Commentary

How did Omar Mateen become radicalized? American culture taught him

How did Omar Mateen become radicalized? American culture taught him
June is of course LGBTQ pride month and parades and festivities abound month-long. Pride 2016 is particularly important because it marks the one-year anniversary of Obergefell v. Hodges, the historic U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 states.

Boston Pride was held last weekend with its signature Pride Parade extravaganza on Saturday. On Sunday morning, I woke up to the devastating news of the Orlando club massacre. The gunman, Omar Mateen, killed 49, and injured 53 LGBTQ revelers and allies who just happened to be patrons at Pulse on its most popular club night, which is Latin Night.

Pulse, like most LGBTQ nightclubs across the country, was more than just a place to dance and drink. Nightclubs function as hubs for the LGBTQ community, where we can come together, away from the glaring and disapproving eyes of family, church and society, even in 2016.

But when LGBTQ people are caught in those glaring and disapproving eyes of homophobes, we can’t take for granted that the reprisal acted upon us isn’t derived from a momentary glance, one that has now come back to harm us or someone in our community — even if the murderer was either gay-curious for himself or gay-cruising for the kill as a terrorist.

In explaining the probable reason for the carnage his son created, Mateen’s father, Mir Seddique, shared with news media an incident in Miami months before the nightclub shooting. He said his son witnessed two gay males kissing, which he said repulsed and outraged him, especially since it was done in the presence of both his wife and son.

Also, in trying to deflect attention away from Islamophobes who easily blame everything disapproving a Muslim does on the religion, Seddique flat out stated that his son’s attack had nothing to do with religion. And, Muslim groups worldwide followed suit in condemning the act.

Antigay theology is not particular to Islam. While the Quran has scriptures condemning homosexuality, so, too, do the Hebrew and Christian Bibles.

For example, although the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of marriage equality, many Republicans still think marriage should be between one woman and one man, because somewhere in their scriptures or holy imagination it says marriage is between “Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.” And their opposition to last June’s SCOTUS decision wasn’t as hatefully demonstrative and obstructively cynical as that of Kim Davis — the now infamous Kentucky County clerk who not only refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, but she forbade her co-workers to do so, too.

As a born again Christian, Davis cited that her First Amendment rights protected her actions. And with a movement afoot to pass so-called “Religious Freedom Restoration Acts” (RFRA) that seek to codify LGBTQ discrimination, Christianity doesn’t get a pass, either.

“There’s such a cognitive dissonance for me when public officials ask us to pray when the majority of world religions promote anti-LGBT theology,” said Eliel Cruz, executive director of Faith in America, an organization that attempts to end the harm to LBGT youths it says is caused by religious teachings. “This isn’t isolated to Muslim beliefs. It’s seen in Christianity and it’s just as deadly,” added Cruz, a former Religion News Service columnist.

There’s a sundry of intersectional factors that appear to explain Mateen’s murderous act: mental illness, homophobia, fear of coming out, antigay theology, and no doubt his sworn allegiance to ISIS, to name a few. Sadly, we can’t change the hearts of people, like Mateen, as quickly as we would like to. However, we can change his behavior or, at least, make him accountable for his behavior, with laws in place to protect not only him but every American citizen.

The presumptive GOP presidential nominee, Donald Trump, calls for a ban on Muslims entering the U.S. in the wake of this recent shooting, which is absurd, especially in light of the fact that Mateen was born here.

Gun reform continues to be that hot button issue as a country we can’t seem to budge on. However, recent polling suggests support for reform has spiked since the Orlando massacre, with 61 percent of Americans who responded to a new survey by NBC News and Survey Monkey saying they support stricter gun control.

Aside from the Glock semi-automatic handgun authorities say Mateen had on his person, he was also armed with a Sig Sauer MCX .223-caliber rifle, which takes the magazine and ammunition of the AR-15, the same assault weapon used in the 2012 movie theater shootings in Aurora, Colo., the attack on Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut later that same year, and at the office holiday party shooting in San Bernardino, Calif. in December 2015.

A 2013 study revealed there are 88 guns for every 100 people in the United States, more than any other developed nation in the world. And yet that same study found that a country like Yemen — where terrorism is so rampant the State Department warns against travel there — there are only 55 guns per 100 people. Just one day after the Orlando shootings, Smith & Wesson, one of the largest gun manufacturers in the country recorded a nearly 7 percent rise in shares of its stock, according to CNBC, and another gunmaker saw a 10 percent boost.

President Obama has attended at least 14 of these mass shootings since beginning his tenure as president. What might have been his 15th was prevented the same day as the Orlando shooting when Santa Monica police stopped a man with an assault rifle and 15 pounds of explosives, who was headed to the gay pride parade in West Hollywood.

Reverend Irene Monroe is an ordained minister, religion columnist, public theologian, and motivational speaker. As an African-American feminist theologian, she speaks for a sector of society that is frequently invisible. She has been a contributor to the Bilerico project since 2007 and lives in Cambridge, Mass.

Don't forget to share:

Support vital LGBTQ+ journalism

Reader contributions help keep LGBTQ Nation free, so that queer people get the news they need, with stories that mainstream media often leaves out. Can you contribute today?

Cancel anytime · Proudly LGBTQ+ owned and operated

Kudos for Utah Republican politician whose ‘heart has changed’ on gays

Previous article

The irony after Orlando: gays turn to police instead of against them

Next article