VA shooting suspect was raised a JW! He mentions it on his Twitter account

by WingCommander 324 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Billyblobber

  LoveUni,

  If you, as a white person, had a ten year long narrative of thinking that every black person around you was screwing you over for being white (but also thought that gay white men were also screwing you over because you're straight), and then after a black guy blew up a white civil rights church and said he was out to get all white people and the race war had started - you killed two of the people you thought were purposely were trying to get you, I would say you were paranoid delusional with the main focus being perceived attacks on your race and sexuality.

  That's because the psychological trigger in your case is imagined external persecution as opposed to your perceived superiority based on race. Swapping the races makes no difference in that case, the conclusion would still be the same.
  
  
• 

  Simon

  He was not mentally ill.

  Mentally ill people cannot help their actions or often even realize them. They can be helped with treatment of course and this is where some of the confusion comes in because people with negative personality traits can also be helped with treatment and counselling. But it doesn't mean they are mentally ill.

  He was an incompetent asshole who thought he was more important that his abilities warrantied, not mentally ill.

  He was a jerk who couldn't control his temper, not mentally ill.

  He was a fool who didn't accept the help that was offered to him, not mentally ill.

  All his claims are excuses for his own failings. He couldn't do his job and it had to be other people's fault or because he was gay or because he was black. It couldn't just be because he was shit but I suspect he fully knew that was the case.

  He wanted to show the world he could be the story. Not because he was deluded or mentally ill, because he was a grade A fully paid up member of the asshole academy.
• 

  WingCommander

  Nah, he wasn't mentally ill. Jehovah spoke to him, just like he speaks to the Governing Body.

  He was as sane as a Judge.

  ***FACE PALM***
  
• 

  LoveUniHateExams

  Ok, Billyblobber, we obviously have slightly different views on this.

  I believe Vester Flanagan was racist and mentally ill; it seems you believe he was mentally ill but not racist (despite him using the phrase "white [deleted]!" and shooting two white people).

  in your case is imagined external persecution as opposed to your perceived superiority based on race - racism doesn't necessarily involve belief of superiority based on race. It can be simply verbal/physical abuse based on race, right?
• 

  flipper

  SIMON- There are lots of sociopathic people on the planet who seem to be charming , actually ABLE to fully function as normal " appearing " humans - thus deceiving others for awhile - yet they are mentally dysfunctional- unable to feel normal human emotions due to possibly chemical imbalances in their brains. When I talk about " mental illness " this is the type of person I'm referring to- Ted Bundy types who manipulate other humans for their own secret twisted purposes - yet many don't find out about them until they've blown their gasket like Mount Vesuvius and killed people- then it's too late.

  Claiming that someone has mental illness doesn't excuse them for what they do- they are STILL responsible for their actions- it's NOT making excuses- it's the reality of mental illness in our society that sociopaths and psychopaths ARE on the loose and may strike at any time, anywhere. With nobody the wiser as to when and where. It's very random
• 

  Simon

  Nah, he wasn't mentally ill. Jehovah spoke to him, just like he speaks to the Governing Body.

  While I agree that anyone who believes in religion has a mental problem it's not strictly a mental illness.

  I'm white. If I posted the phrase "black [deleted]!" on twitter and FB and then shot two black people at point blank range it would be fair to call me racist.

  I agree. Whether he genuinely believed it himself or was using it as an excuse / reason that he wasn't succeeding in life doesn't matter. White supremacists don't 100% believe that they are superior to all black people I'm sure, part of their hatred is likely that they know they are not. The logic of the reasoning doesn't matter so much as the words and the end result and judging by that it's hard to come up with many characters that would be considered more racist.

  Anyone who takes the same event (a mass shooting) and determines one is inspirational and one was tragic based solely on the race of those killed is a racist IMO.
• 

  freemindfade

  Religion is mental illness. Being something like a Jehovah's Witness forces you to turn off and rewire natural empathy. People who commit such heinous crimes as this also lack empathy. He may have no longer been a witness, but with filling a child's head with stories of the flood, the hebrew genocide of canaan, losing family and friends at Armageddon, can disrupt "mental health". With this person we may never know if the witness environment had anything to do with exacerbating his (to quote simon) asshole nature.

  Any time you can override or ignore your empathy for another innocent human to kill them in this psychotic premeditate way, I think its safe to say you have a mental problem, from within, or from an institution like a religious or militant cult.
• 

  Bungi Bill

  places like Australia, Ireland, etc where guns are completely outlawed

  Hang on a minute, Mate!

  As a licensed firearm owner who lives in Australia, I can tell you right now that that statement is bloody wrong! Firearms are not "completely outlawed" in Australia, as you just claimed they are.

  (Anyway, your following remarks contradict your first statement, when you go on to state You can own a .22 pistol or rifle .... in other words, you are admitting there that it is possible, after all, to legally own a firearm in Australia).

  My collection of rifles (all quite legal and above board) includes heavy calibre weapons as well as a .22. Also, it definitely DID NOT take me "forever" to acquire my firearms licence. In fact, it was a faster process than that required for a person to gain their first ever driver's licence.

  Further, in this country, membership of a shooting club is just one of a number of reasons a firearm's licence applicant may use as justification for owning a firearm. (Formerly a hunter, and one of my hobbies is small-bore shooting, these days my rifles are used primarily for pest control).

  Obviously (make that very obviously), the subject of firearms control is an emotional issue here:

  - But Please ......... let's keep to facts!

  Bill.
• 

  OrphanCrow

  flipper: When I talk about " mental illness " this is the type of person I'm referring to- Ted Bundy types who manipulate other humans for their own secret twisted purposes...

  Flipper, please allow me to be pedantic about your statement.

  Ted Bundy, and serial killers like him who are psychopaths, are not "mentally ill". They have a "mental disorder" that makes them different than what we think of as normal people, but they would not be classified as "ill".

  Illness implies a disease or condition that is treatable and/or curable. A psychopathic disorder is not curable - a psychopath has a permanent disorder of the mind. And, they are fully aware of what they are doing - it is their motives that are twisted and dangerous to people around them.

  Psychopaths are not sick - their condition is normal to them. "Mentally ill" is not the category that they fall into and as such, psychopaths should and can be held accountable for their actions. Mentally ill people are not neccessarilly accountable for how they behave.

  95% of mentally ill people are not violent. 95% of violent acts are committed by people who are not mentally ill.*

  *sorry...can't provide a reference...this was a statement made by a psychiatrist speaking about war veterans with PTSD.
• 

  Simon

  I agree with OrphanCrow

  Too many times the mentally ill are unfairly stigmatized due to the actions of people who are *not* mentally ill.

  They are cold, calculating, obsessive, ugly people. They are 100% responsible for the way they feel and the way they act.

  If this guy had lived and been put on trial he would not get off with any insanity claim. He was dead guilty.