Comments on: The Virginia Tech Shooting – Christian Responses

By: Esther

Esther — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 01:32:24 +0000

I would just like to point out that Mr. ham also stated:
“I’m not at all saying that the person who committed these murders at Virginia Tech was driven by a belief in millions of years or evolution. I don’t know why this person did what he did, except the obvious: that it was a result of sin.”

You said he was blaming scientists (which scientists, evolutionary believing ones?), but you didn’t include other aspects of the article. He was making the point that without Genesis, who can say what ’sin’ is?

By: HeIsSailing

HeIsSailing — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 10:55:15 +0000

Bobby Harris sez:
“God does not tell you to go out and slaughter innocent people.”

Bobby, have you ever read Exodus? Numbers? Joshua? Judges? 1 or 2 Samuel? I think I will make a list someday, of the innocent peoples God ordered to have slaughtered.

By: Ed Lynam

Ed Lynam — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 05:47:11 +0000

I respectfully disagree with Bobby Harris. Their is such a thing as mental illness, it is not a result of devils or demons or sin. This unfortunate killer seems to have developed paranoid delusions and was both homicidal and suicidal as a result. The sin in this situation is that those in their right minds, most of us, are doing precious little to identify, humanely treat, adequately fund, and properly respect the humanity of those whose minds are afflicted by mental illnesses, mild to severe. This killer is getting our attention because of the terrible slaughter of so many others in one spot. But 88 other people committed suicide that same day besides Mr. Cho, leaving a legacy of broken relationships and a testimony for the lack of interest in “being my brother’s keeper” in the “religious” United States.

By: Bobby Harris

Bobby Harris — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 00:01:02 +0000

What I meant is that the heart is impossible to know. God only knows a mans heart. The man had a sickness inside him and for what ever reasons he didn’t get the help he needed…and we saw the end result. The mind is a fragile thing. Our minds are attacked daily with inappropriate thoughts, feelings and desires. Most of us process these thoughts and dismiss them. This man was taken over and consumed by them. He did reach out for help but eventually the voices won. God does not tell you to go out and slaughter innocent people. What can we learn from the VT slayings…..that this evil will find someone else to inhabit…….and it will happen again…..sometime….somewhere. We must always guard our minds…..and our hearts. Sin is always ready to have us do……what we would not do.

By: Jim Jordan

Jim Jordan — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 20:59:19 +0000

Kudos to HIS for catching Dr. Ham’s bait and switch game in your “nuggets of wisdom”. He jumps from sin to a belief in Genesis as literal history. You don’t swallow his literal interpretation equals you don’t believe sin is a problem. His ministry is based on this non-sequitir. I see Job 38 as a warning against trying to “figure out” God’s intentions, His deeds and how He operates (”Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?“)

It appears that Dr. Ham’s best advice in tragedies like VT is “I told you so!” With ministers like that, who needs the Devil?

By: Ed Lynam

Ed Lynam — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 20:38:01 +0000

As one follows the reports, it would appear that Mr. Cho had raised the alarms of people around him, who made some efforts to get him mental health care. Not many people know this, but the mental health care provided in the US is far less than years ago. In the late 1970’s, about 8 cents of every dollar spent for health care went to mental health. Now, about 2 cents is all we spend! Some countries, like the UK spend well over 10 cents! So, in the US, it is very hard to obtain timely and good quality mental health care. When you add in the cultural stigma against mental illness, and consider the loose gun laws, it is a recipe for a few mass killings per year, and countless single killings via suicide or homicide. No, I don’t see Mr. Cho’s acts as stemming from sin, they more likely emerged from a sickened mind. What is sinful is the lack of being our brother’s keeper by caring for illnesses that have effective treatments AND the lack of reasonable gun control measures.

By: societyvs

societyvs — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 15:29:03 +0000

I agree with Bruced – I just didn’t want to clang the same old bell but my blog was based on ‘loving my neighbor’ (which I intentiontly avoided saying since I say it so much – it got cliche-ish, didn’t it LOL).

That Mr. Ham is quite the character and I cannot fathom the idea that taking Genesis 1-11 literally would of made a difference on the violence of one’s ideas (original sin or not – doesn’t change anything) or within the perspective of the society he grew up in (the shooter).

I wonder what Ham would say since I don’t take Genesis as all literal – I get the point of the stories – but as for literalness of an ‘Adam’ and ‘Eve’ – I am not totally sure (likely symbols telling a story about the beginning of humanity). But since I don’t take that as literal then I might become the problem in society – I highly doubt that. I believe ’sin’ exists and that we have to battle with our hearts/minds in that regards (so as not to hurt others). I have a friend(s) who are kosher – maybe I need to stop with Ham (LOL).

“Who can know the heart of man?” (Bobby)

I think we can catch quite the glimpse through our experiences as humans also. I may not know why and what each individual is about but I can almost guess when compared with my personal experiences.

“The Devil walks the earth seeking those he can consume…..he found this man…….and he was consumed.” (Bobby)

I agree, I actually mentioned this idea in my last blog but in a little different way – that the shooter developed an ‘evil spirit/intent/persona’ and that is what we saw that day in VT.

But the comments you made Bobby do nothing for me to help change possible situations like this that may occur in my neighborhood tomorrow (or within me) – just that the devil is on the loose like a Canadian goose and I need to ‘resist’. Is Bobby for real cause that seems like an answer that was regurgitated as sarcasm?

By: bruced

bruced — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 14:41:39 +0000

Sometimes, I think we grossly underestimate the power of pure, unconditional love… love from God, and from each other. We call it “evil” or “sin” or “hatred/anger”, but isn’t it really just an “absence of love”? Maybe, I’m all washed up, but this has become the essence of life for me. From love comes incredible peace (satisfaction, fulfillment), and joy… great joy in all things.

By: Bobby Harris

Bobby Harris — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 12:10:57 +0000

Who can know the heart of man? Sin is present in all of us. All of us have the capacity to kill. All of us have the capacity to do like this man did. How can you resist unless you know what your dealing with. The spirit world is real. Evil is real. He was consumed by it. When you know the tricks of the evil one…the deceptions ….the lies……the hatred. You can resist. The Devil walks the earth seeking those he can consume…..he found this man…….and he was consumed.