Pulse nightclub shooting - context.

The Pulse nightclub shooting is terrible.

Our sympathy needs to go to the families of the people killed, and we should pray for those wounded in hospital.

Some surrounding facts - if this casts any light on this terrible act, I do not know. At the least it was an outrageous act of hypocrisy, or perhaps misdirected anger by the gunman at former abuse.

For it seems Seddique Mateen, the father of the Orlando nightclub gunman, Omar Mateen, runs a TV show on a Californian TV channel called Payam-e-Afghan that supports the Afghan Taliban, who are ruled by the Pashtun ethnic group. Callers into the show regularly espouse support for Pashtun domination over the other ethnic minorities in Afghanistan. Payam-e-Afghan espouses sympathy for the Taliban and criticizes US actions in Afghanistan too. The name of the show references the disputed border with Pakistan. Seddique Mateen, it seems, was a dedicated cultural Pashtun.

And amongst the Pashtun, child abuse of boys by older men is a rampant cultural custom, here is an article - the US Military when they moved in were horrified by this behaviour once they discovered what was going on. Apparently for these strict Taliban men, women are so unapproachable (they have the full body burqa in Afghanistan) that their culture has developed an institutionalised form of child abuse of boys instead.

Members of the army wondered why they were protecting a group that practiced such an abhorrent custom.

Addendum: Apparently Seddique told NBC news on Sunday that religion had nothing to do with the shooting, and offered another possible motive: in Miami a few months before his son had become enraged when two men kissed in front of his own young son.  (same link) All these facts together suggest a possible interpretation of his motives, and one hopes journalists and investigators in the US look further into the background here. Some of my questions - surely a TV show supporting the enemies of US shouldn't be allowed? It is treachery and used to be an offence punishable by death in most Western countries. And did the Pashtun bring their abhorrent customs with them to the US?

Also - Apparently when the Taliban came to power they put a stop to the practice of child abuse. Such is the complexity of real events... Seddique supports the Taliban, who tried to enforce a ban on homosexuality in Afghanistan including the rampant abuse of boys, something clearly wrong. His son then goes and shoots up a gay night-club - was he influenced by Seddique's views? You can imagine what he grew up hearing his father saying about the West...

***Further Addendum: It seems Omar Mateen was a regular attender at the nightclub and was actively gay, apparently. I wonder if the biggest attraction of martyrdom for these Moslems who commit these acts is the prospect of the forgiveness of their sins - this is, perversely, why many of them seem in fact to be very much 'integrated' into Western Society before they commit acts of suicidal terror. After becoming 'integrated' (i.e. joining in on drinking, extramarital sex, using drugs, etc etc, things which are apparently forbidden under Islamic law) they get a guilty conscience and look for a way out. I think the Quran to many Moslems is not a book that encourages the view that God forgives sins with no strings attached - no, sins need to be balanced, weighed up against good deeds, and when judgement happens you're at the mercy of whatever the scales decide. Whereas a martyr goes straight to heaven, according to their belief. So the attraction of martyrdom.

It is so very sad that these people don't believe in Jesus as Lord and Saviour - then they would know that their sins are forgiven, shown by the fact that He went to the cross and died on their behalf. They would know that they don't need to commit even more atrocious acts to gain forgiveness. Instead they despair of any solution except causing mayhem and destruction, and suicide.