2/15/2008

Dennis Prager notes that these multiple victim public shooters are irreligious

His check of multiple victim shooters indicates that these murderers are not religious individuals. I have never really compiled this information myself, though I seem to recall at least one case in Seattle where I thought that the killer was Islamic, but in any case, I accept his statement that it is quite rare that these killers are religious. Dennis' point was that if all these people were religious, the media would have made an issue of it. The fact that they are not religious makes it not interesting to the media. I think that he is correct on this.

I also agree with his concern that it is extremely disappointing to see the murderer's death included in the victim count. I have been bothered by this for years and I am glad to see Dennis mention this.

Labels:

5 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

What about Matthew Murray ?
He was the shooter that killed 4 in Colordao.
He seems to be from an ultra-religous
background.

2/15/2008 7:46 PM  
Blogger John Lott said...

Thanks, Anonymous, but I thought that he did it because he wanted to kill Christians, that he had didn't believe in God at the time of the attack.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,316398,00.html
"In between his two deadly shooting sprees, church gunman Matthew Murray apparently posted furious threats on the Internet to kill Christians."

2/15/2008 8:16 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The common thread among these multiple-victim public shooters is, of course, they are all mental ill.

2/15/2008 10:59 PM  
Blogger John Lott said...

Dear Last Anonymous:

Not all are mentally ill, in the technical sense. About half had some diagnosis of mental illness before their attacks.

2/15/2008 11:59 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I agree that the press would press home the point if the shooters had been religious or pro lifers, etc.

Invariably, the press takes the approach that tougher gun laws are the answer too.

The power of the press shouldn't ever be underestimated when it comes to influencing public opinion.

Question: Did any of these shooters possess a concealed weapon permit? If so, that would hurt the case for allowing guns on campus a bit. I hope not!

2/17/2008 8:57 PM  

Post a Comment

Links to this post:

Create a Link

<< Home