Killing is a drug to me...

[SolaScriptura]

So says an infantry veteran of the war in Iraq. He wrote an essay for a class at a community college in which he talks about being addicted to killing. Subsequently, he was banned from the school pending a psychological evaluation. The local media picked up the story and you can read about it HERE. (I have some reservations about the legitimacy of some of the claims he makes in his essay, but for the sake of the argument I'll grant he's telling nothing but the truth.)

In his phenomenal book On Killing, Grossman talks about the natural aversion we have to killing and some of the ways the military gets us to "get over" that hangup, but he goes on to talk about how people can come to actually like killing. For anyone interested in the psychology of killing, or "killology," with its impact on society... I heartily recommend the book. It IS the definitive resource on the topic.

While I am one who certainly thinks that sometimes the best thing we can do is kill whomever it is that needs killed, I think it is disgusting to be "addicted" to killing as if one has given himself over to has most carnal and destructive instincts like a Viking or something.

What I find the most aggrivating is that this guy would dare insinuate that him becoming "addicted to killing" is either the fault of the Army, or even the war, or that it is a natural reaction to either of those things. Please note that just because the military wants troops to be able to engage with and kill the enemy without hesitation, that does NOT mean that it is desired or wanted that troops should get their kicks from killing.

 

[Backwoods Presbyterian]

Thanks for this Ben.

 

[BJClark]

I haven't read the entire article, but I can understand how living in a constant fight/flight mode would trigger the release (of killing) to become like a drug.

Much like a person who grew up in an abusive home, many become abusers..not necessarily of others but also of themselves..they can abuse themselves by means of overeating, drinking, sex..and any other number of things, or they could become abusers of others or even marry someone who is abusive, because it's what they have come to find 'normal' behavior....once the release is met the feelings of whether to fight or run would subside..then the feelings of guilt, shame, self/other loathing can begin to set in..which can trigger the entire episode to start again..trying to comfort themselves..

However, all those things can be overcome through the healing power of the Holy Spirit, and much counseling..

 

[Peairtach]

There's quite a lot of killing in the Old Testament . This sounds like the standard, simplistic, quasi-dispensational view of the Bible i.e. "There's an awful lot of killing in the Old Testament!!There's alot less or hardly any in the New Testament. Therefore the Old Testament is bad and the New Testament is good."

It would be interesting to do a study on killing in the Bible, particularly in war, and see if there are any indications that bad or good men took pleasure in it, and what their attitude to killing was.

I don't believe that David - one of the archetypal warriors in Israel - ever indicated that he took pleasure in the death of the wicked that he was killing, often Philistines of course, although I may be wrong.

David's prayer that his hands be taught to war (Psalm 18:34; Psalm 144:1) is no doubt that he be a good soldier and effective against his enemies.

The above is a good illustration of how the Psalms (and other Scriptures) sometimes have a double application, in that for those of us that are not soldiers the prayer is that we are effective in spiritual warfare and evangelism. But for a Christian who is a soldier it may be natural to relate this prayer to his line of work, that he become a good and effective soldier.

Maybe we need a full-orbed theology of justified killing and violence, particularly for soldiers, executioners and those engaged in self-defence or defence of others e.g. the civil ministers on the front line i.e. policemen.

 

[LawrenceU]

The adrenaline rush of combat can definitely become intoxicating, but addiction to killing is another matter all together.

Ben, those are some great comments. Thank you.

 

[TimV]

That's probably one of several reasons the Bible says you can't send a man to war until he's 20.

---------- Post added at 06:44 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:38 AM ----------

PS Ben when I read the title of your post I though it was a personal admission.

 

[turmeric]

The military can't be blamed for this - who knows what this guy was all about before they got him?

 

[TheElk]

On Killing is a good read. I'd bet that the guy has some PTSD issues that still need to get worked out. He probably was being honest in how he felt and didn't think anything of it. Once the "switch" to combat mode is thrown it can be hard to "turn it back off." At least all at once.

 

[jwithnell]

I wonder if some of this same "need" develops with playing violent first-person shooter games? Ben, I really appreciate your comments. It is very necessary to engage the enemy, but how can someone remain fully human and seek out killing?

 

[SolaScriptura]

What is interesting - and disturbing - is the difference between the "dehumanizing" of the enemy that Grossman says to some extent is necessary, and the glee this guy claims to take in knifing someone and watching their eyes as they die. One (Grossman) is a formula for helping normal people deal with the difficult task of killing. The other (this guy) is relishing the adrenline rush of overpowering his fellow man and looking into the "seat" of their personhood - their face - as they die. In other words, he isn't dehumanizing his enemy in order to bring himself to kill them. No, he's reveling in the intimacy of taking their humanity from them. That isn't normalization. That is simply monstrous.

