The Guardian Thinks I Am Just As Likely To Become A Terrorist As Tashfeen Malik

Tashfeen and her husband, who both had nothing to do with Islam

In an article by Jon Boone today regarding the San Bernadino jihad terror shooting, the Guardian informs us that "Anyone looking for clues for why Tashfeen Malik turned from a young mother into an Islamic State-supporting mass killer capable of slaughtering 14 people with her husband will struggle to find anything in the picture that has so far emerged of the 29-year-old Pakistani."

The article quotes one source saying, “She’s a typical small-town, educated, middle-class conservative.”

Well, so am I, so I guess I could easily become a terrorist, too, I suppose? I mean, I'm really no different from her, am I?

Oh, wait:

...she regularly attended a women’s religious group that promotes an austere form of Islam... 

“My brother’s family cut off all relations with us 30 years over an inheritance feud,” said Malik’s step-aunt Hifza Bibi, a schoolteacher. “They converted and started to insult us, saying we do not believe in the oneness of Allah because of our love for saints.”... 

“She always wore a veil"... 

Classmates said Malik became increasingly strict and “hardline” about her religious life during her time at the university...

I haven't attended any women's groups that teach an austere form of Islam, or cut off relations with my family because they do not believe in the oneness of Allah, or always worn a veil, or become hardline about my religious life during my university days - maybe that's what's different.

In any case, the one thing you can be sure of is that the Guardian definitely does not want you to think that this has anything to do with Islam, or that increased Islamic piety might potentially lead to incidents like the San Bernadino shooting, since we all know that Islam is a Religion of Peace, and therefore increased piety will only lead to more peace and love and flowers and bunny rabbits and stuff.

For a bit of context on the cultural milieu in which Tashfeen Malik was raised, Boone helpfully adds that "In 2013, the British Council surveyed Malik’s generation of 18- to 29-year-olds and found 38% wanted to live under strict religious laws – higher than democracy or military rule."

Which religious laws would those be? What religion would those of "Malik's generation" who were surveyed be? That doesn't matter, you rabid Islamophobe - she weren't no Muslim, bruv. She was just a middle-class conservative, like so many of us are.

This Guardian article may as well have begun, "Anyone looking for clues for why Tashfeen Malik turned from a young mother into an Islamic State-supporting mass killer capable of slaughtering 14 people with her husband must necessarily overlook the fact that she was a devout Muslim. Only Islamophobes care about that. You know the type: your typical small-town, middle-class conservative."