You have company! Not sure if there is a God, He said.

You have company! Not sure if there is a God, He said.
Dec 27, 2007 07:39
JCNILE123 Points: Join Date: Mar 30, 2006 Status: offline	OMAHA, Neb. - The teen gunman who killed eight people and himself in a mall this month once told social workers he was satanic and acknowledged that he often acted before thinking of the consequences, according to newly released court records. Robert Hawkins' file includes hundreds of pages of court transcripts, drug tests and letters from caseworkers, therapists and family members. They give the clearest picture yet of a young man who told a therapist in April 2005 that "he is not sure if there is a God or life after death and that when he dies, he'll probably go to hell." Hawkins became a ward of the state in 2002, after a stay in a Missouri treatment facility for threatening to kill his stepmother. More than two years later, on Dec. 5, the 19-year-old Hawkins walked into a department store in the Westroads Mall and shot 11 people, then committed suicide.

Dec 27, 2007 07:39

JCNILE123
Points:
Join Date: Mar 30, 2006
Status: offline

OMAHA, Neb. - The teen gunman who killed eight people and himself in a mall this month once told social workers he was satanic and acknowledged that he often acted before thinking of the consequences, according to newly released court records.
Robert Hawkins' file includes hundreds of pages of court transcripts, drug tests and letters from caseworkers, therapists and family members. They give the clearest picture yet of a young man who told a therapist in April 2005 that "he is not sure if there is a God or life after death and that when he dies, he'll probably go to hell."
Hawkins became a ward of the state in 2002, after a stay in a Missouri treatment facility for threatening to kill his stepmother.
More than two years later, on Dec. 5, the 19-year-old Hawkins walked into a department store in the Westroads Mall and shot 11 people, then committed suicide.

Dec 27, 2007 08:38

GUEST10249

what are you trying to say?
Teenagers are different from adults because their frontal brains are not fully developed yet. They have poorer judgment than adults (such as connecting consequences to actions) for biological reasons. This is why teenagers have more car accidents and do stupid things adults wouldn't do. So their parents and teachers need to help them make good choices during those teenage years. What if this guy had both a) poor genes (i.e. gets angry easily, can't control emotions) b) poor nurture (did not learn how to love others). I can see how those would lead him in turbulent teenage years...

not to believe in God...
end up doing something he'll regret...

What about Buddhism? It's a form of atheism (they don't believe in God) but it still teaches people to manage their emotions and to do good. I don't see them going around killing people... it's just if you don't believe in God, you still need a spiritual practice that provides a philosophy for living and loving others. We certainly shouldn't rely on our emotions or rationality *alone* to guide us to do what's right because they can deceive us... People who believe in following their emotions or rationality alone have the misguided idea that they have perfect knowledge and thus can make all good choices. That's where God comes in and having a spiritual practice allows us to tap into a broader knowledge or wisdom that we possess in ourselves alone.

Post a Reply to: You have company! Not sure if there is a God, He said.