Thank you for your honest answers, CL.
My only thoughts in response at this time is that being told something is wrong does not mean one has the capacity to understand it.
And
How can any part of a person be independant from another part? We function as a whole. Even a minor mental illness will play a part in how someone thinks and behaves.
Ok, thought not directed at CL (though she's welcome to respond, of course!), is that I'm seeing that he was indeed diagnoses with schizophrenia, and the murders seem to be for completely insane reasons.
Essentially, he ran a death/doomsday cult. He also thought he was the second coming of Jesus. I mean, he really seemed to think that.
So, he believed he had killed a black man (drug dealer and black panther) whole hadn't even confronted. This hallucination on his part was a big catalyst for the murders that followed (hence, insanity).
Clearly not in touch with reality.
He believed there was going to be a race war soon. One that was literally out in the streets full on murdering each other race war, and it was essentially an end of times deal. He thought blacks would win the race war, and some white people would need to survive to take over from the black people later.
The reason he wanted to commit the murders was to pin it on black people, and tip off the apocalyptic race war.
Total doomsday, death cult stuff.
All of this was in his head, none of it was real. He was insane, and charismatic enough to convince others of his insane notions.
Plus drugs. Some do make mental illnesses much, much worse.
What s really odd is thinking about how this relates to the Milgram Experiment.
Essentially, most people will do terrible things, even kill total strangers, if someone with the slightest ounce of authority tells you to.
Think you are one of the few who would be "moral" in such a situation? Well, statistically, you are probably wrong.
Particularly if you are female. Welcome to the messed up world of innocent people committing horrible acts and then being called evil by people never put in that situation!
My only thoughts in response at this time is that being told something is wrong does not mean one has the capacity to understand it.
And
How can any part of a person be independant from another part? We function as a whole. Even a minor mental illness will play a part in how someone thinks and behaves.
Ok, thought not directed at CL (though she's welcome to respond, of course!), is that I'm seeing that he was indeed diagnoses with schizophrenia, and the murders seem to be for completely insane reasons.
Essentially, he ran a death/doomsday cult. He also thought he was the second coming of Jesus. I mean, he really seemed to think that.
So, he believed he had killed a black man (drug dealer and black panther) whole hadn't even confronted. This hallucination on his part was a big catalyst for the murders that followed (hence, insanity).
Clearly not in touch with reality.
He believed there was going to be a race war soon. One that was literally out in the streets full on murdering each other race war, and it was essentially an end of times deal. He thought blacks would win the race war, and some white people would need to survive to take over from the black people later.
The reason he wanted to commit the murders was to pin it on black people, and tip off the apocalyptic race war.
Total doomsday, death cult stuff.
All of this was in his head, none of it was real. He was insane, and charismatic enough to convince others of his insane notions.
Plus drugs. Some do make mental illnesses much, much worse.
What s really odd is thinking about how this relates to the Milgram Experiment.
Essentially, most people will do terrible things, even kill total strangers, if someone with the slightest ounce of authority tells you to.
Think you are one of the few who would be "moral" in such a situation? Well, statistically, you are probably wrong.
Particularly if you are female. Welcome to the messed up world of innocent people committing horrible acts and then being called evil by people never put in that situation!
“Eternity is a terrible thought. I mean, where's it going to end?”
― Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
― Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
