No matter how gruesome a crime might be -- whether it is the 1999 Columbine school shooting, the 1995 Oklahoma massacre, or whether it is about the allegation of sexual assaults involved children by high ranking officials of the Catholic church; in spite how horrific the crime is, no one will lose his sanity and drag the entire faith of the accused into the witness box except when the madman is named Ali or Mohammad.
An army of social scientists, psychologists, and psychiatrics are all dispatched to the crime scene to examine the factors that might have contributed to the crime. These professionals will work tirelessly and around the clock to provide us with their expertise as to why ugly things happen some times and what could be done to avoid such incidents from happening in the future.
Defence lawyers on the other hand would find an escape route for their clients by pleading insanity and they win in most cases as long as the suspect isn't a Muslim. Take for instance the brutal beheading of Tim McLean who was murdered onboard Greyhound bus in 2008 in Canada. The accused, Mr. Vince Weiguang Li, was found not criminally responsible due to his state of mind even though he admitted that he had killed Mr. McLean as a result of hearing voices from God as reported by the CBC. According to the report, he told the schizophrenia society that he believed he "was like the second coming of Christ."
"I began to hear voices that normal people do not hear. I thought I heard the voice of God telling me to write down my journey. The voice told me that I was the third story of the Bible. That I was like the second coming of Jesus."
In spite of Mr. Li's own admission to have been inspired by God to do what he did, no fuss was created about his religion, the church he used to go to or the pastor he used to listen to.
But the situation is dramatically different when a Muslim crosses the boundaries and take the laws into this own hands. Emotion takes over even on the minds of government officials who are supposed to act professionally and responsibly.
Dots are quickly connected with the faith of the accused and everyone talks about how ugly Islam is. No one bothers to have experts examine the minds of the mad man. The mental illness specialists are all brushed aside as the conclusion is easily made as to why. It is all because of the religion and not only the suspect but all Muslims are made to pay for the crime.
The current violent attacks of a British soldier in London by two suspects in daylight is a good example of the difference when the perpetrator is a Muslim.
The issue has all become about Islam and how evil the faith is and how the world needs to act swiftly and decisively to stop Muslims from taking over the world and chop people's hands and stone everyone to death.
When the accused of a crime is a Muslim, all the community pays for it and hatred against them grows dramatically. BBC has reported the rise in anti-Muslim attacks after the Woolwich soldier killing.
There are indeed madmen in the Muslim community who go wild and take matters into their own hands. This is an undisputed fact.
There are, however, lunatics in every community. But to associate the crime with the entire Muslim population is a crime itself which many people fall into including our politicians and the media.
Why don't we try to examine the real motives behind these lunatics and criminals and study the root causes as we do with other criminals? Why don't we have criminologists and other experts do their investigation on what lead some people to commit such criminal activities?
Why do we shy away from discussing the real factors that could lead these fanatics to do what they do such as our foreign invasion in other countries including Iraq, Afghanistan and our indiscriminate killing of women and children in drone attacks?
Why do we put an army of psychologists to work around the clock when the perpetrator of a crime is a non-Muslim but we act hypocritically when the suspect happen to carry a Muslim name?
A law abiding citizen who happens to be a Muslim pays heavily when these kind of sensationalism take place in the media as a result of terror attacks. On one hand, the terrorist does not like him and consider all other Muslims as non believers for not agreeing with them. The terrorist would not hesitate to kill him and the rest of the believers. On another hand, he also faces scrutiny and contempt especially when he travels and sometimes becomes a victim of a hate crime himself.
I feel that this form of madness must stop. The media and politicians have the responsibility to stop generalizing the crime with the entire faith as they also have the responsibility to study the root causes that lead to the growth of this madness. To study the root causes is not to give in to the demands of the terrorists. It is the right thing to do to stop this form of madness that is putting our lives into danger.