The Causes of Rampage Killing

As the child of a schizophrenic and the sister of another schizophrenic, and the step-daughter of someone with MS-related psychosis, I naturally follow the news whenever someone with a mental illness commits a crazy act of violence.  My own brother scared me when he became ill, because he exhibited some of the features common to mass killers:  an interest in firearms, an interest in mass murderers who used firearms, and loss of a job.  Of course, he lost his job due to his mental illness.  After this, he no longer saw his psychiatrist because he no longer had insurance  (a bogus excuse on both of their parts imho).   And then, being unemployed with time on his hands, his thought process had no brakes on it.  I was afraid he'd shoot up his workplace, but I knew him and knew he just wasn't a vengeful person.  In all the time we were growing up he never used direct or redirected revenge against anybody that I knew of.  I feared suicide more than homicide.  He wound up doing neither, but he never got treatment and is now homeless.  You can't force treatment on someone who poses no threat to himself or others, so his crazy choice to cling to his delusions and be unemployable is his to make.

Still, I want to learn what I can from the few experts that have studied rampage killers just in case.  There is very little written for lay people, and not a lot of peer-reviewed literature either, that I could find.  The popular press tends to focus on just one case, for example Whitman in Texas.

Of course, any time something bad happens in the U.S., some evangelical nutjob will claim it's due to our degraded morality.  We can dismiss this hypothesis out of hand because the Bible doesn't say anything about mass murder happening in Sodom and Gomorrah.  God took them out himself, he didn't rely on mass murderers to punish those sinful sinners!  But I'll add this to the long, long list of hypothesized causes for mass murder:

• Irreligiosity
• Religiosity
• Media violence
• Maleness
• Gun "culture"
• Lack of gun control laws
• Government conspiracies
• Bullying
• Mental illness
• Lack of mental health treatment
• It's just plain senseless

I may have missed a few, like Big Pharma or Communist conspiracies, but I think those are the ones I've seen the most. Mass murder seems to be a kind of Rorschach test that inspires people to attribute their pet theory to a sensational event as if to say, "See?  See?  I told you the world was going to hell in a handbasket!" Fortunately, there are people who have investigated the cases themselves to find commonalities.  I'm putting some of these on my reading list.  You may find some of them interesting too:

• Mass Murder in the United States: A History
• Mass Murder in the United States
(different book) by authors named "Holmes." Spooky, no?
• Extreme Killing. I have read this book and it's just so-so. It basically just tells stories you could read on Wikipedia but it does give you some vocabulary of the way the experts talk about this, and a broad overview.
• Suicidal Mass Murderers: A Criminological Study of Why they Kill. (mainly about Virginia Tech, which would be the most comparable case to the Holmes case)
• ...and this article makes the case that mass murder is an attempt on the part of the murderer to soothe his psychological angst.
• The pseudo-commando Mass Murderer fits the description of Holmes, except that he committed his crime at night.

My pet peeve with society, at least in the treatment of the generation that's been responsible for school shootings, is that teachers were taught to give kids empty praise, just for "trying." And everyone is included and nobody gets disappointed. Besides being dishonest with children, it didn't give them enough opportunitities to learn important life lessons. Sometimes things don't go your way. Sometimes you're not as good as you think you are. During my brief college teaching career, I encountered a lot of terrified students who really didn't know whether they were any "good" at something. They knew they could get away with cheating (at that school) but even when they didn't cheat, some of them felt like frauds. I was a demanding teacher and the feedback I got from students was that I was very fair. The students who passed felt a sense of accomplishment and the ones that failed knew it was their own fault. They seemed genuinely grateful for a real challenge in which their self-perception and my feedback were totally in synch.

I was at the University of Iowa when Gang Lu shot up the Astronomy department there. He was disappointed not to have received an award he felt he was entitled to. Well, sometimes you get disappointed in life. Kids should learn about that in kindergarten so they can handle it later.

Well, that's my rant, but it's mere opinion. Next I'll be reading some of the linked material to see what the people who have actually met mass killers have to say about what drove them over the edge.

Religion Clause: Many Claims Dismissed In Establishment Clause Suit On Philosophy Course Content

Religion Clause: Many Claims Dismissed In Establishment Clause Suit On Philosophy Course Content

I hope she's at least cost them as much in legal costs as they stole from her in tuition money!

Links du semaine

How the Mormon Church makes money.  My question is, why don't they pay taxes on this loot?  (They pay some taxes but not enough!) ...  No, wait, my question is what they wear at their Polynesian theme park. Do they have special Polynesian magic underwear?  Mormon defenders are out in force in the comments section.  If this money from for-profit companies is really being used for charitable purposes why is the LDS so secretive about it?

