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TechnoratiSpiritual leaders weighing in on the issue say acts of violence are a spiritual problem and occur when society loses the value of human life as it moves further away from God.
"Since our society tries ever more to remove God from the public eye, it is more difficult for individual persons to find him, and so we have acts of violence as a direct consequence,” the Rev. Andreas Hock, professor of Sacred Scripture at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary, told Rocky Mountain News.
Gino Geraci, a pastor at Calvary Chapel South Denver, told the local newspaper that the media has to take responsibility for the way it reports stories like the recent shootings, noting the Omaha mall shooting last Wednesday when the gunman, Robert A. Hawkins, left a suicide note stating now he will be famous.
"We live in a culture of death, a culture of notoriety," Geraci told the Rocky Mountain News, noting that Time magazine chose to put the Columbine killers on its cover in a prominent way.
But Pastor Reginald Holmes of New Covenant Christian Church thinks the central issue is readily available guns and undetected mental illness.
Virginia Tech shooter Cho was said to be diagnosed with mental illness. The Omaha shooter was described by those who knew him as “depressed” and reportedly had a drinking problem and smoked marijuana. All three, including Murray, were described as quiet or introverted.
"We can't trivialize something so serious by saying it's a spiritual problem. The concrete issue is addressing mental illness in America in a much more serious way. This is sickness. This is sickness,” he told the local newspaper.
John Davis, a psychotherapist and counselor in the Denver area, refers to these young men as "Extreme Teens" who needed early intervention.
"Identifying and helping a young man before he becomes disenfranchised and acts out is a crucial step," said Davis, author of Extreme Pursuit: Winning the Race for the Heart of Your Son. “We need to reach out to these 'Extreme Teens' now, before it is too late.”
Morality in Media’s Peters, however, ruled out the possibility that mental illness and problems at home, work, or school could be the primary explanation for mass murders by minors and adults, noting that they’re nothing new.
“Parents, schools, religious institutions and government have all changed over the decades,” he said, “but none are saying that it is OK to kill because you have been wronged or are unhappy.”
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