Darwinists anxious to avoid blame in Aurora, Colorado, theatre massacre

_{Denyse O'Leary

July 22, 2012

Culture, Darwinism, News}

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Doesn’t it say volumes that some people think anyone who actually has information WAS blaming Darwin?

In those mass murders where Darwin has been blamed, the accused was actually invoking Darwin himself. See for example, the Columbine massacre, the Finnish school shooter, Jeffrey Dahmer’s crimes, and Anders Breivik’s widely unnoticed interest in Darwin.

They said it. That’s the reason Darwin was blamed. No one was making up what the accuseds said.

So why are some rushing already to exonerate Darwin … ? Do they believe that the accused in the Aurora case will in fact turn out to have channelled Darwin, as investigators unravel the tragedy?

That wouldn’t be unusual, as the record shows, but hardly necessary.

It matters when that is true because ideas have consequences.

Here, by the way some details re the shooter emerge. More.

Comments

Sounds like Holmes is only one tearful repentance away from Heaven....how nice! I'm sure his victims will be thrilled to hear he's really, really sorry about the whole 'Batman thing' when they meet him. In the meantime any atheists Mr. Holmes managed to murder are right now burning in hell. This minute....and forever. Praise Jesus.Bartax_{July 22, 2012
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CY: Spot on as usual. Maybe, BT will be stirred to rethink. KFkairosfocus_{July 22, 2012
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BT: First of all, you have resorted to namecalling, which is over the line. You need to walk that back. Second, CY -- thanks (AGAIN!) for watching my 6 -- is right. The Baptists (and my native land was deeply shaped by a native Baptist church tracing to black American C18 baptists such as George Liele, Moses Baker and co) are in fact working under the exact texts I have cited. Some may be full-bore Calvinists, but in that context "total depravity" amounts to saying much as I described: we ALL struggle with the limitations of being finite, fallible, fallen (in ways that affect our whole life and all our faculties), morally struggling and too often ill-willed. It does not mean that we are all as bad as we can be all the time. It does mean that the path of virtue is a struggle of a long obedience in the same direction. Or, as Rom 2 highlights:
Rom 2:6 God “will give to each person according to what he has done.”[a] 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger . . . 11 For God does not show favoritism.
In short, each of us is responsible to persist in the way of the truth and the right s/he knows or should know. Which includes penitence when we stumble and determination to keep going towards the right. Finally, you have managed to wrench scripture badly out of context. Hate -- as Jesus pointed out in the Sermon on the Mount (which his cousin John was alluding to) -- is the moral precursor to murder, is just as wrong before God as the carried out deed, and too often is acted out through the horrific physical deed. For instance in the case in view, if the evidently guilty man is sane enough to know he was doing wrong, he had to have been willfully intent on robbing innocents of their lives. With the booby trapped apartment it looks like he intended to rob police officers of their lives and maybe his neighbours in the Apt Block. Murder is the ultimate hate crime, and mass murder points to a misanthrope. That said, murderers can become penitents, and can be forgiven. The penitent thief on the cross next to Jesus was apparently a party to murderous brigandage as part of insurrection. He found forgiveness on the gibbet, and a gracious -- undeserved (none of us deserve forgiveness and eternal life) -- welcome. The apostle Paul, conscious of his murderous persecutions, acknowledged himself exhibit no 1 on being the worst of sinners. He too found forgiveness. In short, the reasonable force of the text is that an impenitent murderer has not got eternal life. But, one may turn and find repentance and forgiveness. Indeed, a man I own as friend is a murder convict here, who was literally sitting in his cell hearing the gallows being set up and tested for him. A man who reached out to him brought the gospel and hope. Her Majesty at just that time said enough and insisted on abolition of hanging in territories under her crown. He was thus saved from the rope in a context that led to penitence and transformation so complete that he freely walks back and forth between his cell and his rehabilitation job in the shop now operated by that man's children. He is forgiven and transformed through godly discipleship. Which is exactly what the fuller counsels of the scriptures would lead us to expect. As well as 2,000 years of cases in point. KFkairosfocus_{July 22, 2012
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Bartax, "Tell that to the preachers at the state penitentiary. Death row? Pah! They’re just wasting their time – God says so." Your understanding of the Christian concept of redemption is sorely lacking. Look into it. You might actually learn something of value. One person who wrote those passages, Paul, (the Ephesians passages) was a murderer himself. So through the gospel he was redeemed. The key here though is that he did not continue to murder. His life was changed. And that's what the Christian gospel is about - a changed life. If there is no changed life, then the message is that faith is useless. But I'm sensing that discussing these issues with you is also useless. Have a good day.CannuckianYankee_{July 22, 2012
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TIL: I am aware of the Christian tradition of pacifism, which has emphasised texts such as you have cited. However, once we move to the citizen in community level, such is balanced by say Rom 13:1 - 10, where we see the state and its officials armed with the sword in defence of the civil peace of justice in a world in which there are many wolfish criminals around; which includes the organised responsible citizenry. That is the specific context -- and there is a considerable body of relevant biblical, theological and historical scholarship --in which I have suggested as a common sense step, that we need a significant civilian Marshals service in a terrorism-haunted world (which, BTW, is not the same as saying any and everyone can go buy a gun and tote it around like it was the Wild West movies). Mumbai 2008 is a good indicator on that. In short, somebody has to be the protective shepherd if sheep are to safely graze. I suggest you may find my discussion here on in context -- cf esp section E on the roots of modern democratic self government -- helpful. KFkairosfocus_{July 22, 2012