America for Jesus event in Philadelphia - will it become a dominionist election-year screed? How can they energize their base to vote for a Mormon?  Could be interesting.

Tragic but also ironic, Chik Fil-A PR chief dies suddenly.  It's too bad he was on the side of people who believe God smites people who are in the wrong.  Having to run damage control on his boss's bigoted statement would stress anybody's heart, but it sure seems like a smiting.

Methodist minister used to be a "she."  Gotta admit, except for that believing in God business, the Methodists can be cool sometimes:  "Weekley, 60, was invited to preach at Morningside as part of the church’s 17th anniversary as a Reconciling Ministry, a movement within the United Methodists Church to welcome LGBT parishioners."

As if to prove themselves as backwards as ever, a Catholic priest blames Satan for Holmes' attack in Colorado.  Uhhhh yes, the guy was demon-possessed in the same sense that the 'demon-possessed' characters in the Bible were demon-possessed, i.e., mentally ill.

Meanwhile, in Australia, the identity of a pedophile priest is kept secret and his victim commits suicide.  The victim's name appears prominently in this article.  What is wrong with the world?

Nuns on the Bus tour ends in Washington, D.C.  One of my friends from Wisconsin met them and she thought they were awesome.  I used to think nuns were just mean old hags who swatted boys on the hand (h/t George Carlin)

Another nun gets into trouble with the Vatican for saying things like "Any policy that is more pro-fetus than actually pro-life, if the rights of the unborn trump all the rights of those that were already born, that is a distortion."  Ahhh those modern-day Eves, trying to drag down the good ole boys...  Sister Pat wants to feed the poor and clothe the homeless... *sigh*  Silly woman.

The Southern Baptists are having trouble keeping up the bigotry.

Zombies counter-protest the Westboro Baptist Church.  Sadly, they found no brains to snack on.

A Baptist Church in Mississippi manages to make WBC look progressive.  The pastor, supposed to be a spiritual leader who does what's right, is too much of a coward to stand up to the bigots who don't want him to conduct a marriage ceremony between two black people who attend the church because they are black.

First female Episcopal bishop.   I still heart the Episcopal Church except for the part where you have to believe in a supernatural deity, take part in a cannibalistic ceremony, and listen to people read from a collection of fairy tales.

Louisiana's voucher system could pay for kids to go to evolution-denying schools.    Supposedly, the schools kids can use state cash for have to meet the same standards as public schools... in everything but biology.  *sigh*

Another reason not to fund creationism-based public education: Kids can go to creationism-based Vacation Bible School to learn that drivel.

One of Chik Fil-A's evangelical supporters admits he's gay (or gay-ish?)

Apparently female televangelists can be homosexual hypocrites, too.

With so many of their leaders turning out to be homosexual, why are evangelicals promoting homophobia in Africa?  Mormons are in on this, too. 

Colorado shooter was seeing whom????

News reports say he was seeing a psychiatrist but when you look her up at Healthgrade, it says she's  physiatrist, a physical therapist! But.... UCompare says she's a psychiatrist.  Maybe she's both!  On the hospital's site it says she is.

Not to be a snob... okay I'll be a snob... but if I'm having paranoid delusions and hearing voices, I would not go to someone who can't make up her mind whether to specialize in the mind or the body.  Sure, the mind lives in the body, but seriously....

And checking pubmed, she hasn't published anything in five years.  In academia, for someone on a tenure track this is really really weak.

CNN is having trouble verifying her credentials, too.  If she's been getting grant money to study schizophrenia, the granting agencies should demand a refund.  She hasn't published anything on schizophrenia so where's the evidence she was really qualified to help this guy?

The sadder thing is that after he was no longer a student she probably could no longer see him.  That should be the one big exception to insurance company plans.  My brother had this problem too.  He got fired due to his schizophrenia and then couldn't see his doctor any more.  Of course he could have paid cash but...  *sigh*  When someone leaves work due to a broken leg they can see their doctor and come back when their leg is healed.  When they get sick with a mental illness their entire support system goes *poof* due to the very thing they need support for.

You'd think grad schools would have wised up after the University of Iowa shooting.  They need good mental health providers and support for people who are disappointed.  Instead of having a psychiatrist on their staff who has many duties, they should pay for sick students to go to the best shrink in town.  It's not just enlightened self-interest, it's the right thing to do.

Debate Video with TWO unbelievers!

