J. W. Man charged in 8 rural Virginia shooting deaths

by koolaid-man 21 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  skeeter1

  You can leave a comment on the article.

  What is strange is that he wanted a "concealed weapon permit." How does the Watchtower view that? I can see some saying it's for "self-defense", bu how bad could rural Virginia be? Plus, it's just more likely to be used to murder.

  Sounds like he was seeing a therapist. The "Friends" are going to blame the pyschologist as quickly as we blame the high control religion.

  It sounds like his mother's death and property battle stewed his pot to the breaking point. He was never married, so he was likely very close to his mother. He may have thought that she would never die in this system of things. The property battle, I wonder if it was greed. Why couldn't he share the land with his sister? Greed, disfellowshipping, pride?

  Time will answer, or not.

  Skeeter
• 

  wha happened?

  Death of a one's Mother and a property dispute afterwards can bring an enormous amount of pressure and stress. Pressure to the point of self destruction
• 

  blondie

  I understand that the WTS is mostly concerned about people who carry guns in their employment.

  I have known of jws who hunt, including elders, so having a gun legally for such reasons is not the issue. Gun laws are different in the US than in Europe and vary from state to state as to how rigid the laws are (once again do not assume that 300 million people in the US are living under the same laws).
• 

  Nathan Natas

  Obviously this guy had problems, perhaps both psychological (grief) and physical (tinnitus?).

  Witnesses will say that this could happen with people from ANY religion, and of course they are correct.

  The religion of Jehovah's Witnesses is not special in any way, regardless of what they say from the Kingdom Hall platform.

  Jehovah's Magic Spirit is as helpful at solving problems as the Magic Spirit found in any other church or temple: 100% useless.

  Oh wait! Eight innocent people now have the promise of a resurrection. Hallelujah!
• 

  sir82

  Just a question: A lot of people call themselves "Jehovah's Witnesses" when they clearly are not. Maybe they were raised as one, maybe they studied with JWs for years, but never attended, nor even got baptized.

  This guy identified himself as a "JW" to his "co-workers", according to the article. Was he really one - or did he just say he was one, due to believing in their teachings?

  Anyone on the board live around this area, or know JWs from there? This would be flaming through the JW gossip mill if an active, true JW member went on such a shooting spree.
• 

  WingCommander

  I grew up a JW, parents were JW's. My father always had about 2 guns. Big deal.

  I don't hunt (although I wouldn't mind) and the general concensus here in Pennsylvania (which is basically JW Mecca along with Bethel) is that as long as you hunted and ate what you killed, and not just hunted for sport (antlers, trophy) that it was ok.

  I myself have around 8 firearms, all of which are custom in some way and accurate to the "T", some for competition. I shoot at my pistol or rifle range once week, 100-150 rounds a week. I love to shoot targets, period. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with killing people, being a big-shot, etc. It has to due with accuracy, skill, determination, focus, discipline, etc.

  I do however have a permit to carry concealed, and I have (1) small 9mm just for that purpose. No one is going to draw on me or my family or threaten our lives. I won't be turning the other check any time soon if someone pulls a gun on me.

  - Wing Commander
• 

  purplesofa

  For a religion that is very young, think of the horrific crimes of the people that are of the religion or has been associated with it.
• 

  JWoods

  Were the sister and brother-in-law also Witnesses, or was the shooter the only one?
• 

  minimus

  In Haiti, the angels protected the branch. Those that went to "higher education" were not protected.

  It's funny how Jehovah God chooses who he will save and who he will not.

  What spin will the Watchtower put on this situation?
• 

  WTWizard

  A witless that has guns as his main interest--who liked to shoot more than hunt. How many times have I heard talks where witlesses that had guns were just about ordered to get rid of them, even when they were to be used in self defense?

  Well, this is just one more embarrassment for the witlesses. Here is someone that was not recruited from a prison or mental institution, but was an active witless while on the workplace. And, I would assume that partially because of the extra pressure of being a witless, he had nowhere else to discharge his emotions other than to shoot people--for sure, a true Christian paradigm would not be such a burden that it would prevent people from finding a better outlet than shooting people.

  I hope this case gets on all the mainstream news sources throughout Virginia, and they pass a state law banning the religion after finding that it produces stagnation and unbearable pressure, and makes leaving extremely difficult and painful after scamming people to join.