Sunday, July 3, 2016

Terrorism, Texas Style

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Houston, you have a problem.

It appears that a hate crime may have been committed in the city of Houston, Texas, this morning, an act of terrorism based on religion.  Information is exceedingly sketchy at this point because Houston police aren't commenting on the crime, and the local news outlets seem to be draped in silence.

A professional man (a medical doctor) was on his way into a house of worship for a routine practice of his religion when he was assaulted by three men and shot and stabbed.

If the victim had been a prominent Baptist walking into a big Texas mega-church, it would have quickly become a major news story in the state - but the victim in this case was a Muslim heading into his local mosque for morning prayers, and the response was quite different.

There is no word yet on who the attackers were, nor is it being announced whether the victim survived the attack or not.

Yesterday a Muslim man was attacked and beaten outside of a mosque in Florida.

Is xenophobic hate-mongering by prominent politicians, news figures, and celebrities in any way to blame?

Will any outrage ensue, or is it terrorism only when blood flows from Christians? 

America is better than this.  We should be standing together against bigotry in all of its many and ugly forms - even in Texas.

(From Elie Wiesel's Nobel Peace Prize speech:  "We must always take sides.  Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.  Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.  Sometimes we must interfere.  When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant.  Wherever men or women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must - at that moment - become the center of the universe.")

Bullseye, Houston.

2 comments:

Xobekim said...

@abc13houston is reporting it was the third attack this week in Houston where a Muslim was shot, according to a witness. Officials are not classifying this as a hate crime.

Pa Rock said...

Reply to Xobekim: No, they probably see it as being more like a Trump campaign event!