openairboy
Puritan Board Freshman
I read this on the web:
"Thirty years ago today, in 1966 Charles Joeseph Whitman was shot after
killing 15 people
at U. of Texas. This was the basis for Harry's song "Sniper" from the
album, Sniper and
Other Love Songs.
Below is an excerpt on the event from the Web:
The Day the Whole Damned Campus Died
Date/Time: July 31, 1966. Between 11:00pm and 12:30am.
Place: Downtown Austin
Charles J. Whitman picked up his wife from her summer job as a telephone
operator and
dropped her off at home. He then drove across town to his mother's
apartment and stabbed
her five times, shot her once in the back of the head, and squeezed her
left hand so
hard that her engagement ring broke her finger and the stone in it broke.
He left a note
on her nightstand. He then drove home and stabbed his wife four times (for
the number of
years they had been together). She was supposedly asleep because there was
no sign of a
struggle. He also typed another note on that same night.
Date/Time: August 1, 1966. 11:48am.
Place: University of Texas at Austin Campus
Charles Joseph Whitman carted a green duffel bag on a rented hand cart up
the elevators
of the UT Tower. The bag was labeled, "Lance Cpl. C. J. Whitman," and
stuffed full of
Spam, Planters Peanuts, fruit cocktail, sandwiches, a box of raisins,
jerricans
containing water and gasoline, rope, binoculars, canteens, a plastic
bottle of Mennen
spray deodorant, toilet paper, a machete, Bowie knife, hatchet, a 6mm
Remington
bolt-action rifle (with a 4-power Leupold telescopic sight), a .35 caliber
Remington
Rifle, a Galesi-Brescia pistol, and a .357 Magnum Smith & Wesson revolver,
a
..30 caliber carbine, 12-gauge sawed off shotgun (which he had just bought
from Sears on
credit that morning), some 30 shot magazines, and over 700 rounds of
ammunition. (He
decided to leave his other three rifles and two derringers at home).
He was held up by a receptionist, and a small family of visitors, at the
top of the
Tower. If he hadn't had to kill most of them, he would have made it up to
the
observation deck in time to see everyone getting out of class for lunch.
Instead, he had
to pick off the stragglers who remained.
He held up his battle for 99 minutes before 3 Austin Patrolmen and one
retired Air Force
Tailgunner tunneled in the catacomes beneath the South Mall and found
their way into the
Tower, where they shot him 6 times with a .38, and twice in the face with
a 12-gauge
shotgun from 5 feet away.
Later, at Whitman's request in a letter in his duffel bag, an autopsy was
performed.
They found a tumor the size of a golf-ball putting pressure on the
aggression center of
his brain."
I was curious how we should address these type of issues as Christians. Do we blame the brain (a name of a book I have not read)? How do these fit?
Any ideas, books, articles, etc., is greatly appreciated, b/c I'm really curious how we should address this.
opeairboy
"Thirty years ago today, in 1966 Charles Joeseph Whitman was shot after
killing 15 people
at U. of Texas. This was the basis for Harry's song "Sniper" from the
album, Sniper and
Other Love Songs.
Below is an excerpt on the event from the Web:
The Day the Whole Damned Campus Died
Date/Time: July 31, 1966. Between 11:00pm and 12:30am.
Place: Downtown Austin
Charles J. Whitman picked up his wife from her summer job as a telephone
operator and
dropped her off at home. He then drove across town to his mother's
apartment and stabbed
her five times, shot her once in the back of the head, and squeezed her
left hand so
hard that her engagement ring broke her finger and the stone in it broke.
He left a note
on her nightstand. He then drove home and stabbed his wife four times (for
the number of
years they had been together). She was supposedly asleep because there was
no sign of a
struggle. He also typed another note on that same night.
Date/Time: August 1, 1966. 11:48am.
Place: University of Texas at Austin Campus
Charles Joseph Whitman carted a green duffel bag on a rented hand cart up
the elevators
of the UT Tower. The bag was labeled, "Lance Cpl. C. J. Whitman," and
stuffed full of
Spam, Planters Peanuts, fruit cocktail, sandwiches, a box of raisins,
jerricans
containing water and gasoline, rope, binoculars, canteens, a plastic
bottle of Mennen
spray deodorant, toilet paper, a machete, Bowie knife, hatchet, a 6mm
Remington
bolt-action rifle (with a 4-power Leupold telescopic sight), a .35 caliber
Remington
Rifle, a Galesi-Brescia pistol, and a .357 Magnum Smith & Wesson revolver,
a
..30 caliber carbine, 12-gauge sawed off shotgun (which he had just bought
from Sears on
credit that morning), some 30 shot magazines, and over 700 rounds of
ammunition. (He
decided to leave his other three rifles and two derringers at home).
He was held up by a receptionist, and a small family of visitors, at the
top of the
Tower. If he hadn't had to kill most of them, he would have made it up to
the
observation deck in time to see everyone getting out of class for lunch.
Instead, he had
to pick off the stragglers who remained.
He held up his battle for 99 minutes before 3 Austin Patrolmen and one
retired Air Force
Tailgunner tunneled in the catacomes beneath the South Mall and found
their way into the
Tower, where they shot him 6 times with a .38, and twice in the face with
a 12-gauge
shotgun from 5 feet away.
Later, at Whitman's request in a letter in his duffel bag, an autopsy was
performed.
They found a tumor the size of a golf-ball putting pressure on the
aggression center of
his brain."
I was curious how we should address these type of issues as Christians. Do we blame the brain (a name of a book I have not read)? How do these fit?
Any ideas, books, articles, etc., is greatly appreciated, b/c I'm really curious how we should address this.
opeairboy