 

[Andres]

What is interesting - and disturbing - is the difference between the "dehumanizing" of the enemy that Grossman says to some extent is necessary, and the glee this guy claims to take in knifing someone and watching their eyes as they die. One (Grossman) is a formula for helping normal people deal with the difficult task of killing. The other (this guy) is relishing the adrenline rush of overpowering his fellow man and looking into the "seat" of their personhood - their face - as they die. In other words, he isn't dehumanizing his enemy in order to bring himself to kill them. No, he's reveling in the intimacy of taking their humanity from them. That isn't normalization. That is simply monstrous.

what you describe sounds somewhat akin to the feelings a serial killer experiences also.

 

[jwithnell]

That isn't normalization. That is simply monstrous.

Amen brother!

 

[MICWARFIELD]

When I saw the title of this thread, I thought it was about Che Guevara, who said the same thing. He also spoke of loving the smell of blood mixed with gunpowder in the morning. It still blows me away that so many liberals and Hollywood elites see him as a great hero.

 

[Pergamum]

I met Grossman about 12 years ago going through officer training.

He painted his face like Braveheart and gave a rousing speech to the candidates before we did the combat course. I remember he arranged Metallica to be played ove the loud speakers to pump us up and then had pyrotechnics to finish his speech. He totally had the crowd's attention.

Later I read all of his books and I cannot recommend his book On Killing high enough.

I do think our modern shooter video games are going to make better killers who are conscience-free.

 

[PuritanCovenanter]

I met Grossman about 12 years ago going through officer training. .....

I do think our modern shooter video games are going to make better killers who are conscience-free.

You have so many great experiences. I just listened to Metallica tonight. They use to be a strong band. Bad but driving.

I agree with your shooter video comment. They always can come back to life without consequences. That is not good. Especially since there is no evaluation of their life before God and eternal consequences. That would be a great video experience if they could incorporate that. But that would kill a game for many.

King David understood it.

Kiss the Son lest He be angry with you.

 

[SolaScriptura]

I do think our modern shooter video games are going to make better killers who are conscience-free.

I felt compelled to watch the movie Kick A** and what was so disturbing to me was that the character Hit Girl killed with absolutely no conscience. It was a game to her, and to highlight that point, at one scene in the movie they actually filmed the scene in "first person shooter mode" as if she was in a video game.
Life is cheap and everything is meaningless. Our culture has been inundated by existential nihilism for over 40 years and we wonder why the suicide rate has gone steadily higher?

 

[TimV]

Did any of you ever read the "Ender" series by Orson Scott Card?

 

[jwithnell]

I'm extremely concerned, for the reasons y'all have given, about some believers close to me who play these games. The rational "as long as it's good vs. evil it's a good thing." And the F word is flying constantly : (

 

[Pergamum]

I recommend the audiobook version of Generation Kill a journalist's account of my generation at war (beware for language).

Eugene Sledge, also, is always relevant.

After WWII and the follow-on duty in China, the author decided to enroll at Auburn University. The female from the Registrar's Office "slammed her pencil on the table and said in a loud, exasperated voice, 'Didn't the Marine Corps teach you anything?' A gasp ran through the crowd, and you could have heard a pin drop."

Veteran Marine Sledge said in a loud, calm voice: "Lady, there was a killing war. The Marine Corps taught me how to kill Japs and try to survive. Now, if that don't fit into any academic course, I'm sorry. But some of us had to do the killing -- and most of my buddies got killed or wounded."

 

[SolaScriptura]

I recommend the audiobook version of Generation Kill a journalist's account of my generation at war (beware for language).

Eugene Sledge, also, is always relevant.

After WWII and the follow-on duty in China, the author decided to enroll at Auburn University. The female from the Registrar's Office "slammed her pencil on the table and said in a loud, exasperated voice, 'Didn't the Marine Corps teach you anything?' A gasp ran through the crowd, and you could have heard a pin drop."

Veteran Marine Sledge said in a loud, calm voice: "Lady, there was a killing war. The Marine Corps taught me how to kill Japs and try to survive. Now, if that don't fit into any academic course, I'm sorry. But some of us had to do the killing -- and most of my buddies got killed or wounded."

Thank you for that. But note the difference in mentality - he believes he simply did what he had to do. The guy in the OP relishes it. There's a difference.

 

[Pergamum]

Ben, Yes, if you read Generation Kill and Eugene Slege's diary side by side, the differences are startling...

 

[Zenas]

Hippies.

 

[SolaScriptura]

Hippies.

Are you talking to ME? You'd better back down or my agent orange might start acting up...

 

[PuritanCovenanter]

Hippies.

Are you talking to ME? You'd better back down or my agent orange might start acting up...

I think he was talking to people like me and John Lennon. I moved away from the hippie camp in 1981.

 

[Kim G]

The other (this guy) is relishing the adrenline rush of overpowering his fellow man and looking into the "seat" of their personhood - their face - as they die. In other words, he isn't dehumanizing his enemy in order to bring himself to kill them. No, he's reveling in the intimacy of taking their humanity from them. That isn't normalization. That is simply monstrous.

This reminds me of a National Geographic film on the Aryan Brotherhood gang. One of their most violent members (before he backed out because he would only kill men in jail and refused to hurt family members outside) said, "Murder is the most intimate act you can ever perform with someone."