The Dead Soul of Stephen Paddock

Why did Stephen Paddock, 64, rent rooms at the Mandalay Bay hotel, sneak in an arsenal of guns, a dozen of them converted to fully automatic, and rain down death on a country music concert?

"There can be no rational argument for mass murder ... nothing can really explain the decision to spray thousands of concertgoers with automatic weapons fire, killing at least 59 and injuring hundreds more."

But while there can be no justification for mass murder, there is an explanation. And like Edgar Allan Poe's "Purloined Letter," it is right there in front of us, in plain sight.

Having chosen to end his life, Paddock resolved to go out in a blaze of publicity. This nobody would leave this life as somebody we would have to remember. He would immortalize himself, as did Lee Harvey Oswald.

Ex-Marine sniper Charles Whitman, who murdered his wife and mother, and then climbed up into the Texas University Tower in Austin, 50 years ago, to shoot down 46 people and kill 15, is the prototype.

Whitman's slaughter ended after 96 minutes when a cop climbed up in that tower and shot him. Yet, half a century on, Whitman remains famous. Many of us can yet recall his name and face.

Like Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold before Columbine, and Dylan Roof before his sickening atrocity at the black church in Charleston, Paddock wanted to live on as one of the great mass murderers in U.S. history. And he has succeeded. We are today paying him in the currency he craved. He is famous, and we have made him so.

Monday, the president spoke at the White House on the "act of pure evil" Paddock perpetrated Sunday night. Network and cable TV anchors and correspondents stampeded to Las Vegas to dig into his background and motivation.

Commentators discoursed on the meaning of it all. Congress is aflame with demands for gun laws against "bump stocks" that turn semiautomatic AR-15s and AK-47s to fully automatic. Paddock's deeds pushed Puerto Rico and North Korea out of the headlines. By Wednesday, Trump himself was in Vegas. Five days later, police and FBI are still searching for the "motive."

Whatever caused Paddock to conclude that ending his life was preferable to living it is not the crucial question. Suicides are not uncommon in America. About three of every four are carried out by white males; 121 are committed daily, with gunshot a common method.

The real question is what turned Paddock into a psychopath without conscience or a moral code that would scream to him that what he was planning was pure evil.

Unlike ISIS terrorists who believe they are soldiers of Islam doing the will of Allah and will achieve paradise for slaughtering infidels, Stephen Paddock did not believe anything like this.

He coolly and patiently plotted mass murder almost for sport. He rented a hotel suite with windows overlooking a coming country music concert, his fighting fort. He ferried in, over five days, half his home arsenal of 40-some guns, with the semi-automatic assault rifles modified to fire fully automatic. He installed cameras to alert him to when police were about to break in and kill him. Then he smashed the windows on his 32nd-floor suite and began firing for 12 minutes.

Paddock murdered 59 people he did not know and against whom he had no grievance. How did he come to be a man who treated fellow humans as vermin? And does this say something about our civilization?

In "The Brothers Karamazov," novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky has his character Ivan say, "If God is dead, all things are permissible."

What Ivan meant is that if God does not exist, the idea of God's law, of heaven or hell as reward or punishment, is nonsense. And if it is, there is no man-made law that can deter men who have decided to "end it all."

Consider. Nevada has a death penalty for the mass murder Paddock was preparing to commit. But as he had already decided to end his life after shooting scores of innocent people, no death penalty or any other threatened state punishment could deter him.

Why not carry out his atrocity and end his life knowing that, within days, all of America would know who Stephen Paddock was?

In Shakespeare, Hamlet declares, "Conscience doth make cowards of us all." And so, fearing damnation, Hamlet recoils from ending his life or exacting revenge on the king he believes seduced his mother into complicity in the murder of his father.

In Stephen Paddock, the conscience was dead. He was a dead soul, a moral nihilist, a post-Christian man in a post-Christian age, a monster.

Yet, we are going to see more such men, for we no longer have a convincing answer to that oldest of questions, "Why not?"

“What was his motive? Why did he do it? ‘We will never know,’ writes columnist Eugene Robinson. ‘There can be no rational argument for mass murder ... nothing can really explain the decision to spray thousands of concertgoers with automatic weapons fire, killing at least 59 and injuring hundreds more.’”

This guy and others are in denial about the pattern of unprovoked attacks and mass killings by Islamic jihadists over the last forty years in the U.S.

Until proven otherwise there’s a presumption that similar attacks and killings like this one are done by Islamic jihadists. Irrational but explainable.

