Walter Olson takes down the now-trending meme that the blame for the Orlando massacre falls on the attackers “gay self-loathing,” rather than radical Islamic jihadism:
Then there are the witness accounts, both of survivors at the Pulse scene and of those who knew Mateen before the attack. Survivors describe him as shouting during the attack about US policy toward “his” country (by which he apparently meant Afghanistan, though born in the US) and as declaring his solidarity with the Tsarnaev brothers, of the Boston Marathon massacre. … Note that he did *not* shout out his solidarity with famous conflicted gay persons, nor did he swear allegiance to some quack “ex-gay” therapist. …
[The massacre] is attributable not to the hypothesized “push” of self-loathing due to whatever may have gone on in his sex life, but to the “pull” of a malign and evil ideology. And it is to that ideology we should look for explanations of the Orlando atrocity.
More. Via New York Magazine, The Myth of the Violent, Self-Hating Gay Homophobe:
Internalized homophobia has been linked to depression, loneliness, a sense of helplessness about the future, and increased risk of suicide. Perhaps unsurprisingly, people with high levels of internalized homophobia often have problems sustaining healthy romantic relationships…
Only if you’re steeped in an ideology of fanatic hate do you get a rampaging murderer.
Also, many may be too quick to assume “Grindr use and Pulse attendance as evidence that [the murderer] himself was gay,” the article suggests, alluding to “the possibility that even if he were curious about same-sex behavior or attraction, that wouldn’t necessarily mean he’s gay.”
11 Comments for “Jihadism, Not ‘Self Loathing’”
posted by Jorge on
This is not an either/or, black and white thing. It’s an interaction among several things. Mr. Olsen seems to hint at that (though coming to a different conclusion) in the following:
“Had he followed many other sects, what it would mean for religious observance to “win” in this context might be something like unhappy and lonely celibacy, or staying at home with Noor. Had he done that, many would now be alive.”
May I suggest closer to the mental health angle? It is much more common for “self-hating” gay people to kill themselves. And when it comes to people who go to bars and act belligerent, beat their wives, and have screwloose parents, murder-suicide or suicide by cop of less terroristic means are more common.
I do not believe it is “radical Islam” that is the factor. That leads to your family murder-suicide or honor killings. I believe Hillary Clinton to be more correct: “radical jihadism” and “radical Islamic terrorism.” The factor is local-cultural rather than international. A given dysfunctional person may, if he is a Muslim, have access to “radical Islam”, and that has long been the case. “Radical Islamic terrorism” has only come into access more recently.
This isn’t about the ideology of ISIS. ISIS’s ideology is nothing new. These are simply the tactical facts of the situation.
posted by Jorge on
Still, come to think of it, it occurs to me based on the facts Mr. Olsen mentions in that writing and his June 13th writing that it’s possible the Orlando attack had literally nothing to do with the shooter’s feelings about his own or others’ sexuality. Nothing at all.
It may be that Pulse was simply a target of opportunity that he was very familiar with at the time he developed the desire to carry out a terrorist attack. See also the recent terror attack that terrorist and wife carried out at his place of employment.
The ex-wife in the comments which she claimed the FBI did not want her to share with the US media made no claim of anti-gay shame. I mean we can infer it because it was the terrorist’s father who called him gay and that guy’s (yeyeech!) and the father even claimed the guy was disgusted by gay kissing, but that is only circumstantial. Maybe he was faking it to his father.
posted by Tom Scharbach on
I would simply point out that speculation at this point is way ahead of the facts.
If the FBI/OPD have developed a profile of the killer, the profile hasn’t been released. If the FBI/OPD have reached any conclusions about the extent of the killer’s involvement with ISIS and other terrorist groups, the conclusions haven’t been released. If the FBI/OPD have uncovered any evidence that the ISIS directed the killer, that evidence has not been released. If the FBI/OPD have developed an explanation of why the killer targeted Pulse, the explanation hasn’t been released. If the FBI/OPD have reached any conclusions about the significance or meaning of the killer’s phone calls to police (and apparently the press, as well) during the hostage phase, those conclusions haven’t been released.
We certainly do not know enough to start hawking theories about the relative importance of toxic elements — religious extremism, personal psychology/pathology, homophobia — in the mix.
