Actually being “saddled” with the hijab is a choice, not a requirement of Islam, at least according to Queen Rania of Jordan (who usually does not wear a hijab).
A Muslim young woman wearing a hijab sat near me this morning during my commute. She seemed to be very ill at ease with a look of fear on her face. I wanted to say something to reassure her, like asalmu salakum, but I thought that any uninvited words from a stranger the day after the tragedy might distress her.
My hair stylist wears a hijab but neither of her two adult daughters do. We’ve discussed why she chooses to wear one but her daughter’s don’t.
Woke up this morning to a good friend’s tribute to his friend who was on the deceased list this morning. I didn’t know the friend of my friend but I am crying all over again. I am crying for my friend and his family because he shouldn’t have to feel this pain… none of the family and friends of any of the victims should ever have to feel this pain.
I’m so sorry, romani.
Well put, @LasMa #278. Your last sentence really says it all. There will be the usually side arguments and finger pointing all under the guise of people wanting feel 100% safe.
Actually, the FBI is making a statement right now as to the killer’s motives.
The coward left his 3-year old son and maybe a wife behind to martyr himself. I have to admit, I am a little shocked about how openly he talked about killing lots of people in front of co-workers, who then reported it to bosses. That is not the normal pattern of someone just being angry or weird or nonconformist. I hate to think it, but he didn’t make it a big secret he was about to blow a gasket so that does raise the why the hell didn’t someone do something thought in my aching head.
LasMa, I think there must be some way for peace loving, normal, reasonable people of all religions to use the earth’s resources and get along. I do think the muslim community, primarily overseas, has to do a better job of monitoring hate speech and people getting close to being operational. But, that goes back to how we are looked at from THEIR perspectives. US foreign policy is complicated. We kill too. We just don’t like to think about it. If I was a 10 year old and a US drone popped my dad or uncle, gee, I might not be real thrilled with people in the USA.
And even if the USA didn’t do it if the media or other leaders was telling me 24/7 the USA did do it I’d probably believe it. This killer was from NJ and moved to FL and was a homegrown terrorist. Why? Was he pissed off by being under employed? I can’t speak to other flash points because I am already in jail but there are other ways for Muslim men to feel they are not in control and they freak out in some cases.
I think an easier path for most people is just to hate this group or that group. They then lump everyone in that hate group into one lump because it is easier that way they don’t have to do much thinking. And now it is simple. Let’s hate all the XYZ’s or ABC’s. The women I was talking to in my Muslim mechanic’s waiting room was a hate monger and she not only hated other people she hated the US government too. She was an equal opportunity hater. Then, when she left, she thanked me for talking to her. I think she was just lonely.
This is all going to play out in the coming years, but unfortunately, in this particular case, there will be a subset of sympathizers. Politics and hate make strange bedfellows. The idea of these factions joining forces is truly terrifying, but not at all out of the realm of possibility.
After the Bataclan attack in Paris, my only surprise is that a similar soft target attack on our shores didn’t happen sooner.
@jym626 - I see where Christopher “Drew” Leinonen’s name has finally appeared on the list of victims. His poor mother…
I can’t seem to get her off my mind - I keep seeing her face and thinking of all the cell phones ringing in that awful room.
I just watched an interview with his ex-wife. She says he had been very persistent about wanting to become a police officer - really wanted to get into the police academy - had applied (but obviously not been accepted, so someone did something right), and would go to shooting ranges with his friends to practice target shooting. He also worked as a sort of ‘correctional officer’ with juveniles in trying to pad his application to the academy. Reporters asked her about substance abuse and she said he had ‘issues’ with steroids. She also described him as bipolar but didn’t indicate whether he had an official diagnosis, or she self-diagnosed him. I hesitate to add that information because again, 99.9% of people with bipolar will never attempt anything like this. She said her family had to come rescue her from him, tear her out of his arms. But she hadn’t had any direct contact with him in 7-8 years.
Which leads to some confusion. If she hadn’t had any contact with him in that long, then the 3-year old that is referenced in reports as his son, must be with another woman. If so, where is this 3-year old’s mother, and why haven’t we heard from her?
I’m still trying to figure out how the shooter got past the bouncer with an assault rifle.
Was the bouncer one of the ones killed?
@1Dreamer he shot the bouncer with the rifle!
@teriwtt he was remarried in 2013. Her name has been released (you can find it if you google it, but I don’t believe in spreading the name of potentially innocent people). It has been reported that she left him a while ago but the status of their marriage isn’t clear. I’m not sure why she hasn’t said anything but I’d guess she is likely afraid for herself and her child.
Yes, the bouncer was killed, but as I understand it, the shooter was already inside the club at the bar when he started shooting. There’s been some speculation that this wasn’t the first time he visited the club and had been planning this, and the bouncer was also said to be extremely friendly and greeted everyone she knew like family at the door. Makes me wonder if she felt she knew him by then.
Saw the interviews of Christopher Leinonen’s mother. Really rips your heart out. Was hoping by some miracle he was alive.
I am not familiar with Florida and its nightclubs. Was there not another club in/around Port Saint Lucie or between there and Orlando? Was this the closest one?
I’ve never really known the Q to mean Questioning. I know queer has a different connotation to older generations but I can’t remember a time that it was mostly thought of as a slur. People in my generation often wear queer proudly especially when we’re not hetero but don’t fit nicely into any one category.
Queer is also firmly established in the academy. I work under the framework of queer theory and in queer history. Very few people say gay history unless they’re only working with gay men… and even then not so much. >>>>>>>>
Interesting. I have firmly avoided using the term since my ex boyfriend who turned out to be gay, told me it was offensive. And that was definitely long before you were born. Probably 1976-ish or so. I feel totally unable to use it.
@romanigypsyeyes - ah, OK; thanks for filling in for me. And yes, I’m sure she is quite scared for her life, as well as her child’s.
@m0minmd there are many, MANY clubs in and around Orlando. This club was specifically targeted.
@VaBluebird yes… I understand that it used to be a slur and it still can be. But that isn’t the first connotation that people of my generation think of.
No matter how you slice and how you dice it, the vast majority of terror is disproportionately produced by one group. it is not to say, that other groups are excluded, but statistics speaks much louder than any opinions that we can express forever and ever. Our opinions will not change the numbers that represent the facts…OK, does it make it easier for the relatives to say that most people hate one group or another? Does it? I do not think so…What I hate is to be in this group, in the group of relatives who lost the loved ones. Why nobody speaks about their feelings? Are not their feelings the most important in this situation? They are just a forgotten unimportant bunch and this is the saddest of it all and this will lead to the next attack and one after and another and so forth, they will never stop…unless we start to care of not ever being in the next “relatives of killed” group… All I am trying to do is to put situation on its feet from the upside down position that exists in the most reflections of what has actually happened. People got killed, they are the victims, their families and the loved ones are the victims, not somebody else!!!