David Brooks: Why mass shooters do the evil they do

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ^ | July 10, 2022 | David Brooks, The New York Times

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

I will never get over the fact that our society seems to produce a steady stream of young men who think it is heroic to murder innocent people. I read their histories. I look at the social science research. I’ve tried to understand the typical pathway they take to get to their evil behavior.

The common thing to say about mass shooters is that they have mental health issues, but that’s often misleading. This has been studied in a variety of ways. A majority of mass shooters do not have diagnosed mental illness. It’s mostly the circumstances that drive them to do what they do, not an underlying disease.

The more accurate place to start is with something George Bernard Shaw wrote many years ago: “The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: That’s the essence of inhumanity.”

These young men are frequently ghosts. They often experience early childhood trauma, like abuse or extreme bullying. In school no one knows them. Boys and girls turn their backs on them. Later, when journalists interview their teachers or neighbors, they are remembered as withdrawn and remote. These young men often have no social skills. Why doesn’t anybody like me? As one researcher put it, they are not necessarily loners; they are failed joiners.

[CaptainK]

Brook’s mentions that most of these shooters haven’t been diagnosed as mentally ill, but many people are prescribed SSRI drugs for depression by a General Practitioner.

[AndyJackson]

... and kids beu=ing allowed to blow off steam by running around.

[Pelham]

I was expecting Brooks to explain mass shooting on their failure to wear perfectly creased pants.

[avenir]

I was reading Proverbs one day and this description of thrill killers jumped out at me:

My son, if sinful men entice you,

do not give in to them.

If they say, “Come along with us;

let’s lie in wait for innocent blood,

let’s ambush some harmless soul;

let’s swallow them alive, like the grave,

and whole, like those who go down to the pit;

we will get all sorts of valuable things

and fill our houses with plunder;

cast lots with us;

we will all share the loot”—

my son, do not go along with them,

do not set foot on their paths;

for their feet rush into evil,

they are swift to shed blood

Proverbs 1

So many parents sit there and say “We had NO IDEA our child was capable of THAT!” As always Scripture tells the truth.

[gitmo]

Good point Thanks