Sam Harris and Michael Shermer take on Deepak Chopra and a woman who can't get in a word edgwise.  Listen for a priceless line by Deepak Chopra at 23:39 and at 28:40 one by Sam Harris.

This is one of the rare times when a "debate" included equal numbers on both sides. Usually a lone skeptic/atheist is up against half a dozen believers.

The week in links

Tom Vilsack is an individual who works for the government and says prayers that appear to be answered but not for the people he prayed for.  This is not unconstitutional!  (but it is a waste of taxpayer money if he does it on the clock)  It pains me when atheists make a fuss oversomething that's not illegal.  If anything, he should be taken to task for not explaining to the farmers who voted Republican that they are being punished by God.

Missouri will vote on the stupidest law ever.  Someone has told these cretins that the First Amendment can prevent them from praying in public.  Someone needs to explain to Missourians the difference between praying in public as a citizen and praying in public as a public official.

Got Prayer?  2700 students gather for "Prayer Fest."  Because just praying in your church isn't good enough to get God's attention.

Katie Holmes returns to the Catholic church, which she was brought up in,  and enrolls Suri in a posh Catholic school (@ almost $40k/year).  I didn't even know there were any posh Catholic schools!  If going to the school that produced Lady Gaga is an improvement over a Scientology education, I really wonder about that Scientology "education."

Why Scientologists buy the Xenu story.  "OK, so there's a galactic overlord named Xenu. Big deal. That's not the craziest thing you're going to hear on your way to spending three hundred thousand dollars."

An evangelical Christian has written a book called The Mormonization of America.  Oh horrors!  The other side is prosletyzing too!  You can't make this stuff up.

An evangelical blogger takes other evangelicals to task for a lack of intellectual and scholarly integrity.  He ends his blog post by saying he's open to criticism.

Referenced in the above blog post:  The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, a 1995 book that apparently still holds true.  The first sentence:  "The scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is no evangelical mind."

Westboro Baptist Church plans to "super-picket" funerals in Aurora, Colorado.  Oh goody.  Just what the situation calls for: more theatre.

The Episcopal Church approves same-sex marriage ceremony officially, but they're not calling the ceremony a marriage ceremony.  Uhhh okaaaaay

In Australia, priests may be required to report crimes they hear about in confession. 

Strange faith healing technique:  kicking people in the face.  The article says the guy is all over youtube so of course I had to check.  Many of the videos label him a "false" healer (as if there are true ones) or "false teacher."  The Holy Spirit said "Kick her in the Face."  Yes, he said it!  Then, at other times he sounds like a bad Bill Clinton imitator.  (Go to 4:30 to see his imitation of Clinton masturbating)

Relax, America. "Batman" isn't a Religion

Like a dummy, I've been watching the news about the Batman shooting, and just shaking my head.  Sure, this is tragic, and the guy who did it is something of a mystery at the moment, but you don't have to be afraid to go to the movies because...

BATMAN IS NOT A RELIGION!!!

Only a religion can spur copycats or fund groups of sleeper cells to attack people because for an idea.  When a lone individual becomes obsessed with Batman and wants to make a violent splash, that does not in any way indicate that other people will take the same violent actions.  It just indicates that one psychotic individual came up with a plan to kill lots of people at one time for his own reasons.  It doesn't mean that movie theatres can't open tonight.  It doesn't mean you have to wear bullet proof vests to get your popcorn.  It will be okay.  Really.

4chan is not promising an afterlife peopled with big-busted cartoon whores to mass killers.  Comic Con will not give out free tickets to autograph signings to terrorists.  Stan Lee isn't pulling strings behind the scenes preparing a cabal of cult followers to do his evil bidding.   (that we know of)

It takes a religion to create an army of like-minded murderous terrorists.  When the tear gas settles, it will turn out that the shooter is a paranoid schizophrenic who had been unhinged for awhile before concocting his plot.  There will not be a spate of movie theatre killings, just as there has not been a spate of shopping mall killings after the few rare shopping mall shootings.

It is safe to eat at Luby's.  Or McDonald's.  Or at the food court at the local mall.

Crazy people are everywhere and only some of them have a gun and a chip on their shoulder.  They are like lightning or tornadoes.  They are not organized terrorists looking for "soft targets" just so they can kill YOU.

Now that the cat is out of the bag, there may indeed be another movie theatre shooting.  Or maybe someone will decide he can get a bigger body count at a high school football game.  Maybe a college graduation ceremony.  Anywhere you can find "targets," some nut case with too many bullets may decided to wipe you out.  But what are the odds?

So American Media, settle the fuck down.