Mass murderer converts to religion more appropriate to his behavior

[Rev. Rye]

Hell, the thing you linked to was from the Washington Post, the newspaper owned by Sun Myung Moon.

Of course, let me put my two cents on the motives of James Holmes. I've got an interest in psychology and, as a matter of fact, I'm working on a story with Jane Hamilton about a man who commits a murder and concocts this bizarre story so he can cope with it, and I think that something might be happening with James Holmes.

My theory: James Holmes was beginning to get burnt out after his short-lived attempt at a neuroscience PhD. Not entirely sure of what would happen after that, he decided that the best thing to do was to go nuts and kill people. If he was shot, he'd get shot. If he was caught, well, at least the state of Colorado would pay his rent, to paraphrase a Kingston Trio song, for the rest of his life. However, after he did the shooting, it began to sink in that he couldn't live with himself after this. Notably, in November, he'd try to kill himself in Jail. Nonetheless, he knew he had to live with himself, since the powers that be decided to ruin his death. Then, I'm not sure if it's from some garbled memory of a World Religions class, or due to the intervention of fellow prisoners, he learns about "The Religion of Peace." He learns about the principle of Jihad, and latches on to the idea of the "Jihad of the Sword." With this, he can justify the slaughter of 12 people. After all, at least as far as he knows, none of the people he killed are Muslim. With this, and the rituals, he can recieve peace of mind.

Of course, traditionally, the idea of the "Jihad of the Self," combatting the devil in onesself, is more important than the "Jihad of the Sword" in Islam, but either Holmes believes that his act of rationalisation is an acceptable substitute for Jihad of the Self, or he's ignoring it entirely.

Any thoughts? Is my interpretation of Jihad or James Holmes' mind at least sound?