This Was Not Terrorism

Terrorism means something very specific. It’s an act of politically-motivated violence intended to scare a population into submission. Or, as in the 9/11 attacks, to motivate a powerful enemy into actions against its own interests.

The Orlando shooting was not terrorism. The man who shot all those people did so out of self-hatred, projecting his self-loathing onto others. Despite his claims, he did not have a political agenda.

The Abrahamic texts contain vitriol and hate towards homosexuals. It is nearly impossible to be a gay member of any of those religions without internalizing that hate, to some degree, and direct it inward. While it’s possible to repudiate that hatred and scrub it away from you, it is far from easy to do so when your sacred words tell you that you are an abomination.

Here’s the recipe:

Take the notion that god hates you because who you are is abominable. Add confusion, anger, fear, and any number of other emotions. Also add the pressures of living in a nation that hates you for your religion and ancestry. Stir.

Then top it off with a splash of frighteningly easy access to weapons of mass destruction. Light the whole concoction afire.

That’s a recipe for tragedy.

Terrorism is a tactic of a weak power against a strong one. This was not terrorism.

This was the outcry of an individual whose family, community, and country told him he was an abomination. It was force-multiplied by a public health hazard in the form of massive killing force made readily available for retail by tens of thousands of vendors.

This was not terrorism. This was the natural outcome of a nation that clings to fear and iron-age superstition and arms itself to the teeth with weapons of war.