The Range of Human Behavior

There have been two incidents in the past two days that showed the extremes people are capable of in stressful situations.

The first, more prominent incident occurred at Fort Hood, Texas. An army major, trained in psychiatry, and scheduled to be deployed to a war zone, snapped and tried to murder as many people as he could before he was taken down by this incident’s hero, Kimberly Munley.

Sgt. Munley is a trained firearms expert and has also served in the military. She committed a selfless act of bravery by confronting a man who had already committed multiple murders and suffered serious wounds while disabling him. She responded immediately and without hesitation and placed herself in mortal danger to save the lives of others. She is the mother of two young children, but upon recovering consciousness at the hospital, her first question was about the lives she had saved. This woman deserves the utmost respect and the highest honor this country can hand out.

The perpetrator of this incident, Major Nidal Malik Hasan is an army psychiatrist who spent most of his time counseling and comforting soldiers who suffered from post traumatic stress syndrome as a result of exposure to combat situations. It is unclear whether he planned to kill himself after he satisfied his lust for slaughter, but he had apparently authored several recent posts on the Internet about suicide bombers and had been giving his belongings away. The prospect of his upcoming deployment pushed him past his breaking point. The magnitude of his violence speaks volumes about the darkest capabilities of the human condition.

The second incident occurred at a Florida prison. Deputy Ken Moon was on duty and alone on a unit when he was assaulted by an inmate. The inmate had Deputy Moon in a choke hold which may have resulted in the deputy’s death if not for the quick action of four inmates who came to deputy’s rescue.

These men had nothing to gain by helping the deputy. When asked why they helped him, they responded by saying they liked him, nothing more, nothing less. It was a simple act of kindness in a place where that is usually in short supply. It was unclear why Deputy Moon was attacked, but when a man is in a murderous rage, clear thought is non-existent. The extent of his violence differs from Major Hasan’s only by degree.

I am not in any way trying to equate the heroism of Sgt. Munley with that of the inmates. However, just as the violence is different only in degree, so is the heroism. It shows the range of reaction that is possible when people are exposed to stressful situations. Violence and heroism have been constants throughout history. Until we can learn to live with each other peacefully, we must pray that the heroism of brave individuals will never succumb to the violence of the disturbed.