Below is a list of 93 deadly Islamic terror attacks made on American soil since 1972 that supports the presumption that this kind of unprovoked attack and mass killing is done by Islamic jihadism:

https://www.thereligionofpeace.com/attacks/american-attacks.aspx

Date Country City Killed Injured Description
2017.05.19 USA Tampa, FL 2 0 A recent convert shoots two people to death for disrespecting Islam.
2017.04.18 USA Fresno, CA 3 0 Three men are gunned down at random by a convert to Islam yelling praises to Allah.
2017.01.31 USA Denver, CO 1 0 A pastor working as a security guard is shot to death at a transit office by a ‘radicalized’ Muslim.
2017.01.06 USA Fort Lauderdale, FL 5 6 A convert to Islam guns down five innocents in the baggage claim area of an airport.
2016.11.28 USA Columbus, OH 0 11 A Muslim immigrant goes on a stabbing rampage after expressing his desire to kill infidels.
2016.09.17 USA St. Cloud, MN 0 8 A former refugee goes on a stabbing spree at a shopping mall while speaking of Allah and asking potential victims if they are Muslim.
2016.09.17 USA NYC, NY 0 31 A former asylum seeker plants several explosives, one of which injures twenty-nine innocents. He also shot two policemen two days later.
2016.08.20 USA Roanoke, VA 0 2 A man and woman are stabbed maliciously by a ‘radicalized’ man yelling praises to Allah.
2016.06.13 USA Orlando, FL 49 53 An Islamic extremist massacres forty-nine people at a gay nightclub.
2016.02.11 USA Columbus, OH 0 4 Four people at a Christian-owned restaurant with an Israeli flag are slashed by a Muslim wielding a machete yelling ‘Allah Akbar’…
2016.01.07 USA Philadelphia, PA 0 1 A man shoots a police officer three times ‘in the name of Islam’.
2015.12.02 USA San Bernardino, CA 14 17 A ‘very religious’ Muslim shoots up a Christmas party with his wife, leaving fourteen dead.
2015.11.04 USA Merced, CA 0 4 A student vowing to behead and ‘praise Allah’ stabs four others on campus.
2015.07.16 USA Chattanooga, TN 5 2 A ‘devout Muslim’ stages a suicide attack on a recruiting center at a strip mall and a naval center which leaves five dead.
2015.05.03 USA Garland, TX 0 1 Two Muslims stage a suicide assault on a conference critical of Islam.
2015.02.14 USA Detroit, MI 0 2 Two men are stabbed by a Muslim who first verified that they were unbelievers.
2014.12.18 USA Morganton, NC 1 A convert to Islam shoots an elderly man three times in the head after watching ISIS videos.
2014.10.23 USA NYC, NY 0 5 Four rookie cops and a female bystander are assaulted with an axe by a Muslim who says he is acting in the cause of Allah.
2014.09.25 USA Moore, OK 1 1 A Sharia advocate beheads a woman after calling for Islamic terror and posting an Islamist beheading photo.
2014.06.25 USA West Orange, NJ 1 0 A 19-year-old college student is shot to death ‘in revenge’ for Muslim deaths overseas.
2014.06.01 USA Seattle, WA 2 0 Two homosexuals are murdered by an Islamic extremist.
2014.04.27 USA Skyway, WA 1 0 A 30-year-old man is murdered by a Muslim fanatic.
2014.03.06 USA Port Bolivar, TX 2 0 A Muslim man shoots his lesbian daughter and her lover to death and leaves a copy of the Quran open to a page condemning homosexuality.
2013.08.04 USA Richmond, CA 1 0 A convert “on a mission from Allah” stabs a store clerk to death.
2013.04.19 USA Boston, MA 1 1 Jihadists gun down a university police officer sitting in his car.
2013.04.15 USA Boston, MA 3 264 Foreign-born Muslims describing themselves as ‘very religious’ detonate two bombs packed with ball bearings at the Boston Marathon, killing three people and causing several more to lose limbs.
2013.03.24 USA Ashtabula, OH 1 0 A Muslim convert walks into a church service with a Quran and guns down his Christian father while praising Allah.
2013.03.14 USA Vancouver, WA 0 2 Two people suffer knife injuries when a Muslim convert attempts to stab a non-Muslim to death over religious views outside a coffee shop.
2013.02.07 USA Buena Vista, NJ 2 0 A Muslim targets and beheads two Christian Coptic immigrants.
2012.11.12 USA Houston, TX 1 0 A 28-year-old American man is shot to death by a conservative Muslim over an alleged role in converting a woman to Christianity.
