Posted on 07/25/2012 4:36:32 PM PDT by stfassisi
What makes a mild mannered, promising young scientist decide to arm himself to the teeth, walk into a suburban movie theater and start killing innocent people at random?
Did he have a bad childhood experience? Doesn't seem that way. Everybody says he was a nice, very smart, shy kid. Maybe a bit of a geek, but there are millions of geeks who don't go on killing sprees. Was he insane? There weren't any warning signs that he was crazy. Was he politically or religiously motivated? No evidence. Was he driven crazy by violent video games? He didn't seem to play more than most kids. Was his mind poisoned by the nihilistic second Batman movie? It was a dark film, but millions saw it and didn't go on a rampage. Was he somehow "possessed" by the Joker character? Some say the demonic Joker drove Heath Ledger to kill himself.
Now it's getting spooky. There was a weird phone message with bizarre guttural voices and moans. Was he demon possessed? Maybe. It happens.
Demonic infestation is a rare, strange and terrible psycho-spiritual affliction. In simple terms, a malevolent, separate intelligence infests the mind and spirit of a person. It takes over the rational faculties and dominates the personality. The phenomenon is real, but anyone who has ever dealt with the problem realizes that the demonic realm is complex. The human person is an intricate organism in which the physical, mental and spiritual aspects are totally interwoven. Therefore, in most cases, trying to diagnose the possibility of demonic influence is extremely difficult.
This is because, in theory, demonic influence in a personality can exist on several different levels. Experts disagree about the terminology and extent of the diabolical influence, and in this arcane discipline, for reasons that will become clear, there are few set rules or guidelines. However, some levels of demonic involvement can be observed.
The first level of demonic influence is temptation. This is not just the mild desire to drink too much, overindulge, or have a sexual dalliance. That's just part of being human. If there is a demonic element, the "temptation" is to do something radically and extremely vile. This can happen in a person's life without any sign of supernatural activity.
The second level of demonic influence is obsession. At this level, there is still no sign of anything paranormal happening. The person starts to give in to the temptation. He may become reclusive and secretive as he becomes obsessed with the evil that he is entertaining. This evil may be in the form of occult activity, violent video games or movies, pornography, drug abuse, sexual perversion, sexual promiscuity, or obsession with power and violence.
The obsession with evil will probably have an addictive element. The personality begins to change. The individual may seem "normal" most of the time, but he'll have "dark moments" when his "inner demons" take over. The difficulty in diagnosing demonic influence is that these same symptoms may indicate substance abuse problems, mental illness, social maladjustment, emotional inadequacy, relationship problems or a complex web of such difficulties. Demonic influence will cause these symptoms, but these symptoms are not necessarily a sign of demonic activity.
In the first two levels of demonic influence, the malevolent spirit is still outside the personality. On the third level, the malevolent spirit seems to enter the whole person in a spiritual, mental and even physical dimension. This level of influence is called infestation. This is the stuff of exorcism movies—when the person exhibits disturbing physical, mental, and spiritual signs of infestation. The individual is "taken over" by the demonic spirit and paranormal phenomena are exhibited. When the signs of preternatural strength are seen, horrible alien voices come from the person, vile blasphemies are heard and perverted and violent actions are witnessed, one can be fairly sure that a demonic infestation is happening. However, many of these symptoms may also be signs of a deep mental or spiritual illness which is not demonic in origin.
The final stage of demonic influence is possession. This is when the malevolent spirit does not manifest itself any longer, but hides within the personality rather like a parasite. The person will appear to return to normal, but there is a shadow within. Even if they do so in a respectable and "normal" manner, they will live only for themselves and the darkness within.
In analyzing these levels of demonic influence, one must remember that each level builds on the former and there may be no sequence, predictability or diagnostic tests. In dealing with the interface between the paranormal realm and the complexities of the human person, the exorcist often feels like he is walking blindfolded through a minefield set in quicksand. He is wrestling with a pool of oily octopuses. He is on the edge of chaos where there is no foothold.
Is James Holmes demon possessed? It is impossible to say without a detailed diagnosis. Even then, it is a slippery question. We are dealing with a reality that is rubbery. In many ways this is the wrong question. Better to ask, "Was James Holmes taken over by Evil?"
Yes. Something happened to the mild mannered science geek. He turned into a monster. Something twisted in his mind and heart, and Evil made an entry. Evil infested his life. It took him over. Whether the twist was through mental illness, some inner wound or some terrible dark intelligence, we cannot say. The fact that we can't say what went wrong and don't have a neat and tidy answer is the key to understanding the terrible conundrum of evil.
When faced with mindless massacres, we don't have a rational answer—and that is the rational answer. What I mean is that the further one goes down the path of Evil, the more it becomes irrational and mindless. Evil, by its very nature, is a lie, a subterfuge, a deceit and a vast web of contradictions and inconsistencies. Evil is, by it's nature, the darkness and the chaos—where what seems reasonable is only a smoke screen for the absurd, and what seems logical is a pretext for irrationality.
A friend of mine who is an exorcist says this is why the ministry of exorcism is so exhausting and grueling—because the demons constantly lie. Whenever evil is manifested, it wears a mask. The evil ones squirm and hide. They flatter one moment and hiss with rage the next. They are one moment obsequious and aggressive the next. Because they are liars, reason and trust can find no grasp. Pure Evil is random, violent and unpredictable.
Furthermore, Evil is, by it's nature, perverse and twisted. Evil has nothing positive in itself. It can only ever twist, pervert and destroy what is good. Consequently, Evil seeks innocent victims. Goodness is the fuel and fodder for Evil. Evil kills and feasts on the good.
