Unitarian Church shooting suspect 'hated gays, liberals'

[financeguy]

FOXNews.com - Hate Crime Investigation After Cops Say Church Shooting Suspect 'Hated' Gays, Liberals - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News

[U2democrat]

[anitram]

Well when you have large portions of society that constantly demonize gays and liberals, then why are we surprised that some people buy into it and react in extreme ways?

[BVS]

^Yeah this doesn't suprise me all that much...

[dazzledbylight]

damn people like that!

++Strength++ to all suffrering from this Atroccity!!!

I may really hate what the neocons have done to this country, but SHIT it dosen't mean I'm going to go around shooting them!!

And i was very upset about this even BEFORE i found out what the gunman said, and what kind of church it was.

[anitram]

The fella liked to read:

Adkisson told Still that since "he could not get to the leaders of the liberal movement that he would then target those that had voted them in to office."

Adkisson told officers he left the house unlocked for them because "he expected to be killed during the assault."

Inside the house, officers found "Liberalism is a Mental Health Disorder" by radio talk show host Michael Savage, "Let Freedom Ring" by talk show host Sean Hannity, and "The O'Reilly Factor," by television talk show host Bill O'Reilly.

Link.

[neutral]

[2861U2]

Originally Posted by anitram

The fella liked to read:



Link.

Come on, I pray you're smarter than this. You're blaming the books he read? I own and have read two of those books, and they don't make me want to go out and kill people.

[anitram]

Did I say anything like that? You like to imagine what people are thinking.

I think this man was probably mentally ill, or at the very least chronically clinically depressed (and untreated). The books he read don't inspire people to "go out and kill" but I think they prey on the lowest common denominator in a lot of ways, and he probably relied on them to justify his feelings of being oppressed by the liberal "elites."

[2861U2]

Originally Posted by anitram

I think this man was probably mentally ill, or at the very least chronically clinically depressed (and untreated).

No doubt he was.

Originally Posted by anitram

The books he read don't inspire people to "go out and kill" but I think they prey on the lowest common denominator in a lot of ways, and he probably relied on them to justify his feelings of being oppressed by the liberal "elites."

I think even that is a stretch. As someone who has read some of the books mentioned, they focus mainly on what is good about America. Any attacks on the left are well thought out, and in the case of Hannity's book, mostly criticisms of the Clinton administration. I think bringing up what books assassins read when it's something as minuscule as Bill O'Reilly is a bad idea. I'm sure searching the homes of Gerald Ford's assassins and President Bush's assassins one would find far worse stuff than "Let Freedom Ring."

[A stor]

No matter what book, I've read. I would never want to kill anyone. I don't even own a gun.

[anitram]

Originally Posted by 2861U2

As someone who has read some of the books mentioned, they focus mainly on what is good about America.

That may be your opinion. These people's opinions on gays do absolutely NOTHING to show me what's good about America, unless you think that bigotry is a characteristic one should be proud of.

I've also read excerpts of most of these and found them to be intolerant, and borderline hateful. My guess is that these guys (Savage, O'Reilly, Coulter, et al) are writing absurdities because they generate good business. But that was my point about the lowest common denominator - whereas a lot of people would read their crap and roll their eyes, there are also people who take what they say to heart or who think "see, I'm not the only one who thinks them gays are ruining the society!!" Feeding into people's fears and xenophobia should not be lauded.

For the record, I don't buy "leftist" books like Franken's or whoever's either, nor do I think they are productive or informative.

[MrPryck2U]

If one hates liberals, why the heck would one shoot up a church? There's none in there.

[MissMoo]

The sad thing is the guy was on food stamps a "liberal" program.

[U2democrat]

Originally Posted by MrPryck2U

If one hates liberals, why the heck would one shoot up a church? There's none in there.

You obviously are not familiar with Unitarians.

Unitarianism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

They are a VERY liberal group of Christians, to the left of mainline Protestants.

[BVS]

Originally Posted by 2861U2

Come on, I pray you're smarter than this.

Why all this inference and personal attacks lately?

[MaxFisher]

Originally Posted by MrPryck2U

If one hates liberals, why the heck would one shoot up a church? There's none in there.

[MrPryck2U]

Originally Posted by U2democrat

You obviously are not familiar with Unitarians.

Unitarianism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

They are a VERY liberal group of Christians, to the left of mainline Protestants.

Thanks for the info, U2Dem. I guess the nutjob was doing his homework. He picked the right church.

[maycocksean]

Originally Posted by anitram

My guess is that these guys (Savage, O'Reilly, Coulter, et al) are writing absurdities because they generate good business.

At the end of the day it's all about the dollar bills, ya'll.

[financeguy]

Originally Posted by 2861U2

Come on, I pray you're smarter than this. You're blaming the books he read? I own and have read two of those books, and they don't make me want to go out and kill people.

But those kind of books can contribute to an environment of hate against liberals where liberals are painted as subversive, mentally ill, anti-American, or whatever. I would draw a parallel with hardline Protestant preachers in Northern Ireland in the 1960's and early 1970's who preached that Catholics were 'subhuman', 'breeding like rabbits', that Catholics 'took their orders directly from the Pope who is the anti-Christ'. None of these preachers actually said 'It's ok to go out and kill Catholics' (they were too smart for that, but they knew what they were doing).

These preachers didn't PERSONALLY pull any triggers, or plant any bombs, but, yes, they bear part of the responsibility for terrorist activity during the Troubles.

Now the terrorists that may have been inspired by these preachers were largely psychopathic anyway, as this guy may well be also, and I am not implying that Savage, O'Reilly, et al, are complicit in murder. That would be an overly simplistic take on things, but, yes, they are partially to blame for creating that climate in the US which hopefully is now ended, where liberalism is a swear term, where questioning the President could brand you a traitor, or as Anitram put it:-

Originally Posted by Anitram

Well when you have large portions of society that constantly demonize gays and liberals, then why are we surprised that some people buy into it and react in extreme ways?

or, at the very least, they are responsible in my opinion for cheapening the political discourse.