Aurora shootings result of ongoing attacks on Judeo-Christian beliefs

[fester30]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/20/louie-gohmert-aurora-shootings_n_1689099.html

So Congressman Louis Gohmert (R), Texas, thinks that the decline of Christianity in America leads to such tragedies as the Aurora, Colorado shooting.  Then he wonders out loud where the gun owners were to shoot the guy.

There were several people with guns in Arizona when Congresswoman Giffords was shot, and not a single one of them did anything to stop that lone gunman. 

As for the place of God in all this, perhaps he should talk to George Zimmerman, who claims his killing of Trayvon Martin was God's will.  Was it also God's will that placed this shooter in a crowded movie theater with tear gas and weapons?

[Ali]

Oooh, I just posted the link to that on the Batman shooting thread.  That guy is a seriously vile peice of assnose in a big embroided Look At Me hat.  I don't even know what that means, I'm just mad.

[Buddy]

Oooh, I just posted the link to that on the Batman shooting thread.  That guy is a seriously vile peice of assnose in a big embroided Look At Me hat.  I don't even know what that means, I'm just mad.

Put that in the creative insults thread! 


That man needs to GTFO of the spotlight and stick his cross somewhere unpleasant.

[Ali]

^^Done! 

[En_Route]

Oooh, I just posted the link to that on the Batman shooting thread.  That guy is a seriously vile peice of assnose in a big embroided Look At Me hat.  I don't even know what that means, I'm just mad.

Put that in the creative insults thread!  


That man needs to GTFO of the spotlight and stick his cross somewhere unpleasant.

I think these reactions say a lot about both the fickle and selective  nature of human empathy and human beiings'mechanisms for coping with the arbitrariness and brutality of human existence. More children starved to death in Africa today than died in the cinema, but no - one is blinking an eyelid. Is it because we can more closely relate to people who share our kinds of lives, or is it the impact of the more immediate and intense media exposure, or the shattering incongruity of  purposeless slaughteri in such an innocuous setting?
Directing vituperation at the perpetrator ior right- wing bandeagon jumpers is the kind of scapegoating people seem to need to find an outlet for their anger and perhaps to make some sort of sense of what appears senseless. In fact, whoever did this is no more than the product of nature and nurture; the world produces psychopaths or what we might  emotively term monsters and the  wrong set of circumstances will  trigger off these kind of atrocities on their part. The idea that people can be truly responsible for what they  become entails either swallowing  notions of free will which vindicate the notions of heaven and hell , or subscribing to a secular notion of the ghost in the machine, the person who magically invents themselves out of nothing.

[Ali]

Oooh, I just posted the link to that on the Batman shooting thread.  That guy is a seriously vile peice of assnose in a big embroided Look At Me hat.  I don't even know what that means, I'm just mad.

Put that in the creative insults thread!  


That man needs to GTFO of the spotlight and stick his cross somewhere unpleasant.

I think these reactions say a lot about both the fickle and selective  nature of human empathy and human beiings'mechanisms for coping with the arbitrariness and brutality of human existence. More children starved to death in Africa today than died in the cinema, but no - one is blinking an eyelid. Is it because we can more closely relate to people who share our kinds of lives, or is it the impact of the more immediate and intense media exposure, or the shattering incongruity of  purposeless slaughteri in such an innocuous setting?
Directing vituperation at the perpetrator is the kind of scapegoating people seem to need to find an outlet for their anger and perhaps to make some sort of sense of what appears senseless. In fact, whoever did this is no more than the product of nature and nurture; the world produces psychopaths or what we might  emotively term monsters and the  wrong set of circumstances will  trigger off these kind of atrocities on their part. The idea that people can be truly responsible for what they  become entails either swallowing  notions of free will which vindicate the notions of heaven and hell , or subscribing to a secular notion of the ghost in the machine, the person who magically invents themselves out of nothing.

For the record, I was calling Congressman Louis Gohmert names, not the shooter.  I don't know what to say about the shooter except that he must have been mentally ill.  Congressman Louis Gohmert may also be mentally ill, but he's still an ass.  Taking a tragedy like this, and somehow twisting it until Christian are the victims takes a special level of cynical self obsession.

[En_Route]

Oooh, I just posted the link to that on the Batman shooting thread.  That guy is a seriously vile peice of assnose in a big embroided Look At Me hat.  I don't even know what that means, I'm just mad.

Put that in the creative insults thread! 


That man needs to GTFO of the spotlight and stick his cross somewhere unpleasant.

I think these reactions say a lot about both the fickle and selective  nature of human empathy and human beiings'mechanisms for coping with the arbitrariness and brutality of human existence. More children starved to death in Africa today than died in the cinema, but no - one is blinking an eyelid. Is it because we can more closely relate to people who share our kinds of lives, or is it the impact of the more immediate and intense media exposure, or the shattering incongruity of  purposeless slaughteri in such an innocuous setting?
Directing vituperation at the perpetrator is the kind of scapegoating people seem to need to find an outlet for their anger and perhaps to make some sort of sense of what appears senseless. In fact, whoever did this is no more than the product of nature and nurture; the world produces psychopaths or what we might  emotively term monsters and the  wrong set of circumstances will  trigger off these kind of atrocities on their part. The idea that people can be truly responsible for what they  become entails either swallowing  notions of free will which vindicate the notions of heaven and hell , or subscribing to a secular notion of the ghost in the machine, the person who magically invents themselves out of nothing.

