The Pagan Mom Blog

I am writing this because I think so many people are caught up in the emotional aspect of the victims, that they aren’t looking at the flip side.

Let me state clearly that HIS ACTIONS ARE NOT INEXCUSABLE!

At 7pm last night I sat with candles lit and gathered every bit of positive loving energy I could and sent it forth. It was my personal goal to send that love to military families who have family at Fort Hood, those at Fort Hood, and most importantly…..to Hasan and his family.

Upon watching the news this morning we learned so much more. We went from 3 shooters to 1. When I saw the name, I groaned. I knew what was coming. The witch hunts. My first thought was “of all people, it just had to be a Muslim”.  Upon looking at websites with personal commentary and floating around on Yahoo Answers I was right. So horribly right. It isn’t just moments of horrifying violence that causes me to lose hope for humanity….it’s watching people blame and point fingers and go on radical rants about ridding the world of religion because of one event. Or in their argument, one event too many. Not once are these people considering the flip side. When you ask them about it, they huffily respond “Are you even caring about the victims?”. Of course we are, we all are. It’s a natural response to come to the victims and give them a hug and tell them it will be all ok. We take the time to commend the hero’s who step up when the odds are against them and put a stop to the menace. But we always seem to brush aside other underlying factors.

If you want to rid the world of violence, we have GOT to stop being so hateful to each other. If Hasan’s claims are true and he was consistently berated for his religion, then it’s of no surprise that it broke him down. He was not in great mental health. It was reported he was undergoing treatment for alcohol abuse, no one is in great mental health coming out of an addiction. This man also endured listening to his patients stories about war. Especially about war in a place that is known for being primarily Muslim. And as the Muslim Chaplin said this morning on GMA….he had no one he could seek counseling from. He was expected to not “whine” about his problems and attend to the problems of the soldiers going out and coming back. Combine all of this and you have a ticking timebomb.

If soldiers were berating him for his religion, why do we condone that to be ok. Because it’s not done with guns? If I was Muslim talking to a patient who just got back from Iraq and listened to this man berate me about my religious beleifs….I would be terrified. And it’s still the age old question, why are grown people still purposely pushing each other’s buttons? We tell our children not to do such things and then do it ourselves? You want to rid the world of war, we have got to start respecting each other. And it has to start here in our home, the USA. The same place where Christians loudly announce that half the country is going to rot in hell and that “god hates fags”. The same place where radical atheists propose to rid the entire nation of religious people and not allow religion into our country at all. The same place where Muslims now have to take extra safety precautions because people ASSUME that this is related to religion and not the mental instability of a man. This is when I have no hope for humanity. Because we as adults say we want to teach our children better, but don’t live up to those same standards for ourselves. And the children are not stupid….they see what we do. And they copy it. And they grow up doing it over and over. Then they tell their children to be better human beings. And their children see that they don’t live up to those standards. Again and again and again this will happen. Because we are too selfish to actually grow up and do what is right for all of us.

Major Nidal Malik Hasan, I forgive you. Someone has to show you forgiveness, kindness and love. I am looking at all sides of this story. You will have to pay for your crimes but I think deep down inside you just need someone to say that we know Islam is not as bad as it is made to sound. You need someone to listen to YOU after you spend hours listening to horrifying war stories. You need forgiveness and love…and I give it freely.

When I first saw the trailer it looked good. I had planned on seeing it, not necessarily in theaters but perhaps when it hit DVD. But then the rumors started circulating on Twitter. It’s a hoax. In all fairness the filmmakers have yet (or at least as far as I can tell so far) to admit it’s a hoax. This means I could be very, very , very wrong. And if I am, I will happily admit it when the time comes.

Google “The Fourth Kind A Hoax” and you get at least 4 websites claiming it is. It will be interesting to see who blogs about it after the first showings today and if we will ever get the official yay or nay on hoax-ery (is that a word?). Of the websites claiming hoax there are several factors in common. The alleged “actual footage” taken by the doctor was made by the filmmakers. And the doctor? Some say she doesn’t exist. Others say she only exists at one particular website. Said website was made recently and has absolutely no contact info whatsoever,and at some point someone will oust WHO made the site (it’s not confidential info!). even more interesting is the fact that Mila comes on screen and claims she is playing the actual doctor. Mila, Mila, Mila….I hope for your sake she exists because people don’t like this kind of shenannigans! It would suck for your reputation to be tarnished because of this.

So if all of these claims are true and the movie really is a hoax, they just copied Blair Witch Project. Having grown up in Maryland I KNEW that story was fake as hell but everyone bought into it. And that poor town of Burkittsville had to get military people in to kick out all these idiots roaming the woods looking for the Blair Witch. Marketing scheme was unique, but it backfired….watch out Nome, Alaska!

Filmmakers need to consider their marketing schemes carefully. Sure we want something exciting that makes us pee ourselves in anticipation. But do you have to go to an extreme that leaves your movie looking worse than the marketing technique? Filmmakers can now thank the people over at Paranormal Activity. Due to me falling for their marketing scheme I now will be VERY careful with any movie I choose to see. And I am not the only one, many who have read these sites claiming a hoax will now avoid the theater like the plague. We all want an amazing experience, we don’t want to feel like we are getting scammed.