Home Columns Books Papers Biography Contact

"Tradition?? The only good traditions are food traditions. The rest are repressive."

"There are two ways to think. The first is to trust to your ancestors, your religious leaders, or your charismatic professors. The second is to question, to challenge, to explore history for meanings, and to analyze issues. This latter is called Critical Thinking, and it is this that is the mission of my web site. "

Dr. Laina Farhat-Holzman  

October 2015

Letter to Editor: Withholding Criminal's Name

Santa Cruz Sentinel
October 7, 2015

Editor:
The well-intentioned desire to deprive a mass killer of notoriety by not using his name is a bad idea. This makes it impossible for the public to understand the criminal's motives, history, and ideology, leaving the public unable to address these important issues.

Sweden and the UK, for example, deliberately hide the name of a perpetrator lest the public learn that the criminal is a Muslim immigrant. This leaves the public unaware of a real danger in their midst. The rape statistics in Sweden are off the chart, yet the rapists are called "Swedes," not Somali migrants, the vast majority of perpetrators.

Because the Oregon killer?s name was printed, a reader is able to learn that the killer's mother is a gun-nut, who not only provided 14 guns to her mentally-ill son, but took him to the gun range to practice. She needs to be investigated by the police for her irresponsibility in this tragedy.

153 words
Dr. Laina Farhat-Holzman
Aptos, California

Print