The obvious, and the most important comparison in both cases, is that the lunatic was armed, and the victims were NOT armed.
Trust me…it is NEVER a good idea, never a good ending, when the crazy is the only one who is armed. This is a truism.
.
It’s never a good idea when a crazy person is armed, period. And I’m not sure you’re right anyway.
That presumes that Christianity or Islam operate as singular units which clearly they do not. And you argument about Islamic terrorism being political doesn’t begin to explain the reaction to cartoons or suggestions that a book might be burned.
I’m guessing your “solution” would lean less toward disarming the lunatics and more toward making sure every shooting turns into a circular firing squad, eh?
Oh, please. That assumes all religions would have the same doctrine. Even you know better than this.
Even for someone with a long history of nonsensical arguments, this is inane. Let’s apply this “logic” to other areas and see where it leads:
The dragging of a black man to death in Jasper wasn’t racially motivated because then all racists would be murderers.
No theft is motivated by poverty because then all poor people would be thieves.
No war is ever politically motivated because every country with politicians would be constantly at war with every other country.
JEEZ!!!
But the tricky part is determining who’s crazy, and who’s not.
The scary part is that Jared Lee had no verified history of mental illness – his friends & teachers now say his prior behavior was disturbing, but think about it, how many disturbing people do you meet in any given day? He also had no felony convictions, and that’s all anyone needs to purchase a firearm in a gun-friendly state.
There is no significant moral difference between religions.
Granted. But I figured as long as we were stating the staggeringly obvious, I figured the point needed refining. 
I’ve met my share of weird people, but the number of people who I thought were really disturbed is very small. He had no verified illness, but he was clearly mentally ill the last few years and you can tell that professor and some other people who knew him had that “I hope I’m not around when this guy snaps” feeling. People said the same kinds of things about the University of Virginia shooter. His classmates used to joke (out of earshot) that he was going to shoot up the school at some point. It’s true that only a small portion of people who are mentally ill ever do something like this, but you did not need to be a trained professional to know something was really wrong with these guys. I wonder how much Loughner’s parents did to try to get help for him.
:smack:
I’ve met plenty of weirdos, and I’ve worked with people with genuine mentally illness. Most of them are essentially harmless (as far as I can tell) even though I wouldn’t trust most of them to own a gun, if only for fear of their own safety. I’ve also known some extremely creative people whose works could be interpreted as a sign of insanity, when taken out of context – Stephen King, for example. (Not that I’ve ever met Stephen King personally, but I know where he lives…)
Context is everything: prior to 1/8/11, anyone who saw Loughner’s video rants would assume he’s a nutjob, but not necessarily dangerous.
Last I heard, Loughner’s parents were being totally uncooperative, to the extent of defying a search warrant and barricading themselves in their house. So, it appears that the crazy runs thick in that particular family – we’ll probably learn a LOT more later, as the story continues to unravel itself!
I think the difference is that no one in a position of power in the Democratic party advocated that Muslims should consider “second amendment remedies”, so they have less blood on their hands than Palin and Angle do.
You really are an evil piece of shit aren’t you?
Save your insults for the Pit. This is a formal warning.
They didn’t barricade themselves in, they blocked the front porch because people were coming onto their property (note the news pictures of the skull). When the FBI went to the back door they cooperated.
To the extent that they knew how crazy he was is a different matter. I’ve watched parents struggle with adult children who have mental problems. There is little that can be done with adults unless they cooperate. Even when that happens, the probability that they stay on their meds forever is a pipe dream.
Well “moral” is a nice nebulous word. But there is a difference between religion when it comes to a propensity for violence in the name of that religion. I’ll prove the point in a way that even you’ll be able to see it.
A. Islam
B. Quakerism
Which group has a higher incidence of violence?
Neither has a propensity for violence (unless you count Nixon).
Okay, so CNN got that part wrong. (Surprise, surprise…)
I’m actually more interested in the interviews with the family’s neighbors, who say he was never allowed to play outside, etc.
As I said before, sometimes the crazy is something you inherit from your elders. Sometimes.
I’d like to hear about it too.
This guy was a repeat of the Virginia Tech guy and nobody was able to do anything about it.
Well, don’t keep us in suspense. Any data?