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19th-Apr-2007 11:13 am
Samurai Cat
Fox News, that bastion of rational thought, brings us this on the mass murders at Virginia Tech:

Did the Devil Make Him Do It?


When unexplained violence takes center stage, we tend to turn to modern psychology to explain it.

But there is an alternative explanation, one that has been played out in film, stage and writings since the beginning of history.

Was Cho Seung-Hui schizophrenic … psychotic … manic-depressive? Or were the shooting deaths of 32 people, including Cho himself, at Virginia Tech University part of the ongoing struggle between God and Satan … good against evil … lightness and darkness?

Could Cho have been possessed by the Devil? Could that explain the massacre at Virginia Tech?

Dr. Richard Roberts, president of Oral Roberts University, shouts an unequivocal “Yes!”

“Based on what I’ve seen in the news," Roberts said in an interview, "there’s no doubt that this act was Satanic in origin."


I find it very sad to think that The Age of Enlightenment was no more than a blip on history's radar. It's bad enough that the Bush packed Supreme Court is working hard to relegate women back to full second-class citizenship (as opposed to the maybe, 1.5 class we'd attained), but now we're back to this. What's next? Psychiatrists with a specialization in exorcism?
Comments 
19th-Apr-2007 04:28 pm (UTC)
We live in a marketing world. Satanic evil is a far more cool idea to buy into than that this guy may have been in need of serious help which he didn't get (which doesn't excuse what he did, but still). If it's evil, there's nothing anyone could have done, and no one is to blame for not doing anything. Convenient logic, isn't it?
19th-Apr-2007 04:37 pm (UTC)
Oh, yeah. Chickenshit thinking. How can I make this not my fault in any way, form or fashion? Oh! I know! It's the Devil! That's the ticket! It's not underfunding of mental health resources or lack of adequate health care or the insistence that pot hunters need semi-automatic handguns to keep from starving! No! It's a supernatural force that only another supernatural force can combat.

It's the coward's way out.
19th-Apr-2007 04:46 pm (UTC)
Cowardly, yes. And lazy, too. Which in this case I feel is worse. I can respect healthy fear. I can't respect someone who just can't be bothered.
19th-Apr-2007 05:05 pm (UTC)
I can respect fear. I can't respect cowardice. Cowardice is a response to fear... just like courage is.
19th-Apr-2007 04:46 pm (UTC) - Schizoid tendencies
Anonymous
Definitely Schrizophrenic, ideation paranoia symptoms, hyper-unsociability traits, abuse ideation maybe. etc.
19th-Apr-2007 05:07 pm (UTC) - Re: Schizoid tendencies
I'm not a shrink and I don't play one on tv, but yeah, I'd say he definitely had a serious screw loose. ;-)
19th-Apr-2007 04:48 pm (UTC) - Fair. Balanced. Wacko.
OTOH, the debil made me buy a muffin this morning, so it makes sense to me.

Anyway, don't they keep conducting surveys that show that something like two thirds of Americans believe in angels?
19th-Apr-2007 05:12 pm (UTC)
Baked goods purchases are an *entirely* different matter. Of course the Imp of Desire forced you into that one.

I wonder, though, how many of those 2/3 who believe in angels believe in angels who take an active role in people's lives to the point of possessing them and making them do terrible things? Or good things?
19th-Apr-2007 06:36 pm (UTC)
Good question, fewer surely. But the concept of guardian angels seems anecdotaly commmon. It doesn't seem like a huge leap to propose the opposite.

But I've always thought it was hilarious that many people who do believe in angels seem to think they're these new agey fairy beings that fly around blessing kittens or something. I've haven't read the entire Bible but a lot of the bits that mention angels are generally on the scary side. Of course, fairies have gone through a similar change. I blame the Victorians :)
19th-Apr-2007 07:12 pm (UTC)
The Victorians do have a lot to answer for. And if angels are blessing kittens, I'm *very* pissed because they aren't keeping much of an eye on the four little monsters currently living in my bedroom.

To be honest, the only interesting angels I can think of are of the slightly bumbling Guardian type (think Clarance or that Carol Burnett episode of Twilight Zone) or the Warrior of God types.
19th-Apr-2007 08:38 pm (UTC)
Have you read Preacher? It kinda contains both those types ;)

My favorite angel movie is the first of the Prophecy series, mainly because of Christopher Walken... but It's a Wonderful Life is probably a close second.
19th-Apr-2007 09:03 pm (UTC)
Those were actually the two I was thinking of. Oh, and Dogma. :-) But I *loved* the way the Prophesy angels perched on things in their long coats. ;-)

Not familiar with The Preacher, though.
19th-Apr-2007 10:20 pm (UTC)
Hmmm... that makes me think-I need some icons from that movie. Dogma was great, too. I wish Constantine had lived up to it's potential, Tilda Swinton wasm

Preacher was a comic by Garth Ennis, who also wrote for the Constantine comic (Hellblazer) for a while, it's graphically violent and very obscene, but also hilarious and very smart. Plus it's available in trades.

http://preacher.alwaysmad.com/
19th-Apr-2007 10:27 pm (UTC)
Sounds like it might not be work safe, so I'll wait and look at it at home. ;-)
19th-Apr-2007 05:06 pm (UTC)
I suppose that's one theory. I'm still not completely convinced he was schizophrenic either. Possible. Certainly more possible than any demonic control. There were clips of the video he submitted to NBC available online. I didn't catch everything, but he did mention something about faith in Jesus. Not being Christian I may need clarification on this, but would a devil-possessed individual be capable of declaring faith in Jesus?
19th-Apr-2007 05:14 pm (UTC)
Given that the concept of demonic possession by Satan is a Christian tenant (just as Satanism is an offshoot of Christianity), I'd be shocked he weren't. After all, if I were a mythical evil entity, why would I bother possessing people who didn't believe in me or fear me? Where's the sport in that?
20th-Apr-2007 02:57 am (UTC)
*pigsnorts*

Maybe we should send them a copy of Penn and Teller's Bullshit! episode on Exorcism.
20th-Apr-2007 03:01 am (UTC)
I don't think they'd understand it.

"Why doesn't the little guy talk? Thinks he's better than us!"

20th-Apr-2007 03:06 am (UTC)
Pour olive oil on his head and shout, "Get out!" That'll work. *snort*
20th-Apr-2007 03:10 am (UTC)
LOL!
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