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Speaking of snippets....
Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.
Tell that to the preachers at the state penitentiary. Death row? Pah! They're just wasting their time - God says so. (No doubt there's some serpentine bolus of theology to iron out that little wrinkle, but hey....it's a living, right?)Bartax_{July 22, 2012
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News, Since we're discussing the shooter, I found another link on your Hufpo link to a video of Holmes when he was 18 (6 years ago)....: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/22/james-eagen-holmes-science-camp-video_n_1692991.html "His presentation is on 'temporal illusion,' which he defines as "an illusion that allows you to change the past." He says he studies subjective experience, calling it 'what takes place inside the mind, as opposed to the external world.'" Pure speculation here, but on another blog I frequent they're discussing whether Holmes is mentally ill, given that his mother knew pretty much right away that he was the shooter when called by police. I also figured out that the way he was dressed - in all black, and tactical gear with helmet, throat and groin protectors and a gas mask are very reminiscent of a similar costume warn by a fictional mass killer in a Uwe Boll movie from 2009 called "Rampage." The similarities are striking. The gas mask from the crime scene was photographed by the media and it's the same as the one in the movie. Given that Holmes told the police: "I'm the Joker," and then told them that there were booby traps in his apartment, some in the defense are going to be thinking that Holmes lives his favorite movie characters. They're going to make the case that the guy did not know the difference between fantasy and reality; that he believed he could "change the past." Where this is potentially going though does not diminish the evil nature of the crime, nor the perpetrator's responsibility. But I think an insanity defense is probably already being built, and these will certainly be some of the issues.CannuckianYankee_{July 22, 2012
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Bartax, "‘Salvation by grace alone’ with a side-dish of ‘Total depravity’just happens to be the textbook dogma of a substantial denomination of Christians. Hint: they’re called Baptists!" Hint: Baptists are no different than any other evangelical-leaning denomination that accepts the Bible as authoritative; including the passages quoted by KF; your little out of context snippet notwithstanding.CannuckianYankee_{July 22, 2012
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This is a case of ill-informed, assertive hostility and outright slander in action.
No it isn't you windbag. 'Salvation by grace alone' with a side-dish of 'Total depravity'just happens to be the textbook dogma of a substantial denomination of Christians. Hint: they're called Baptists! Slanderous! Really, Kairosfocus, your studied, reactionary, professional outrage and constant demands for an apology from anyone who might disagree with you is hilarious. Feel the faux outrage!!Bartax_{July 22, 2012
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Holmes studies zebra finches and hummingbirds? Ah, those evil ornithologists! We must ban bird watching!A Gene_{July 22, 2012
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Hello kairofocus, as Christians we try to live by Jesus' commandments... and we were persecuted by thousands. In the United States more than 4000 Christians (JWs) were incarcerated in federal prisons for refusing to bear arms. Jesus commanded us: "Continue to love your enemies, to do good to those hating you." (Luke 6:27; Matthew 22:39) When one of his disciples tried to defend him with a sword, Jesus told him: "Return your sword to its place, for all those who take the sword will perish by the sword." (Matthew 26:52) IMHO Jesus showed us by his example that arming yourself is not the solution. Especially if your're aiming for everlasting life. TobiJWTruthInLove_{July 22, 2012
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More re Holmes: Was in a neuroscience doctorate program. Mystery deepens: (doesn't seem like overtly unsuccessful person) In a resume posted on Monster.com, Holmes listed himself as an "aspiring scientist" and said he was looking for a job as a laboratory technician, the Associated Press reported. The resume described how Holmes worked as a summer intern at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla in 2006 and mapped the neurons of Zebra finches and studied the flight muscles of hummingbirds while he was an undergraduate at UC Riverside. He also worked one summer as a counselor at a camp for underprivileged children. The chief executive at Camp Max Straus said Holmes worked there in 2008 and "had no incidents or disciplinary concerns."News_{July 22, 2012
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TIL: I see at your link:
On the "Debunking Christianity" blog, Cathy Cooper argues that Christian belief encourages the idea that all people are sinful, but that all believers are saved by faith alone. "Christianity provides believers with a basis for the belief that they are absolved from taking responsibility for their own bad behavior" . . .
This is a case of ill-informed, assertive hostility and outright slander in action. Let me just clip a little from the original source of the Evangelical Christian faith she is targetting, on correction. Including, first, the particular text she is wrenching utterly out of context:
