Salt Lake City News

This is such a tragedy. I cannot imagine what would cause someone to do such a thing. My heart and prayers go out to the victims and their families.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families. At least the monster was killed and some sort of justice has prevailed over this tragic incident.

Since the moment broadcasts were interrupted last night to inform viewers of the shootings, along with immediately grieving for those lost and praying for those injured, I have wondered just what could make a young man commit such horrible carnage.
Because my children happened to be right there with me watching the events unfold, I knew some type of explanation was going to be necessary. What could I say? Although I have at times, sugar-coated things in order to soften the impact, I believe the truth is always best. I would much rather they hear facts from me than convoluted tales from peers that might serve to frighten them even more. Indeed, even the facts buried in the limited information posted were enough to terrify any one of any age.
Finally I settled on "The young man must have been terribly angry about something." "It was most likely random because the victims were apparently spread out in the mall." "Each day, we can look around, see and appreciate the good and wonderful creations of God. Sometimes we forget that it's opposite, the evil manifistations of Satan are also around us. That is, until it is displayed so unimaginably. We need to remember that it is our responsibility to always reap and sow the good in ourselves and our fellow man in order to keep evil at bay."
A good lesson. I only wish I had shared it without an example prodding me to do so.
I will end my "comment" with one more thing for us to think about: Chances are, when everything comes out in the wash, we will find that the young perpetrator of this crime had a lot more in common with the perpetrators of recent random/school shootings and violence than just his age and sex. There are a number of factors and traits that have been identified as common in these young men, that likely conributed to their final acts of multiple homicide. The majority had endured months if not years of painful loneliness, teasing and all-out mental and psychological abuse at the hands of their peers and sometimes, their families. Having displayed, prior to acting, silent cries for help that were apparently ignored by loved ones and acquaintances, these teenagers took drastic steps to demonstrate that they were not "nobodies," that they should be recognized. They are now.
We all need to be aware of just how much words can hurt. How much damage a shun can do. How much pain a whisper and glare can inflict on a fragile, developing self esteem. Absolutely NOTHING we do is done without consequences good or bad. It may take years for the end results of our actions to play out but inevitibly they do.
We all need live by the oldie but goodie, Golden Rule:
DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE DONE UNTO YOURSELF. Just imagine...

Derek,
Perhaps the mere mention of God blinded you to the true meaning of my post. Apparently you stopped comprehending after the first reference.
For your information, God is not "pushing pieces around on a chessboard." He does not rule our every move or thought. Common sense would dictate, if that were the case, there would be no evil in this world at all. The fact is, God demonstrates goodness and desires that we act in that fashion. On the same hand, Satan demonstrates evil and does everything He can to make us act that way. Faith and inner strength will dictate which path you follow, not a higher power.
Another point I addressed and you obviously overlooked was that we are all responsible for both the good and evil that prevails around us. When we insult, shun or disrespect another person because of their beliefs (hmmm... what just happened above?), race, gender, sexual orientation, clothing, financial status, culture etc. it becomes very difficult for them to see the good and kindness in the World. Young, developing, easily-influenced psyches find it difficult to see beyond the here and now. They begin to believe all of the negative and it spirals from there. Everyone has made him/her feel like an unloved nobody. Some resort to suicide to end the pain. Others choose to go out in a blaze of gunfire which will surely result in their name being all over the media and in everyone's memory for eternity. See, they showed the haters. They aren't just a "nobody" anymore.
The specific point I was making is that we should live by the golden rule. Children, especially teens, need to have this lesson drilled into their minds over and over. People have become so self centered that they often forget that minor choices (both good and bad) and actions can contribute to a major occurrence (again, good or bad).
Smiling at somebody who is obviously having a bad day just might lift their load a little. If it doesn't, what did it cost you? Empathizing with the over-loaded waiter who forgets to bring your water and letting him know that you noticed what a hard worker he is and how lucky his employer is to have him just might give him the strength to keep going. Realize that these little "gifts" don't cost anything monetarily but they are truly priceless to someone that just wants to give up.
We are all unique individuals. There is nothing about you that makes you better than me and vice versa. It shouldn't matter to you what my beliefs are. They fulfill me in areas I only pray others might someday realize themselves but I am not forcing them on you nor am I disrespecting you for not accepting them. When children from the youngest age start noticing differences in people, the greatest gift you can give them is acceptance. Demonstrating and reinforcing the fact that money, clothing, ritual, color, gender etc. does not make a person better or worse, higher or lower than ourselves will benefit them immeasurably.
Passing judgement on other human beings ultimately leads to bloodshed. Genocide, war, school and random shootings. Someone repeatedly tells somebody else they don't belong somewhere because of a personal trait. On a large scale, war and genocide are used to force out the percieved fault. On an individual scale, the soul is damaged and options become distorted and dangerous.

