It only took three conflicted men. Now, 138 men, women and children died shattered, broken and shot on account of these names: Omar Mateen, Micah Johnson and Mohamed Bouhlel. All social outlets and news stations have been soaked with these stories that add to vanity's cause: The Pulse nightclub shooting, the tragedy against the Dallas police and the terrorist attack in France last week. One after another, events are unfolding in un-easing countries and communities. In the wake of these devastating stories, serious questions take root in everyone's thoughts: Why did this happen? How could someone do that? Why is there such hate in the world?

The answers are often found in the shadows of the background. Let's look into the lives of these three men that have filled headlines this summer.

Omar Mateen grew up in a battered childhood; ravaged by his father's physical and mental abuse. Mateen was subject to spitting comments of homosexuality, back-handed and beaten in front of peers and school teachers and constantly bullied on account of his heritage and weight. This puncturing abuse at home and in school laid waist to any potential trust in his community or his family. The sorrow and anger metabolized in his later years where he became the abuser to his now ex-wife, Sitori Yusifiy. In an interview by The Telegraph, Yusifiy confirmed the suppressed rage by saying "...he would express hate toward things, towards everything...it was in those moments where you would see the emotional instability and it would turn him totally different." We're discussing the life of a man pummeled into the ground by his father's anger, disregarded and bullied on account of his ethnicity and physicality, a man lost in the realm of fear and depravity. This is not pity for his history, this is explaining the life of a man bashed and belted throughout youth and disrespected in adulthood. Mateen is responsible for the deaths of 49 individuals and the injury of 50+ others at the nightclub Pulse in Orlando.

Micah Johnson was born in Mississippi and molded in the suburbs of Dallas, Texas. Throughout his years in school, he struggled academically, but always expressed a desire to be involved with law enforcement or the military, according to interviews with his parents. Following his graduation from John Horn High School in 2009, Johnson soon enlisted in the Army Reserve. A report in The Dallas Morning News said:

"He served in Afghanistan, but was discharged last year (2015) after being accused of sexual harassment, according to his attorney. Those who knew Johnson in the Army say they don’t recognize the pathologically violent racist described in news accounts."

Johnson was "remembered by friends, comrades and acquaintances as a gregarious, even 'goofy' extrovert," according to Associated Press interviews, but this was not the same Johnson post-military, nor the Johnson that Texans saw on July 7. A switch had flipped in the military. Johnson's mother describes him in an interview with TheBlaze as being "very disappointed with military," and James Johnson, Micah's father, said he “became a loner” and “didn’t like people [after the military].” It is evident an internal dilemma stirred in Johnson, something that provoked an anger to emerge in spews of bullets on that night in July. Only twisted thoughts fueled by pain and anger could cause the 25-year-old to turn his weapons against the American lives he once desired to protect. Johnson is responsible for the deaths of five Dallas police officers and the injury of nine other officers.

While the massive wound is still fresh and investigations are still underway, several things have been discovered about Mohamed Bouhlel. François Molins says in a CNN report:

"'Bouhlel was born in Tunisia on January 3, 1985,' Molins said. 'He had a permit to live and work in France. He was a delivery driver known to police as a petty criminal who had a series of brushes with the law since 2010 for violence, sometimes with a gun, and theft...'"

More information regarding Bouhlel's appearance and background was listed in an article by The Telegraph:

"Neighbours described Bouhlel as a depressed – sometimes aggressive – man who was not particularly interested in religion, and kept to himself. They said that he had been unhappy since he divorced his wife two years ago, and that he suffered from financial problems".

While the unpacking of his history continues, we are beginning to see through the shades of Bouhlel's isolationistic livelihood. Bouhlel is responsible for the deaths of 84 individuals and the injury of 202 others on Bastille Day.

These original questions we all desire to know can be difficult to answer, but across the board for these three men, one similarity stands: Internal chaos. Mir Seddique Mateen forced pain upon his son's life; hatred flowed from his hands and tone. An awakening of anger emerged from the once-happy and friendly Johnson post-military. Bouhlel's divorce and financial strife added to personal angst. If any of these three questions can be answered, it is "How could someone do that?"

A person driven by abuse and hatred, lost in sorrow and confusion, or deprived of hope can do much if they choose. Such hate towards others is not genetically passed on; it is learned. Prejudice against anything or anyone is learned. We cannot solely blame religion and race for the actions of these men, regardless of what the media intends. The backbone of bullets flying through a nightclub, shots fired in a downtown metropolis and a truck plowing through crowds was not based on institutional influence alone, but hatred and pain within. While race and religion are identified as the central aspect to blame, we must remember there is still the person behind the action. This is not dismissing those who have committed terrorism or have taken lives in the name of religion or race, but rather, organizing the thread of understanding that these are real people with taught prejudice.

Zak Ebrahim is the son of the infamous terrorist El Sayyid Nosair, the man who assassinated Meir Kahane, a Jewish religious figure and politician. Ebrahim is now a peace activist and has written the book The Terrorists Son (Which I highly recommend reading). He survived in a home full of brutal beatings, he was a victim to bullying based on heritage and he was raised in an Islamic home. He had a powerful conditioning that would suggest future violence. What made the difference in him?

He chose not to hate. He chose to forsake the teachings of prejudice.

So, what can we do? The next time we're confronted with a story along the lines of Omar Mateen's, Micah Johnson's, or Mohammad Bouhlel's, let's retract from only focusing on the title and accept that these were people with great internal pain. Let's reflect and find the areas where prejudice covers our sight when watching CNN, Fox, NBC, etc.

Let's greet each other in the name of equality and peace, love one another through tension, attend to searing pain in friends and family and confront our own personal, internal dilemmas before they manifest in ways that fill this world with darkness.