For the record, I was calling Congressman Louis Gohmert names, not the shooter.  I don't know what to say about the shooter except that he must have been mentally ill.  Congressman Louis Gohmert may also be mentally ill. but he's still an ass.

I lost a change to my post- now included -acknowledging that.

[Ali]

So are you sticking to your guns about me being furious at the good Congressman being my way of coping with my anger at the senselessness of the slaughter of my fellow Coloradoans while turning a blind eye to the children starving in Africa?     Because that anger could just as easily be pointed at a certain Irish gentleman I happen to know. 

[Asmodean]

Of course it's all about the poor little persecuted christians! How could it NOT be? 

[En_Route]

So are you sticking to your guns about me being furious at the good Congressman being my way of coping with my anger at the senselessness of the slaughter of my fellow Coloradoans while turning a blind eye to the children starving in Africa?     Because that anger could just as easily be pointed at a certain Irish gentleman I happen to know. 

I meant to differentiate between those who reviled the perpetrator as a way of channelling their anger and revulsion at the killings and your charming self who reviled the congressman as a way of channelling your chagrin at his obtusity.

[Ali]

So are you sticking to your guns about me being furious at the good Congressman being my way of coping with my anger at the senselessness of the slaughter of my fellow Coloradoans while turning a blind eye to the children starving in Africa?     Because that anger could just as easily be pointed at a certain Irish gentleman I happen to know. 

I meant to differentiate between those who reviled the perpetrator as a way of channelling their anger and revulsion at the killings and your charming self who reviled the congressman as a way of channelling your chagrin at his obtusity.

[fester30]

I'll have something to say about all this in a minute... hold on... almost done... okay I can put the dictionary down.  I think I know what you're all saying.  The best comment I can make is that, while I respect your feelings about the Congressman, Ali, I wouldn't want to wear him as a hat on my ass.

And to you, En_Route... the Congressman's obtusity I don't think has anything to do with this, because I still think he would be an unwearable gluteal garment even if he lost weight.

[Whitney]

I caught on twitter earlier that the gunman told police that he was the Joker (which was my first assumption when I heard that he couldn't provide police with a motive...had just told my boss I bet he thought he was the joker minutes before reading about the claim).  So unless the religious want to claim the Joker as being one of their mascots they probably should quit complaining.

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2012/07/20/nyc-police-commissioner-said-alleged-shooter-called-himself-joker-could-have/

btw, I heard about the shooting on my way to a lunch presentation which included a showing of the movie...apparently Dallas isn't too concerned about a copy-cat as I didn't notice increased security and there were a lot of mothers with their kids.

[The Black Jester]

I think these reactions say a lot about both the fickle and selective  nature of human empathy and human beiings'mechanisms for coping with the arbitrariness and brutality of human existence. More children starved to death in Africa today than died in the cinema, but no - one is blinking an eyelid. Is it because we can more closely relate to people who share our kinds of lives, or is it the impact of the more immediate and intense media exposure, or the shattering incongruity of  purposeless slaughteri in such an innocuous setting?

You are, of course, entirely correct. There is much to condemn about the "fickleness" of our empathic responses to this situation.  And I suspect each of your suggestions as to the reason for our vituperation would bear up under analysis.  To say that the difference between the two circumstances is that in the one case, a human agent intended to engage in willful slaughter, and carried out his intention, and in the case of starvation in Africa, multiple human agents neglected to act to save innocent children, is perhaps to indulge in an ultimately meaningless distinction - meaningless, at least, to those who suffered death by either means.  Should we, therefore, entirely dismiss the role of human intention when considering callousness of any kind, either of omission or commission?

In fact, whoever did this is no more than the product of nature and nurture; the world produces psychopaths or what we might  emotively term monsters and the  wrong set of circumstances will  trigger off these kind of atrocities on their part. The idea that people can be truly responsible for what they  become entails either swallowing  notions of free will which vindicate the notions of heaven and hell , or subscribing to a secular notion of the ghost in the machine, the person who magically invents themselves out of nothing.

Harris makes substantially this argument in his latest book on free will.  It does seem that the notion of contra-causal free will is hopelessly confused, and the compatibilist arguments that attempt to reconcile biological determinism with the notion seem more confused still.

[The Black Jester]

I caught on twitter earlier that the gunman told police that he was the Joker (which was my first assumption when I heard that he couldn't provide police with a motive...had just told my boss I bet he thought he was the joker minutes before reading about the claim). 

I made the exact same assumption the moment I heard the news.