The hostage situation in Colleyville Texas highlights the reason why we need to understand how/why certain behaviors and beliefs lead to people acting in unacceptable ways. Geopolitical issues should not be played out on our streets (of any race, group or religion). I pray for the safe release of the hostages and people's hearts will warm to a better path forward where peace can be found. A best case scenario is that the attacker/perpetrator releases the hostages and gives himself up to protect himself and society at large (We can always hope). There is a type of redemption for people who come to their senses and do the right thing (Bad happened but maybe we can learn from it. Looks like from the updated new the attacker did not do the right thing and it ended in instant justice. In this case it appears justified as other lives were being scapegoated/used for the attackers desire. Threatening other lives leads to difficult choices and not the optimum outcome. A common problem with extremism is that it loses its rationality and moves down a distorted line of thinking; again not race, religion, or group specific.)
We may want to understand whether this person has mental health issues, comes from a network of extremists, or where they were radicalized (I have looked at a lot of religions in my life and the sanctity of life is part of all of them. It looks like ideological distortion....but one has to wait and see until the investigation is complete.). This is why I advocate a track and coding system for people who display extremist behaviors (of any race, group, religion). It provides an opportunity to get into the psychological underpinnings (likely to be similar to other precursor acts of group violence).
Knowing when to intervene on dangerous behavior and the key drivers are important for future prevention. America is a safe haven where people can practice any religion they so desire with peace and tranquility. No one has the right to take that from anyone else...it should be something we all stand behind as a national value (We must stand up for it together.). Failure here, in our hometowns, or in our Capital means we haven't learned the lessons of history and as a social structure haven't embedded more universal concepts. (There is no religion on the planet that I know of that would disagree with the right for people to worship...even when its different than the majority population. There may be people who disagree with freedom of worship based on their own extremist ethnocentric viewpoints but its not within the inherent religious text or values. Cherry picking any religious text without understanding its intended themes is almost always inappropriate. Personally, I think most religions lead to the very same path of wisdom/insight, knowledge/truth, moral conscious/prosocial values, and awareness/cognitive brightness but that's just my opinion. 🤷)
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