Eph 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. 1 Jn 3:7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8 He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. 9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother. 11 This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 12 Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 15 Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him. 16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 1 Cor 6:9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. Eph 4:17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more. 20 You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. 21 Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. 25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26 “In your anger do not sin”[d]: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. 28 He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.
In short, Ms Cooper needs to openly retract and frankly apologise for her slanderous misrepresentation of the Christian Faith, and its adherents. Yes, Christians, like others struggle with the implications of being finite, fallible, morally fallen/struggling and too often ill-willed, and yes there are points in the history of the church and in the lives of Christians that show this all too glaringly [which tends to receive one sided emphasis by today's jaundiced debunkers . . . ], but it is also emphatically the case that the Christian faith and its adherents have made a great contribution to moral progress across the world for 2,000 years; much of this traceable to the specific teachings as just sampled that directly and unequivocally connect salvation by grace through to holiness and moral transformation to the good and the resulting doing good in life, church, family and community. In short, the things that are often talked about under the headings: discipleship, repentance, transformation, sanctification, holiness, renewal, reformation and the like. Not that I am holding my breath, on the regrettable track record of today's aggressive atheistical advocates. And I notice teh media seemingly gleefully report such assertions without balance, as though they were established fact. As for Mr Myers' "Christianity is ****-poor at doing more than providing lip-service against violence, but it’s at best a passive enabler," he should be required to publicly apologise on the long history that he sweeps away with a vulgarity and a slanderous false, turnabout assertion. Let him start by looking at say the track record of Prison Fellowship or the Salvation Army, just to begin getting his facts straight. Since it is liable to come up, I would note on such a mass-shooting [have we forgotten Mumbai etc (where ordinary people are not armed and arms are very hard to get)], that the first thing is, why is there a large crowd in a terrorism-haunted age, without specifically armed and trained individuals? Have we not heard of "soft targets"? Or, that here is nothing a hawk loves like a nice, fat, peaceable dove -- for lunch? Why is it that the theatre chain takes such a stance that reportedly people who have concealed carry permits are blocked or even removed from its theatres? Have we forgotten that the consistent pattern of these mass shootings is that they stop shortly after the first armed responders -- voluntary and impromptu or official (usually, much later) -- show up and take decisive action? So, why not take steps to assure that no major crowd event is more than a few seconds away from a first responder? And as for the notion that a nation that has such porous borders and such a high incidence of criminality could stop those determined to do this sort of thing by imposing tighter gun laws, let me just say that when guns are banned, the outlaws will have the guns. Which is exactly what happened here. This man knew he was tackling a soft target. So: how long before someone will pull another Ft Hood? I suggest it is time that a civilian Marshall corps be formed, trained and armed. The concealed carry permit system looks like a good start point for that. With enough of these around, there will be sufficient likelihood that there are few soft targets to dissuade those inclined to shoot people like fish in a barrel. KF PS: JS, it is a little less simple and unconnected than you make it out to be. First, cf here on the inescapable IS-OUGHT gap problem of evo mat, and then here on how long ago this has been highlighted (with Alcibiades as exhibit 1). There is reason to be concerned about a system that in the voice of scientism [which claims or implies that all knowledge must come with the imprimatur of "science], as well as here on the specific, painful but well documented links highlighted by Weikart (and others). This discussion of a book by Phillips may also be helpful in starting the clearing out a lot of cobwebs.kairosfocus_{July 22, 2012
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Well said jstanley. It seems that despite the spin of this post, the darwinists were not the first to bring up Darwin in this tragedy. It was Rick Warren and a republican politician.O'leary found a backdoor way to make hay of the tragedy.smiddyone_{July 22, 2012
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jstanley01, sometimes patterns in offenses are important. They may enable us to assess threats better. Some of us are quite interested to know why Holmes decided to withdraw from neuroscience, and whether that decision figured in his subsequent actions. Very few people commit mass murder because their hamster dies. But some fields of science become an obsession for a few individuals who are at risk to go on to commit massacres. It may useful to gather information on the patterns: What fields? Why?News_{July 22, 2012
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A psychopath is going to find a rationale for his actions, whether it's from the Bible or Darwin or Karl Marx or Adolph Hitler is incidental. Which in my book makes anyone, on any side of the "culture war," who attempts to make political hay of the tragedies they cause a borderline sociopath him- or herself.jstanley01_{July 22, 2012
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The atheists have begun blaming the shooting on Christianity: http://debunkingchristianity.blogspot.de/2012/07/why-james-holmes-rampage-is-result-of.htmlJWTruthInLove_{July 22, 2012
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He was a graduate student in neuroscience and apparently very smart. I wonder what he believed about the human brain?tragic mishap_{July 22, 2012
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