As Americans, we’ve absorbed so much evil shit done by crazed lunatics who hide behind the veil of religion to justify their hateful acts. It is very easy project a view of a larger idealogical population “associated” with these tragedies because stereotyping is not only faster, but identifying a villain is a tool we use to help heal from the unspeakable.
I myself have struggled with toeing this line and a part of me agrees with Bill Maher who once said, “if there are this many bad apples, something’s wrong with the orchard.” But this is a sloppy generalization and a constructed reality used to determine “the other.”
Chris Herbert, a British soldier who had his leg blown off in Basra, Iraq, has an opinion on the “Muslims” who blew his leg off in stark contrast to his opinion of the Muslims who helped him survive. He took to Facebook to eloquently post about his encounter with all human beings during and since he was wounded. His story, whether you agree with it or not, is his reality.
P.S. Well played, Chris.
[h/t LADbible]