"For the love of money is the root of all evil..." (1 Timothy 6:10).
As usual, I planned on writing about some other topics today but things that are happening in this world occupy my mind so much more. Today my heart aches for all the victims of the shooting Friday in Santa Barbara, CA and for their families...
I didn't know the details about what happened until I stumbled upon this article. Then I started googling and googling (the word?). And the more I read, the more terrified and confused I was. How could it go that far? Were there any signs? I even found some images of Elliot Rodger, and he was a normal looking young man. Nothing was visibly wrong with him...
In his chilling revelations he talked about women hating him. But after looking at his pictures, the first thought that came to my mind was that it wasn't his appearance that pushed girls away, it's was the pure evil that was brewing inside of him for many years... He was only 22 but so full of greed, hatred and envy.
It's chilling to read how he planned this massacre for years. And why? Because he wanted to be just like the rich and famous of the world around him? How could a child become so greedy and envious that the thirst for money and wealth occupied his whole life and eventually lead to the unthinkable?! Deep down, I understand that he was a psychopath but is that a satisfactory explanation? There were people in his life who loved and cared for him. His parents were frantically looking for him after some of his revelations surfaced, at the same time he was pursiung his vicious ideas.
How could it come to that? My mother's heart aches for all of the victims but also for this man's own mother. Did she miss it? Could anything have be done to prevent what happened?
"I knew I was always destined for great things..." Where in his twisted mind did the road to success turn into the dead end it lead him? Where and how did it happen?...
HI Lena
ReplyDeleteI dont think this is especially about celebrity etc. Thats a shallow and toxic world but people with this kind of mental health problems would have been using some other reason if not this. Maybe better parenting, or eatly interventions by professionals, could have done something, we just dont know. Not having access to guns wouldnt have changed who he was inside but definitely the outcome. Its so very sad for the victims families. My heart goes out to them
Very insightful post in to this awful affair.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard about this.. heart-wrenching. :(
ReplyDeleteI don't think it was greed that made him do it Lena ( he was greedy - but I pray that's not a factor - I know too many of them ) I think he was a sick tortured soul - health care has to be addressed in North America because this just cannot continue - heartbreaking beyond belief .............every time I read about another one of these senseless shootings it takes forever to move past it.
ReplyDeleteMuch love,
Suzan
Lena, It doesn't make sense to it all.... I did read that one of his parents did report things.... and the police had gone to his place several times over the year but they couldn't search the house.... it doesn't make sense since he had everything in his life....he had all material things...a $300 pair of sunglasses....he thought money would bring girls... Maybe this is a eye opened to parents who give everything to their kids they want....No one knows what goes through peoples minds.... What use to happen is people who were so unhappy with life committed suicide by themselves but with the media reporting it over and over I feel if gives these lonely people ideas to go out in glory as they call it.. It is scary world right now....You never know when you go to a mall or go to college if there will be someone with mental problems who is going to commit these horrendous crimes.... My heart goes out to the those families who lost their children...... Lisa
ReplyDeleteThis is a tragedy from every aspect. No one will ever know what kind of intervention may or may not have helped. However, we could all benefit if mental illness was given more attention in this country. There is still a stigma attached to having a mental illness, and understanding of someone with this kind of illness is often not present. Mental illness, or learning problems for that matter, are often viewed as a character weakness and not a real illness. From depression and anxiety to more serious illnesses like this young man had we could all benefit from more attention to these problems.
ReplyDeleteYou can't even go to see a movie for fear of someone will be there with semi-automatic weapons ready to kill anyone and everyone they can. I'm frightened now for my 15 y.o. who will be attending college in a couple years. How has this type of atrocity trickled down into schools now? What is happening to society?
ReplyDeleteWe need to put up as many roadblocks as we can to keep people with mental health issues from purchasing and owning guns. We need appropriate and EFFECTIVE regulation in place regarding gun control and also make sure semi-automatic weapons are NOT AVAILABLE.
I'm from So. Calif. and it is so painful to see so much violence happening so much more frequently now and on such a large scale. Just like the previous commenter above said, it used to be that people that had personal problems would commit suicide, and that was it. Now that person kills his whole family, and then himself ... or... goes out and kills as many people as he can.
I think a big part of this was the effect his parents divorce had on him as a child. We live in a world were people no longer think divorce even affects a child. As a child in the '80's, people still talked about this topic. Now, it is not even discussed because divorce is so rampant.
ReplyDeleteClearly, this guy had lots of mental health issues. All of these played a part in this sad ending.
So sad and no answers. Just heartbreaking
ReplyDelete