The gunman believed to have killed four people at a megachurch and a missionary training school had been thrown out of the school a few years ago and had been sending it hate mail, police said.
The gunman was identified as Matthew Murray, 24, who was home-schooled in what a friend said was a deeply religious Christian household…
I wouldn’t consider this for posting except for the boring crystal ball brigade commenting at some news websites. Finally, specific info appears.
Colorado Springs police said the “common denominator in both locations” was Youth With a Mission. The training center maintains an office at the 10,000-member church.
“It appears that the suspect had been kicked out of the program three years prior and during the past few weeks had sent different forms of hate mail to the program and-or its director,” police said.
KUSA-TV in Denver reported Monday that Murray posted several rants on a Web site for people who have left evangelical religious groups… Murray wrote, “You Christians brought this on yourselves” and “All I want to do is kill and injure as many of you … as I can especially Christians who are to blame for most of the problems in the world.”
The station said Murray’s posts were removed from the site after Sunday’s killings, and that authorities were aware of them and investigating.
An interview with a former roommate at the missionary school revealed the dude was having conversations with the voices in his head. Isn’t that how God always talks to his disciples?
I guess it is how God always talks to his disciples. However, to quote Alan Rickman:
Metatron acts as the voice of God. Any documented occasion when some yahoo claims God has spoken to them, they’re speaking to me. Or they’re talking to themselves.
Mega-Churches are evil.
I’d like to know “why” he was kicked out of the MegaChurch==as in was he too nuts already, and why didn’t he get referred, or what happened after he was referred.
What I see here is the Evil of Home schooling. Public schools really suck, but they socialize. Yes, society sucks too–how you gonna learn to deal with it if you are left at home in the bosom of your isolated family life?
WHAT–no atheist here? Only disgruntled religionist? Har, Har!!
And remember, if guns are made illegal, only evangelicals will have them!!!!
Yeah, it’s all the fault of home schooling. Care to attack John Dvorak’s kids anyh more?
Why did only 4 people die? I figure a megachurch would have many more people? Could it be he was stopped by someone with a gun?
I wonder if he’d been reading some liberal blogs to feed his Christian hate.
Wow… That’s really sad. Of course the only thing that this really proves is that you can find nutcases in all parts of society. I severely doubt it was anyone’s fault. I know that YWaM is a good organization.
Evil is where you find it. A shame that he chose a religion to blame for his meltdown, but it does prove blaming others for your sad sack life is much easier than blaming your own poor decisions.
The one thing we can learn from this is that a gun in the right hands and used properly can bring about a quick solution to these situations.
It’s a well-known fact that MegaChurches cause global warming, but this is not the right way to deal with this issue. Kids, please don’t try this at your church!
Next Sunday’s Sermon is tentatively titled, “Differentiating Between God’s Voice and Those Other Voices in Your Head.”
We can see now that he was probably not the kind of person one would want as a missionary. However, don’t you think that he may have been treated unfairly? I mean, if he was willing to complete the program, why wouldn’t he be allowed to do so?
If he thought that whatever health problems he may have had were not a reason not to finish the program, the school should have respected his decision. If he was willing to risk his own health (or had reasons to believe that it was not that bad), that decision should have been up to him. It was his own life and his own health.
If there was any reason for him to fail in his future activities or to give up precisely because of his health, he should have been allowed to do that by himself rather than to be denied the opportunity to even try because others, not himself, decided that trying is not worth the trouble.
I take issue with the idea that they had it comming. Did he not pull the trigger?
#3 – bobbo – if guns are made illegal, only evangelicals will have them!!!!
😀 Thanks, bobbo! 😀
#5 – MikeN – Why did only 4 people die? I figure a megachurch would have many more people? Could it be he was stopped by someone with a gun?
No, it’s because he had been home schooled. 😛
#7 – Russell – …proves is that you can find nutcases in all parts of society.
They just tend to gravitate towards religion.
#9 – Dano – A shame that he chose a religion to blame for his meltdown…
Religion triggered this nutcase.
The one thing we can learn from this is that a gun in the right hands and used properly can bring about a quick solution to these situations.
I guess that’s why they don’t have church shootings in Europe…
#13 >> Religion triggered this nutcase.
Christianity is certainly the excuse he used to live out his death fantasy, but when all is said and done “he” and only “he” is to blame.
In situations like these, I simply can find no benefit in shifting the blame toward the victims.
Dano: Book ’em!
# 15
Greetings MM
I still feel I don’t have enough information.
One fact is this happened in Colorado, home of Columbine. Could that be a factor?
Greetings MM: cuffed and booked… but where is that Chin Ho when you need him?
#14 – Dano
No one is shifting the blame. The blame is religion… period. Being brainfucked by relgious authorities (parents/priests/reverends/clergymen etc) since day one really messed up this guy.
#18 –
If that were the case then why aren’t all Christians out killing people. That statement is a stupid generalization. It would be the same to say the video games caused him to do it.
#18 >> The blame is religion… period.
Ahhh the old reality enhancement. Sounds like you have a few issues yourself… unfortunate.
People are dead and all you bigots at “dvorak.org/blog” can think of is “oh boy! another chance to bash Christians!” You should be ashamed.
#20 – otte-o – If that were the case then why aren’t all Christians out killing people.
Quite a few of them are fighting a holy war in Iraq right now. Most of the other Christian fanatics are cheering on the sideline. Oh, sorry… the U.S. invaded Iraq to remove the terrible WMDs…
#22 – Matt Garrett
Which religion would you bash if the assassin’s name was Achmed?
Yeah, Christian fanatics are over in Iraq killing anyone who refuses to convert to Christianity. Uh-huh. Sure. Got some numbers of people forced to convert to Christianity?
What were this guy’s “health issues” that got him the boot? Physical or mental?
#24 – Phillep
Where did I say that they forced people to convert? Isn’t population control enough?
“A psychologist offered to help Murray after reading a poem he posted called “Crying all alone in pain in the nightmare of Christianity,” KUSA reported.”
Sounds like one of my poems…..well, except for the crying and the Christianity and oh yeah, killing a bunch of people.
Nothing hotter than a woman packing a firearm who isn’t afraid to use it. Thank goodness for concealed carry.
Ahhh, you claim genocide, then. You know nothing of Christians.
I think there was a post on this b log awhile back about how churches need to be fought from without and within. Wonder which one he qualifies for.
Mike Huckabee should adopt the liberal playbook and say that this was caused by liberal secular voices who speak a language of hate towards religion and exhibit hostility towards Christians.
The woman carrying the weapon only took him down with her fire, the gunshot that killed him was self inflicted.
Sad she didn’t hit him sooner.
#27 – Phillep
No, no… not genocide… because Christians have always been nice to other people wherever they’ve settled… ask the native American tribes.