Criminology Research Project Inc.

Part 3

Fort Hood Mass Murder

As expected numerous Federal agencies have involved themselves into the Fort Hood mass murder investigation, each blaming the other for having missed the several “red flags” that should have been evident.  The public is vocal with various opinions and conclusions.  Some are screaming “terrorism,” others are saying “obsession” while still others are, as earlier written, blaming the devil.

Complicated and high profile cases such as are most mass murders take all available resources to come up with an explanation as biased and flawed as it may be.

I recently talked to a psychiatrist who felt that my “spiritual” theory as birthed by several famed criminologists has it’s merits.  My questions were:  Why were these red flags not noticed, why did the offending physician’s superiors not take notice of the killers strange and out-of-place speech and activities and, of course, what must be done to minimize the re-occurrence of such a dastardly act?  At the moment there are no official answers to any of my questions…they will, hopefully, come in time.

It is easy for the average American to blame “the system” and, perhaps rightly so but only to a limited extent.  I believe in our Constitution but I am also aware that many times a potential criminal, this time a potential mass murderer, is allowed to proceed with his or her unaccepted and violent conduct in the name of one of several Constitutional Amendments, namely, in this case, the First Amendment establishing freedom of speech and religion.

I take the protections afforded us all by the First Amendment seriously and stand ready to defend its’ obligation.  However, with freedom comes responsibility and total freedom cannot be allowed as it would bring about total confusion.  Because of our demand for Constitutional protection and resulting freedoms there are instances, after the fact, that a much greater violation was allowed to occur than a necessary restriction on our Constitutional rights.  This is, no doubt, the lesser of the evils that are available.

Any and everything can be taken to extremes…this includes religion.  In the Fort Hood mass murder(s) it appears this is the case.  While I dare not single out any one sect or religion I must say that a certain few appear to be more violent and more extreme than others.  With the extreme comes the obsessed.  With the obsessed comes a “no matter what” mentality as is the case at hand.

Murder has been in existence since Cain killed his brother Abel.  Mass murder, the killing of three or more in a single incident, seems to be on the rise.  This year, 2009, has seen a numbers of mass murders occur across our nation.  The exact cause, as well as the exact pro-active approach to identification and prevention remains a mystery.  Again, Constitutional rights versus freedom comes into play.  There is no such thing as absolute freedom not even in a society such as we have in America.

Americans take a negative attitude toward invading a non-offender’s e-mail or looking into the darkest of backgrounds UNTIL a crime has been committed.  The possibility exists that, in this time of terrorist fear, we must accept that certain heretofore assumed rights must be re-examined for the safety of us all.  I don’t like this idea one bit but I dislike the alternative even more.