Replies

There is an army of experts ready to testify in favor of the insanity defense. The script for this one has been written, especially since the perp has had a history of psychiatric care. But the real psychiatric problem from what I've read is the unassimilation of him and his dear family who arranged a marriage for their dear son in Afghanistan. What a country! You can be as Afghani as you want in Fremont, California!

(There is no word 'unassimilation', is there? If you can come up with an antonym for 'assimilation', please do.)

LA replies:

What you say about motive is fascinating. As has often been said at VFR, a person’s subjective motive for taking a particular political position matters less than the fact that he takes that position. The position has its own structure and dynamic, and will lead in a certain direction and play a certain part in the politics of the time, regardless of what the person may subjectively feel is his motive and reason for having that position. It is liberalism that fosters the incorrect emphasis on a person’s subjective desire and choice rather than on objective reality. This is seen in the transformation of criminal law for example. In the past, motive was a minor or non-existent factor in determining guilt and punishment; the fact that a person had committed a certain act was what mattered, not what he was thinking about it. But now the motive has become all. All we care about is why the person, the choosing entity, chose to do this thing, not the fact that he did it. While examination of motive obviously has a legitimate place in criminal law and in moral thought, we have carried the emphasis on it way too far.
The same applies to politics, or for that matter to jihad. The specific motivations that drive a particular Muslim to go on a rampage against non-Muslims are less important than the fact that he is a Muslim who is attacking non-Muslims, and thus playing a part in the general jihad. Some Muslims belong to terrorist organizations and are consciously waging jihad. Others just get suddenly “angry” at Britain or at Jews for their unfairness to Muslims and decide to kill some Britons or Jews. Others have “mental problems” and go on a rampage against non-Muslims. Why does one express his “mental problems” by going on a rampage against non-Muslims? Because he’s a Muslim. That’s what matters. The objective meaning of his act is that he is a Muslim seeking to mass murder non-Muslims.
People are different, and have a wide range of motivations for their actions. But, though liberalism denies it, people also fall into broad classes that matter socially and politically. The class “Muslim” matters.
http://www.amnation.com/vfr/archives/006317.html