Olson’s article implicitly picks this up, but he seems determined to focus “Jihadism” to the exclusion of the other factors, for reasons I don’t pretend to understand. To me, it is a fool’s errand until we know more about the toxic mix that drove the killer.
posted by Houndentenor on
People are drawing conclusions based on very few facts which are incomplete and can be interpreted many ways. Some are assuming he was gay because he had a grindr account, but it’s not unheard of for men to use grindr accounts to lure men in to attack or rob them. Or perhaps he was just using it to contact gay men and find out about various clubs to plan the attack. Was he attending pulse all those times before to study the club or because he was gay? We don’t know. We might not ever really know.
Also, not every question is either/or. Muslim extremists have recruited gay men for suicide attacks in the past (martyrdom presumable could atone for their “sin”?).
A lot of questions. As with all these mass shooters, we are left with more questions than answers. How could we understand why someone would so something that the vast majority of us can’t even imagine every doing?
In any case, he targeted gay men for his attack because of homophobia that he learned both directly and indirectly from his religion. I understand why some want to avoid that aspect of this event because their religion teaches the same homophobia.
posted by Tom Scharbach on
In any case, he targeted gay men for his attack because of homophobia that he learned both directly and indirectly from his religion. I understand why some want to avoid that aspect of this event because their religion teaches the same homophobia.
I have noticed that the conservative commentariat seems determined to focus on “the “pull” of a malign and evil ideology” (meaning, presumably “radical Islam) and ignore/dismiss the fact that the killer selected a popular LGBT night club 100 miles away from his home as the target. You might be right about the reason the right is focusing attention away from the homophobic aspect.
I have a somewhat different question: If the killer had been a Christian, influenced by Pat “Let them kill themselves” Robertson, Ted “It’s the state’s job to kill the Sodomites” Shoebat, Steven “There’s 50 less pedophiles in the world” Anderson, Kevin “Gays should be put to death” Swanson or others of that ilk, would the conservative commentariat (Olson included) be then talking up “the “pull” of a malign and evil ideology” and playing down the personal psychology/pathology and/or homophobia of the killer? I somehow doubt it.
The Orlando mass murder is like a Rorschach test, in the sense that the “explanations” being hawked by various parties shed light on the hawkers more than on the the killer. I look back at the last few days of near-hysterical political spin, and I’m not finding many honest players.
posted by Jorge on
We certainly do not know enough to start hawking theories about the relative importance of toxic elements — religious extremism, personal psychology/pathology, homophobia — in the mix.
I am more of the mind that in matters that may touch on national security, impatience is a virtue. We should place enough demands on the president so that when he finally makes a decision it will be the correct one. I am very sorry that this logically rings as an endorsement for disdaining the House’s moment of silence and for partisanship over gun control vs. terrorism. This country seems to have a sharp split that didn’t exist as fiercely around 9/11. The mourning period is shorter, too.
I have a somewhat different question: If the killer had been a Christian, influenced by Pat “Let them kill themselves” Robertson, Ted “It’s the state’s job to kill the Sodomites” Shoebat, Steven “There’s 50 less pedophiles in the world” Anderson, Kevin “Gays should be put to death” Swanson or others of that ilk, would the conservative commentariat (Olson included) be then talking up “the “pull” of a malign and evil ideology” and playing down the personal psychology/pathology and/or homophobia of the killer? I somehow doubt it.
Well, duh. They don’t lead terrorist organizations. You get a bunch of island Puerto Ricans doing this in the ’50s to ’70s, then you can talk about “was he FALN-directed or FALN-inspired?” That’s close to why City Council Speaker was criticized by the NY Post for speaking for the release for a convicted terrorist the same day as this atrocity, which also happened to fall on the same day as the Puerto Rican Day parade.
posted by Jorge on
“City Council Speaker” >> my City Council Speaker.
posted by Kosh III on
“Note that he did *not* shout out his solidarity with famous conflicted gay persons”
That is the stupidest comment I have ever heard and SM has said a lot of nonsense.
“I stand with Larry Craig(R) I support Mark Foley(R) I love Paul Crouch(avowed Christian) and Jim Bakker.
Mary please!
posted by TJ on
Too much speculation about a horrible act of mass murder. Too much, “Im going to pretend to be an impartial voice, so I can shovel out my polarizing idealogy .” Too much “I going to pretend to care about LGBT people, while opposing civil rights.” Too much, “relihion aint a problem, except when its another religion.”
posted by TJ on
I’m not sure that most western gays (or gay people elsewhere) are unaware that people want to hurt or kill them for being gay…or that such people often justify their violence via religion.
A high number of LGBT have become part of the “disapeared” in central and south America.
posted by sussane davis on
Informative post – I was fascinated by the analysis . Does someone know if my assistant can find a blank a form example to complete ?