CO Shootings and Question of Culpability

Colo. church gunman had been kicked out

The third shooting of this type in one week, I think this further highlights my earlier posting. I also wonder, in this case in particular, how much this youth ministry organization participated in this boy's problems and eventual breakdown.

Obviously he had mental health issues that seem to have gone unaddressed, justifying to yourself the actions the shooter took requires serious illness. That isn't to say, however, that this organizations refusal or treatment of this young man didn't add fuel to his madness. It is also likely that the deeply religious environment he grew up in wasn't instrumental in the formation of his warped reality. While the mental illness would have been there either way, the form of their reality comes from that illness warping and interacting with the environment they grow up in. Also, there may or may not have been any help for him or support from his family in getting access to quality professional help.

It continues to feel bizarre to me when families of those who commit violent crimes, especially crimes like these, say they had no idea something like that would happen, their child was always well behaved, they can't understand how their child could have done such a thing. A person doesn't commit such a horrible crime without at least a little warning and certainly not without some long pattern of behavior or health problems. It is partially the responsibility of their family and friends to help prevent events like this from occurring. While they are grief-stricken and baffled, they should have been more careful and supportive beforehand and then they wouldn't be in the situation they are in now.

It is also puzzling that he was let go by the youth ministry due to undisclosed 'health' problems. In a culture of religious conservatism and intolerance that can often be a vague reference to homosexuality, especially when they don't want to admit or accept the idea of gay people being among them. If this man was mentally ill and gay, one can only imagine what treatment he received and rejection he felt from a religious culture he was born into and raised to be a part of.

It would be cruel to say that any of the victims deserved or caused their fate. It is, however, important to remember that in the context of the religious institutions being targeted, it is easier to understand the shooters motives in reference to the issues above and to see the culpability of a culture more willing to toss away someone too different or too sick, than to offer than effective care and open minded compassion.