Two Killed In Knoxville Church

[Blisspath]

Two members of a unitarian church in my hometown were killed this past Sunday. The man who killed them was tackled by church members before he could reload his shotgun.
I used to work with a woman who went to this church. She was excited to find a church that would take her and her life partner. She always seemed to be reading books like "What The Bible Really Says About Gays and Lesbians". To me it seemed she was looking for acceptance by her Christian parents(who lived in Ohio) and I felt bad for her.
The blame game has already started because of right wing books by Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly found in the shooter's home. It gives the anti-gun people a voice to talk about the ignorant people in the South. I don't really like O'Reilly myself but blaming him for the actions of a madman is just wrong. That is like saying Jodie Foster was to blame for Hinckley shooting Reagan.
From what I have read of the letter it showed that this man was upset with liberals because his food stamps were cut. If anyone would cut food stamps it would be conservatives..so it shows how ignorant the man was. He also was upset with his ex-wife who at one time was a member and still frequented the church sometimes.
He will be charged with a hate crime and hopefully will be put to death(yeah we do that here) within a year to save the taxpayers some money.

The people here are upset and are praying for the families of the victims. Any anger or blame positioned by some because this is the south just shows their ignorance and hate for the people that live here.
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/jul/29/suspects-note-cites-liberal-movement-church-attack/
http://www.amazon.com/What-Bible-Really-About-Homosexuality/dp/188636009X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1217335961&sr=8-2

[Beldaran]

I'm going do plug my nose and defend Hannity and O'Reilly.

I remember after the Columbine shootings, anyone who played DOOM or listened to Marylin Manson at my high school was called in for interviews with the principle and you could literally get a psych evaluation on your record if you said the wrong things. Popular kids were reporting "nerds" for being "weird" and therefore potential shooters.

I think Sean Hannity is a vapid, no good, republican shill with terrible ideas. I think O'Reilly is a blustering old fuck who needs to retire and/or die.

But I can't even begin to indict their form of media for this psychopath's behavior.

It's a terrible tragedy.

[rock_nog]

Obviously, it's just rationalization - it's a coping mechanism. I wouldn't take it personally - people just have a need to find some external source of blame in situations like this. It's somehow less terrifying if you believe that the source of blame is something you can control. The last time I remember a church getting shot up, it was by this atheist kid, and suddenly the media wanted to make a big deal out of that and suggest that his being an atheist had anything to do with the shooting.

Which leads to another point - sensationalism. The media will put any spin on a story they can if they think it'll attract more attention (which, incidentally, explains jack-offs like Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly, but that's neither here nor there). This is just absolutely horrible, though, and Unitarians, of all people. Oy...

I gotta say, though - I find it ironic that he was apparently this die-hard anti-liberal conservative, and yet he was on food stamps.

[The Desperado]

I hate O'Reily and Hannity and Savage, but like others here have said, they had nothing to do with this and should be free of blame. You cannot blame the actions of one person on another.

[AlphaDawg]

At one time, I had an Al Franken book next to an Ann Coulter book on my bookshelf. So if I were to go crazy and kill a couple of people who would they blame?

The story Blisspath linked to is an unadulterated piece of journalistic excrement. I own copies of the three books seized by the police, I've been out of work for nine months now, and I occasionally rant about loony liberals on these forums and elsewhere. Am I one that should be watched now?

Also, am I correct to assume the police seized only those three books and nothing else? No other books, no computers, no other writings by the suspect were taken? Are you kidding me?

[Skulkraken]

The police probably seized other things from the shooter's house as well. If the guy is going to be in court, it's pretty much guaranteed, I'd wager. More likely, the article simply ignored those things in favor of writing about those three books.

[AlphaDawg]

... More likely, the article simply ignored those things in favor of writing about those three books.Yeah, that's basically what I was getting at. Why would the author feel the need to mention only those three books? I've read all three and they are harmless tomes. They're definitely not the Anarchist Cookbook!

[ZTC]

That kind of sensonational jouronalism is worse that a steaming pile of shit that came out of a horse that ate a gitantic can of beans.

Is the guy in a state where they can give the death peanlity? The media can go fuck itself. :/