Colorado Church gunman cited his 'insane' home schooling

[Liberal_in_LA]

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/nation/story/8E7AE480DBD0BA8C862573B2001FF1C9?OpenDocument

Church gunman cited his 'insane' home schooling
By Nancy Lofholm
DENVER POST
12/15/2007

Denver — The ultra-religious home-school curriculum that Matthew Murray ranted about in Web postings before he opened fire at two Christian centers forbids dating, rock music and "wrong clothes." It advises young men and women to live at home until their parents release them and counsels parents to choose marriage partners for their offspring.

That kind of strict, rule-driven home schooling is not the norm and, if used without considering students' individual needs, is not recommended by many educators, according to Kevin Swanson, executive director of the 15,000-family-strong Christian Home Educators of Colorado.

Murray, in messages he posted under the username nghtmrchld26, said he and another poster "were raised on homeschool and we both went through some insane stuff growing up in The Nightmare that outsiders just do not understand."


**SNIP**

Gothard's teachings ... Gothard warned followers in a 1986 letter that Cabbage Patch dolls can cause "strange, destructive behavior."

[Countdown_3_2_1]

1. The guy was criminally insane/schitzo. How he was schooled doesn't matter.

I read his web postings. Roommates talked of his discussions with the voices in his head.

Bottom line: this killer had a defective brain, and that why he killed.
Insanity is biology/genetics based...not religious/school type based.

We just awarded the Heisman Trophy to a guy who was home schooled.
You can't blame them all for the sins of one.

[frogcycle]

2. thanks for that

I expect there may have been issues in his case that exacerbated whatever inherent problems he had. But that does not condemn home schooling. I agree that home schooling CAN be equal or better than public education, with the right parents. But there are a lot of people not qualified to be parents, let alone teachers. Clearly Tim Tebow's don't fall in that category.



http://www6.comcast.net/sports/articles/general/2007/12/08/FBC.Heisman.Trophy/

...The legend of Tebow started at Nease High School in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., where he once finished a game playing on a broken leg.

Homeschooled by missionary parents who run an orphanage in the Philippines, Tebow took advantage of a Florida state law to play for Nease, about 90 miles from the University of Florida campus.

Tebow has worked and preached at his parents' orphanage since he was 15. He regularly speaks at schools and delivered his message of faith at a prison in Florida earlier this year...

[pop goes the weasel]

3. it does matter how he was schooled

The guy was obviously schizophrenic, but having schizophrenia in and of itself doesn't drive a person to commit a crime. Constant bombardment with apocalyptic imagery and punitive discipline? That will shape the nature of the hallucinations a person has. And what sort of psychological help did he get? Told he was a sinner and that he needed to just get right with god to make the voices stop? Don't you think a guy might come to resent the people who tell him that? Not to mention the lovely corporal punishment. There's another name for that: assault.

Sure, not all home schooling is bad. But when it is bad, where is the community that intercedes? The laws permitting home schooling need to make sure that children are not isolated from a diverse peer group that is the best security against parental extremism.

From the article the OP cited:

Murray mentions Gothard by name in a later post: "Me, I remember the beatings and the fighting and yelling and insane rules and all the Bill Gothard (expletive) and then trancing out ... (expletive) ... I'm still tranced out."

[GreenPartyVoter]

7. I think his religious life was a triggger for sure.

[Bluebear]

5. It says "ultra-religious home-school curriculum", not just "home schooled"

[aquart]

9. So schizophrenics are murderers? Got statistics on that?

And what is this "defective brain" crap. No wonder mental health issues in this country are so pathetically ignored. Your knowledge is medieval.

Home schooling is an issue of control. Parents want to control every thought in a child's head. Never mind the socialization skills the child never gets to develop.

I'm shocked that anyone would defend home schooling.

[Countdown_3_2_1]

11. 2 to 3 million home schooled kids, and one murderer.

Fact: the guy was insane.
Fact: The guy was going to be an insane murderer whether or not he was home schooled

Home schooling is a side issue here. What you may or may not believe about home schooling makes no difference to this case.

Bottom line: Some people are just born bad. This guy was one of them.

[pop goes the weasel]

13. you are ignorant

He wasn't born "bad" any more than you were. Why don't you actually learn something about mental illness?

[knitter4democracy]

4. I've never heard of that curriculum.

I've seen a few, but that one's pretty out there.

As for the shooter, I hope he's finally at peace of some kind and that his victims are in a place of peace and repose, too. May all the families find a way to get through the holidays and find a way in and through the grief. It's a sad thing for everyone.

I also think the shooter had major mental illness issues. I just wish he'd gotten treatment.

[Sam_Smith]

6. Cabbage Patch Dolls are evil lol

Gothard warned followers in a 1986 letter that Cabbage Patch dolls can cause "strange, destructive behavior."

Maybe he was talking about what was going on in the toy stores at Christmas time when the parents were trying to find the damn things for their kids. lol

I'm old enough to remember the mayhem at the malls when those things came out.

[aquart]

8. "Release them"?

I wonder who his parents are blaming for this. I'll bet money it's not themselves.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

10. Eww, reminds me of a homeschooling family that was featured in the

Mineeapolis paper a few years ago.

The oldest daughter was 18 and had finished her high school work, but instead of going to college--even a fundamentalist college like Bob Jones--she was going to stay home and take correspondence courses.

And I thought, "There's more than religious fervor going on here. These parents are control freaks."

[brentspeak]

12. He was hearing voices; he was psychotic.

That goes a lot more in the way of explaining his actions than just his educational background.