The Army issued the “Army Internal Review Team: Final Report” last week which outlines possible causes of Army Major Nidal Hasan’s shooting rampage that left 14 people dead in Fort Hood, Texas last November.  Sadly, the obvious factor of his religion is ignored in the report.  

According to OneNewsNow, “It [the report] does, however, say the Army must attempt to prevent another shooting by transforming how it protects its soldiers, how it collects information about internal threats, and how it communicates with the FBI and terrorism experts.”

The report also explains that there is no single factor that could have stopped the attack.

Here is the problem with this oversight: The oversight also places no finger on the source, or root, of his actions.  Rather, the report seems to address how the Army and intelligence officers can stop or curtail such occurances without suggesting what they should look for.

Lt. Col. Bob Maginnis (USA-Ret.) is also concerned: "They came out with an Army internal review report, but...it doesn't talk specifically about the suspicions that we must have about those who are associated with Islam and those who are associated even more so with radical fringes of Islam."

With the exception of his radicalized Islamic beliefs, he was seen as an average soldier with nothing to be worried about; or so we thought.  But those radicalized Islamic beliefs obviously played a major role in his shooting spree. 

This should come as no surprise.  Radical Muslims kill more people than radicals of any other religious belief.  This is not bias or supremesist thinking, this is just statistical fact.  Most terrorism, internationally, occurs at the hands of radical Muslims. 

There are, of course, instances of Christians committing acts of violence because they felt God told them to do it or because of a misreading of Scripture.  Hindus and Buddhists also have instances of terrorism and violence in their past as well.  But these are the minority. 

Of course other factors than religion play a role terrorist activity.  Poverty, the impact of parenting, education, and other factors may have some impact on whether or not someone exerts criminogenic or terroristic tendencies.  

Since many of the 9-11 hijackers, current leaders of Al Qaeda and the Taliban all have backgrounds with Western education, some of which attended the best schools America has to offer, often come from wealthy families, and enjoy other privileges, it’s safe to say that their religion is the leading factor contributing to their radicalization and violence.

Personally, I believe the root of such terrorism is sin and that the religion is a justification for it.  But, that’s another post all-together.

I want to know your thoughts.  Does religion play a major role in the terrorist activities of Muslims?  More specifically, did Major Hasan’s Muslim beliefs influence his decision to kill 14 people?