It is political incorrectness time.

Salt Lake City just got a taste of Islamic insanity. The name "Suleiman" is after Suleiman the Magnificent, the 16th century Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, who conquered enought land to bring the Empire to its largest in area of influence. He was perceived in history as fair, and made laws that addressed situations that Shari'a law did not. An historically popular figure in European Islam.

The Bosnian war was about friction between Christians and Muslims that goes back to the time of Suleiman the Magnificent, and Christian countrysides conquered and enslaved by Islamic soldiers and their swords. This Bosnian brought his religion to the refuge offered him by Christian infidels. They have paid the price. Paradise must have restocked the virgin larder so another true believer can have some of the sex he is denied by Islamic law, and freedom from the dismal life it seems to offer to so many.

Guns, knives, bombs, poison, nerve gas. It makes no one teeny bit of difference to Islamic true believers. If you ain't Musllm, you are an infidel, and Muslims can kill infidels because their brand of religion endorses murder of innocents.

This needless, murderous, insane act is not the first in my life (remembering Sirhan Sirhan who killed Bobbie Kennedy), nor will it be the last. You have just seen a small part of the future if we don't have the stomach to exclude people from our country who want to kill those here, to exile those who can't live by our laws. Government's sole job is to protect the citizens, to allow for "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

Love. Give love by all means. Nothing is promised.

Derek,
Thanks for the explanation and good wishes. I am kind of giggling a bit because it just hit me that you most likely assume that I am of the prominent religion here in Utah. On the contrary. I am a Christian and I worship God but I am absolutely against organized religion. I completely agree with you that it divides people and has caused strife thoughout history. I grew up here in Utah and as a non-Mormon, experienced it first hand.
I am gonna say "God Bless you and yours" even though... you know.

This is truelly sad.

As a Bosnian, as an American, but most importantly as a human being, I am offended that people are jumping to the use of the war as an excuse for this young man's actions. No one really knows what was going on in this young man's mind. He could have been devastated by being dumped by his girlfriend, which is probably more likely to be the cause than his "Muslimness". There is no excuse to what this boy did, just as there is no excuse for Columbine or for terrorist actions.

However, as I read through these articles and blogs I can't help but shake my head at the jump to blame it on Islam. From analyzing his name - which is a big joke, let me tell you that right now - to how the Bosnian genocide was really a war between Islam and Christianity. Bosnians were pretty much secular, most of them had allready given up religion before the Serbs started their campaign of ethnic cleansing.

Bottom line: A tragedy happened, people died. Let's not use this tragedy to politicize ourselves.

Srbin

1/2 million serbs killed by Muslims in WWII? It's a good thing that people know how to use the internet to figure out who is lying.

I'm not getting into a battle of who lost more family, I won't bring dishonor to the dead in this way.

6 innnocent people died in this mall - I condemn that. I condemn the use of the Bosnia war in order to somehow lessen the tragedy that happened or to excuse it. And, I condemn the use of this incident to promote Islamophobia.

O yes samaha, beter ask your grandpa what is his role in second world war. You never heard for Jasenovac?How many bosnian serbs were there because of fashist muslim hangar divisions.
Thousands of Jews, Serbs and Gypsies were exterminated in Croatian camps. At the most infamous of these, Jasenovac, close to 100,000 victims was killed-and not by gas- but by the bullet, the club or knife. In Bosnia, similar massacres of Serbs took place. The Muslims of Bosnia often assisted the Ustashi killers. Later in the war, the Germans recruited a Muslim SS Division, which gained notoriety for its atrocities against the Serbian civilian population.

Anyway beck on nowdays
There has been a good deal of speculation about why the United States chose to intervene in Bosnia and why it influenced Izetbegovic to renounce the Lisbon Agreement. One explanation is that the United States wished to demonstrate to the Muslim world that it could support Muslim causes. After the Gulf War, it is suggested, the USA was anxious to find a Muslim position with which it could ally itself. The official U.S position for its intervention was that recognition was the only way to prevent the war from spreading to Bosnia! Whatever the reason, it seems evident the U.S. intervention did more harm than good.

Those who want to implement politics and religion to this horrible incident like this Serbian guy here, are out of their minds. Teenegers have their problems and especially refugees who find themself not asimilated that well in their new world. This young man was ejected from high school because he had tough time fitting in with others and he became agressive and in fight with everybody. Kid became loner and without school, he didn't have any frends and any communication outside of his home. He became depressive and was in crisis so he went crazy and killed those innocent people. That is very sad and with better counseling, better relationship with his parents who would recognize his attutude, maybe this kid would be alive now.

New West has closed this story to comments because a majority of those coming in were not about the tragic story at hand and others, at times, devolved the discussion to one of racism and intolerance. That, in effect, puts them in violation of our terms of service and we've elected to close the comments function here until further notice.