This is why evil feels so bad. We wouldn't mind so much if bad people got gunned down by a vengeful killer. But Evil doesn't work that way. Evil seeks innocent victims. That's why it's evil. We wouldn't feel so bad if vile, genocidal dictators get their just reward and hang, but evil seeks out the helpless old person, the vulnerable woman, the child yet unborn.
All we can do when faced with mindless evil is recognize that it is mindless. The only answer is that there is no answer. The murders in Aurora and the crazed face of James Holmes remind us that real evil is random and meaningless. It is deadly and ruthless and cruel simply to be deadly, ruthless and cruel. All we can do is gaze on in fascinated horror at the senseless suffering.
Then we can pick ourselves up and also remember that goodness always overcomes evil. Evil is the absence of rationality, the absence of good, the absence of love. Evil is the dark compared to light. Evil is cold compared to heat. The cold and dark feel bad, but they are the absence of light and heat. Likewise, Evil is the absence not only of Good, but the outgoing power of Good which theologians call Love.
The true answer to the absurdity of evil is the supernatural rationality of love, for love is the outgoing goodness that counters evil. By "love," I do not mean merely sentimental or erotic love. I mean a power that is positive and creative and dynamic and pro-active in the world—the power which Dante said "moved the Sun and the other stars."
Love is the divine force of rationality and goodness. Love is the force which empowered three murdered men in the cinema in Aurora to shield their girlfriends from harm. Love is the force which makes the meaningless meaningful through the strange power of forgiveness, and which brings sacrifice in the face of insane self-love. Love is the light in the darkness, and Love is the meaning that makes us remember in a compassionate connection that this dark act took place in a town named Aurora, which holds a hopeful meaning: "Daybreak."
I’m a fightin’ fundie, and yet I pretty much agree with this analysis from a Roman Catholic source. It’s beyond the bound of any normal human wickedness. There did not seem to be any score to settle, wickedly or otherwise, for this shooter. This looked a lot like wickedness for the sake of the thrill of the wickedness.
Certainly could be possession. I have not seen any mention of Holmes taking anti depressants, which so far have been the common link to many if not most of these killing rampages.
Send in an exorcist to have a go at him, that would be interesting. What happens if the exorcist gets rid of the demon and the innocent kid comes back? Is he still responsible?
If a demon is an IDEA... there are a lot of demons out there..
Some men take into them the IDEA they are really women!...
But they are men and will always be men.. no matter the act they put on..
Some blacks take the IDEA they are black when they are just as White as they are black..
They are no blacker than they are white..
Theres a whole lot of demonic IDEAS out there..
Like Communism, Socialism, Facsim, and many other religions..
His psychiatrist was sent his notebook. One does not see a psychiatrist unless one is on meds.
An odd or bizarre idea, and the process of becoming almost inextricably married to that idea, are two different things.
Powerful article — thanks for posting!
In the middle ages rose the practice of chivalry, and all that comes from it. Love, regard for human beings, and a worship of God are required for its inculcation in a human being.
I agree with this: there is still love in the world.
Somebody does something like this, and some people say he must be crazy. Other people say he must be demonically possessed. Both ways of saying no sane, decent person would do such a thing.
I watch that TV show Ghost Adventures and also the Dead Files. I find these 2 shows interesting but I would NEVER do what those guys do. I think it can invite negative forces.
SO then.. a sucubus or some other creature can invade human flesh like a spiritual parasite.. and turn humans into "the Borg" or some other bazaar iteration like a DEMOCRAT/liberal..
Actually you have a point.. almost sci-fi-like...
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Don't get me wrong, we are good too, we desire peace and love. We will sacrifice that good prevails. Still.. given our nature (fallen nature in Biblical terms) I'm amazed atrocities are not so common that our species hasn't died out long ago. Life is dew, and yet, and yet.. |
I’ve had more experience in dealing with earthbound entities and demons than I care to think about. For the most part, their power comes from their hosts not believing in their existence and thus it allows their influence.
Some are real nasty, but most are merely misguided.
This article confirms what I had sense about the Aurora shooter, that he is “possesed” by the devil and his demons.
I read that he was adopted at the Daily Mail site. It’s not the first time that adoptees go nuts. His biological parents might have had mental problems.
I heard the owner of the Lead Valley shooting range on with Don and Roma this week talking about why he wouldn’t approve JH’s application to join their club a while back. He said when he called back to talk with JH to get more background on him all he could get was an answering machine. He said the answering machine message was a rambling very guttural message. He said after hearing that he told his employees to not llet the guy in to their range. The “rambling guttural” part made me think he was demon possessed.
I don’t totally reject the idea of demonic possession as an explanation.
However.
Focusing on demonic possession and mental illness as explanations are two different ways of saying the same thing: no sane person would just decide to do such a thing.
I can’t really see why this should be the case. Everyone is aware of the existence of sadists, of people who take pleasure in causing pain to others. We don’t seem to jump to the immediate conclusion that every sadist is by definition mentally ill.
Isn’t a killing spree like this just a way of taking sadism to the next level? So why is it so hard to accept that possibly the guy was quite sane, just evil?
From a biblical POV, demonic possession doesn’t deal with the question of evil, it just moves it into the past. Demons are supposedly angels who rebelled against God? So why do they take such delight in evil? And what makes us think superhuman spirit beings could delight in evil and ordinary humans can’t?
Very strong article. I like the complexity of fact mixed with spiritual belief with articles such as this it leaves little room for anyone to argue against this.
And it also feeds my curiosity
I don’t think it was “his” psychiatrist. It was a psychiatrist at the college and I don’t think Holmes had been seeing him. If he had been on meds, he would have since been going through withdrawal symptoms, and there has been no mention of that. No mention of finding any meds at his apartment, either.
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