2012.06.15 USA Mission, TX 0 3 A man shoots his daughter, her boyfriend and her mother for letting the girl date a non-Muslim.
2012.01.15 USA Houston, TX 1 0 A 30-year-old Christian convert is shot to death by a devout Muslim for helping to convert his daughter.
2011.09.11 USA Waltham, MA 3 0 Three Jewish men have their throats slashed by Muslim terrorists.
2011.04.30 USA Warren, MI 1 0 A 20-year-old woman is shot in the head by her stepfather for not adhering to Islamic practices.
2010.04.14 USA Marquette Park, IL 5 2 After quarrelling with his wife over Islamic dress, a Muslim convert shoots his family members to ‘take them back to Allah’ and out of the ‘world of sinners’.
2009.12.04 USA Binghamton, NY 1 0 A non-Muslim Islamic studies professor is stabbed to death by a Muslim grad student in revenge for ‘persecuted’ Muslims.
2009.11.05 USA Ft. Hood, TX 13 31 A Muslim psychiatrist guns down thirteen unarmed soldiers while yelling praises to Allah.
2009.11.02 USA Glendale, AZ 1 1 A woman dies from injuries suffered when her father runs her down with a car for being too ‘Westernized.’ (10-20-09)
2009.06.01 USA Little Rock, AR 1 1 A Muslim shoots a local soldier to death inside a recruiting center explicitly in the name of Allah.
2009.04.12 USA Phoenix, AZ 2 0 A man shoots his brother-in-law and another man to death after finding out that they visited a strip club, in contradiction to Islamic values.
2009.02.12 USA Buffalo, NY 1 0 The founder of a Muslim TV station beheads his wife in the hallway for seeking a divorce.
2008.07.06 USA Jonesboro, GA 1 0 A devout Muslim strangles his 25-year-old daughter in an honor killing.
2008.01.01 USA Irving, TX 2 0 A Muslim immigrant shoots his two daughters to death on concerns about their ‘Western’ lifestyle.
2007.02.20 USA Nashville, TN 0 1 A Muslim cab driver runs over a Christian after arguing about religion. The young man’s ankle and hip are broken by the vehicle.
2006.07.28 USA Seattle, WA 1 5 An ‘angry’ Muslim-American uses a young girl as hostage to enter a local Jewish center, where he shoots six women, one of whom dies.
2006.06.25 USA Denver, CO 1 5 Saying that it was ‘Allah’s choice’, a Muslim shoots four of his co-workers and a police officer.
2006.06.16 USA Baltimore, MD 1 0 A 62-year-old Jewish moviegoer is shot to death by a Muslim medical student in an unprovoked terror attack.
2006.03.03 USA Chapel Hill, NC 0 9 Calling it the will of Allah, an Iranian immigrant plows his SUV into a crowd of students as ‘retribution’ for foreign policy overseas.
2004.04.15 USA Scottsville, NY 1 2 In an honor killing, a Muslim father kills his wife and attacks his two daughters with a knife and hammer because he feared that they had been sexually molested.
2003.08.06 USA Houston, TX 1 0 After undergoing a ‘religious revival’, a Saudi college student slashes the throat of a Jewish student with a 4” butterfly knife, nearly decapitating the young man.
2002.10.22 USA Aspen Hill, MD 1 0 A bus driver is killed by Muslim snipers.
2002.10.14 USA Arlington, VA 1 0 A woman is killed by Muslim snipers in a Home Depot parking lot.
2002.10.11 USA Fredericksburg, VA 1 0 Another man is killed by Muslim snipers while pumping gas.
2002.10.09 USA Manassas, VA 1 1 A man is killed by Muslim snipers while pumping gas two days after a 13-year-old is wounded by the same team.
2002.10.03 USA Montgomery County, MD 5 0 Muslim snipers kill three men and two women in separate attacks over a 15-hour period.
2002.10.02 USA Wheaton, MD 1 0 Muslim snipers gun down a program analyst in a store parking lot.
2002.09.23 USA Baton Rouge, LA 1 0 A Korean mother is shot in the back by Muslim snipers.
2002.09.21 USA Montgomery, AL 1 1 Muslim snipers shoot two women, killing one.
2002.09.21 USA Atlanta, GA 1 0 Muslim terrorists gun down an employee at a liquor store.
2002.07.04 USA Los Angeles, CA 2 0 Muslim man pulls out a gun at the counter of an Israeli airline and kills two people.
2002.05.27 USA Denton, TX 1 0 Muslim snipers kill a man as he works in his yard.
2002.03.19 USA Tuscon, AZ 1 0 A 60-year-old man is gunned down by Muslim snipers on a golf course.
2002.01.06 USA Tampa, FL 0 0 Fifteen year-old flies plane into an office building in Tampa. Suicide note reveals his admiration for Osama Bin Laden and desire to commit a terrorist attack.
