NCR Today

We were all shocked by the horrific killings at Ft. Hood, Texas, yesterday. But again and again, the media keep mentioning the suspect's religion. He's a Muslim. I must admit: I wonder if someone would say "the suspect is a Presbyterian, or a Reform Jew or a Catholic." His religion may or may not have had anything to do with these killings.

After all, Major Hasan, the suspect, is also a psychiatrist with a specialization in post-traumatic stress disorder. He must have listened to horrible war stories from patients for many weeks or months. He had orders for a deployment he did not want. There is nothing especially religious about these identities, and either one might be a factor in the shootings he allegedly committed. Indeed, he might have simply "snapped."

But in some quarters, the religious hate, the "Islamophobia," has already begun, with threats against mosques and Muslims. It's part of the "blame the entire group for what a small group, or in this case - one person, may have done."

Today is the feast of Blessed Margaret of Lorraine.

Margaret was born to Frederick II of Vaudémont and his cousin, Yolande d'Anjou, in 1463, at their castle in Lorraine.

She married René, Duke of Alençon in 1488. When he died four years later, Margaret was already the mother of three children. "The first thing she did was to secure her right to the guardianship of her children. . . . Having done this, she settled down in her castle at Mauves, where she brought them up. . . . she showed herself to be a most capable administrator. . . ."
--Butler's Lives of the Saints