We all understand the human tragedy of the synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh. Beyond feelings of sympathy and sadness, we who have no personal connection to the Tree of Life Synagogue can do little to help the victims. For us, however, there remains this important question: is this shooting a harbinger of dark things to come, for Jews and for America?
One way to start thinking about this is to ask the following question: does the murderer, Robert Bowers, look more like an SA Stormtrooper or more like David Berkowitz?
The Sturmabteilung ("Storm Detachment"), aka the SA, aka the Brownshirts, were the military wing of the Nazi Party in 1930's Germany. An individual Stormtrooper, therefore, was part of a well organized group that was, itself, part of a rising and well organized socio-political movement. A Stormtrooper was, indeed, a harbinger of dark things to come.
David Berkowtiz, the notorious "Son of Sam", murdered six people and wounded seven others in 1970's New York City. He killed people because his neighbor's dog told him to do it. While his crimes were every bit as awful as Robert Bower's on a personal level, at the social level Berkowitz was not a harbinger of dark things to come. He is just a lone lunatic.
So, that is the question: is Robert Bowers part of a movement or is he a pitiful and contemptible lunatic? While the answer is a bit murky, I am on the side of lone lunatic. On the face of it, I think Bowers is not a harbinger of dark things to come. If I am right, we should find considerable solace in that.
However, while Bowers evidently acted alone, by the grace of the internet he was not entirely isolated. His kind of lunatic racism will always be with us but now, thanks to one social media platform or another, these lunatics can find each other and talk. Can they coalesce into something more virulent?
My short answer is no, and I say that because the history of the KKK is instructive. Once upon a time, the KKK was a major socio-political force in American society. They have been in steady decline since about 1960. Today, they are a spent force. In other words, if we were those people once, we are not them, anymore.
Unless you listen to the Left-wing extremists who would have you believe there is a Klansman under every White person's bed. The Left have been working hard, for years, to revive the KKK. My one great fear is they will succeed.
