort us in thinking death only happens to homosexuals. Death only happens to strangers. News briefings on the investigation of the tragedy and how many have been funeralized all act to confirm the vague presumption of our own invulnerability as we remain obtuse to how the entrenched traditions of sexual and religious purity contributed to the deaths of the 50. Traditions regarding what it means to be sexually and theologically pure and futile attempts at security deceive us. The deception is they keep us from using the gifts and developing the skills necessary to live in an unpredictable and dangerous world. Once this deception takes root it leads to injustice of every kind; furthermore, the concealment of danger as a given makes it almost impossible to ride our society of traditions which perpetuate unequal burdens on others. In the case of the people murdered in the Pulse night club and those who loved them the unequal burdens are also blood soaked and tragic ones.
What then are we to do? Attempt to be friends with those whose presence will force you and me to question the traditions we hold dear. Not as a means to dismantle them (which may be needed) but rather as a deterrent to idolatry which always leads us away from our true nature. If we fail to do this we will be subject to the adage, “Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad”.
Every society is judged by the type of people it develops. Therefore, the development of the Orlando shooter is but another reminder of how far our society has drifted away from social systems which don’t develop people who have lost their humanity. There will be more Omar Mateens because he is but an extreme example of an embodied recapitulation of a deeper issue just like Dylann Roof, Adam Lanza and others whose names are well known to us. In short, we develop mass murderers because we fail to recognize the need to test the truthfulness of long held traditions because our cultural norms don’t develop people who are ready to put traditions into question. People like Mateen are developed by a society that enshrines its traditions rather than constantly questioning them for the purpose of insuring such beliefs are meeting their true purpose which is to form citizens who have the skills to manage the dangers in their milieu insuring their true nature remains unviolated. There are two long held traditions that no longer contribute to developing citizens who act in accordance with their nature and I am not sure if they ever did.
All traditions resourcing the claim that the sole purpose of our society is to provide a sense of security and all traditions anchored in stories of purity develop people who act contrary to their nature as human beings. Omar Mateens was an example of this. Mateen was formed by some version of traditions rooted in purity (i.e. sexual and/or religious purity) made deadly by traditions rooted in safety and security (i.e. the right to bear arms) or some combination thereof. This cannot be denied given the nature of his acts and even more the rational he gave for them. Mateen haphazardly expressed allegiance to a number of terrorist groups claiming Islamic ties while in negotiation with Orlando police before the SWAT team mounted an assault on the club which resulted in Mateen’s death. He also had a reputation for expressing his disdain for homosexuals supported by his religious beliefs. While mental health may have played a role in his actions it hardly gives full voice as the sole reason for them. Mental illness is subject to a context and the context which formed Omar Mateen is that which we all are formed in. And our expressions of how we are formed by these same traditions which developed Mr. Mateen may be different but contribute to us acting in ways contrary to our nature although more subtle, reasonable and religiously motivated. But they are just as deadly because they perpetuate the same self- deception at the heart of Mateen’s actions although revealed differently.
Traditions rooted in sexual and/or religious purity and those anchored in narratives of security made Mateen into a person who believed to kill other human beings is natural. It is contrary to our nature to murder other human beings. Hence, when murder happens it is a form of self-denial because killing is learned denying it’s unnaturalness. Previously mentioned traditions are conduits to such learning because they lead us to deny this reality. This was the case for Mateen but he only represents only one example of how these traditions allows us to deceive ourselves.
The Orlando Massacre secures our belief in our own safety. The two to three week inundation of news regarding the event along with the periodic updates to follow will not disturb our belief in our own security because ironically they comfort us in thinking death only happens to homosexuals. Death only happens to strangers. News briefings on the investigation of the tragedy and how many have been funeralized all act to confirm the vague presumption of our own invulnerability as we remain obtuse to how the entrenched traditions of sexual and religious purity contributed to the deaths of the 50. Traditions regarding what it means to be sexually and theologically pure and futile attempts at security deceive us. The deception is they keep us from using the gifts and developing the skills necessary to live in an unpredictable and dangerous world. Once this deception takes root it leads to injustice of every kind; furthermore, the concealment of danger as a given makes it almost impossible to ride our society of traditions which perpetuate unequal burdens on others. In the case of the people murdered in the Pulse night club and those who loved them the unequal burdens are also blood soaked and tragic ones.
What then are we to do? Attempt to be friends with those whose presence will force you and me to question the traditions we hold dear. Not as a means to dismantle them (which may be needed) but rather as a deterrent to idolatry which always leads us away from our true nature. If we fail to do this we will be subject to the adage, “Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad”.