2001.09.11 USA New York, NY 2752 251 Islamic hijackers steer two planes packed with fuel and passengers into the World Trade Center, killing hundreds on impact and eventually killing thousands when the towers collapsed. At least 200 are seriously injured.
2001.09.11 USA Washington, DC 184 53 Nearly 200 people are killed when Islamic hijackers steer a plane full of people into the Pentagon.
2001.09.11 USA Shanksville, PA 40 0 Forty passengers are killed after Islamic radicals hijack the plane in an attempt to steer it into the U.S. Capitol building.
2000.03.17 USA Atlanta, GA 1 1 A local imam and Muslim spiritual leader guns down a deputy sheriff and injures his partner.
1997.04.03 USA Lompoc, CA 1 0 A prison guard is stabbed to death by a radical Muslim.
1997.03.23 USA New York, NY 1 6 A Palestinian leaves an anti-Jewish suicide note behind and travels to the top of the Empire State building where he shoot seven people in a Fedayeen attack.
1994.03.01 USA Brooklyn, NY 1 0 A Muslim gunman targets a van packed with Jewish boys, killing a 16-year-old.
1993.02.26 USA New York, NY 6 1040 Islamic terrorists detonate a massive truck bomb under the World Trade Center, killing six people and injuring over 1,000 in an effort to collapse the towers.
1993.01.25 USA Langley, VA 2 3 A Pakistani with Mujahideen ties guns down two CIA agents outside of the headquarters.
1990.11.05 USA New York City, NY 1 0 An Israeli rabbi is shot to death by a Muslim attacker at a hotel.
1990.01.31 USA Tuscon, AZ 1 0 A Sunni cleric is assassinated in front of a Tuscon mosque after declaring that two verses of the Qur’an were invalid.
1989.11.06 USA St. Louis, MO 1 0 A 17-year-old girl is stabbed to death by her parents for bringing ‘dishonor’ to their family by dating an ‘infidel’ African-American.
1980.08.31 USA Savou, IL 2 0 An Iranian student guns down his next-door neighbors, a husband and wife.
1980.07.22 USA Bethesda, MD 1 0 A political dissident is shot and killed in front of his home by an Iranian agent who was an American convert to Islam.
1977.03.09 USA Washington, DC 1 1 Hanifi Muslims storm three buildings including a B’nai B’rith to hold 134 people hostage. At least two innocents were shot and one died.
1974.04.16 USA Ingleside, CA 1 0 A man is killed while helping a friend move by Nation of Islam terrorists.
1974.04.01 USA Oakland, CA 1 1 A Nation of Islam terrorist shoots at two Salvation Army members, killing a man and injuring a woman.
1974.01.24 USA Oakland, CA 4 1 Five vicious shooting attacks by Nation of Islam terrorists leave three people dead and one paralyzed for life. Three of the victims were women.
1973.12.24 USA Oakland, CA 1 0 A man is kidnapped, tortured and decapitated by Nation of Islam terrorists.
1973.12.22 USA Oakland, CA 2 0 Nation of Islam terrorist kills two people in separate attacks on the same day.
1973.12.20 USA Oakland, CA 1 0 Nation of Islam terrorists gun down an 81-year-old janitor.
1973.12.13 USA Oakland, CA 1 0 A woman is shot to death on the sidewalk by Nation of Islam terrorists.
1973.12.11 USA Oakland, CA 1 0 A man is killed by Nation of Islam terrorists while using a phone booth.
1973.11.25 USA Oakland, CA 1 0 A grocer is killed in his store by Nation of Islam terrorists.
1973.10.29 USA Berkeley, CA 1 0 A woman is shot repeatedly in the face by Nation of Islam terrorists.
1973.10.19 USA Oakland, CA 1 1 Nation of Islam terrorists kidnap a couple and nearly decapitate the man, while raping and leaving the woman for dead.
1973.07.18 USA Washington, DC 8 2 Nation of Islam members shoot seven members of a family to death in cold blood, including four children. A defendant in the case is later murdered in prison on orders from Elijah Muhammad.
1973.07.01 USA Bethesda, MD 1 0 An Israeli diplomat is gunned down in his driveway by Palestinian terrorists.
1973.01.19 USA Brooklyn, NY 1 1 Muslim extremists rob a sporting goods store for weapons, gunning down a police officer who responds to the alarm.
1972.04.14 USA New York, NY 1 3 Ten members of a local mosque phone in a false alarm and then ambush responding officers, killing one.

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