Shooter Murray tried Mormonism last year (Colorado church shooter)

[RamboLiberal]

Source: Denver Post

Matthew Murray, the Englewood man who shot and killed four people and wounded three others at churches in Colorado Springs and Arvada last week, was baptized into the Mormon church a year ago, Salt Lake City TV station KSL News reported.

Murray shot four missionaries, killing two, at a Youth with Mission Center in Arvada, then shot and killed two sisters and wounded their father in the parking lot at New Life Church in Colorado Springs 12 hours later.

Prior to the shootings, he posted anti-religion messages online before the shootings. But a year ago, he welcomed religion in his life, according to one man who taught Murray about the Latter-day Saint faith.

A.J. Ormond was there the day Murray was baptized, and he said he immediately noticed a change. Murray seemed happy, calm, at peace, Ormond told KSL-TV.

That demeanor changed dramatically in just a year. "I think everybody goes through 'Is there anything I could have done? Anything?'," Ormond said in an interview with KSL-TV.



Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_7731781

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Sounds like a disillusioned person desparately searching for some faith to believe in. What he need more was professional mental health care.

[theredpen]

1. Damn, now I don't know WHO to hate

Should I hate people who post anti-religious messages online?

Should I hate Mormons?

I guess it would be logical to hate mass murders, but that seems so... obvious.

[kurth]

2. His opium wore off

[Hulk]

3. Crap...they just knocked on our door this morning, and I missed out.

I grew up an altar boy in the Catholic Church. I was really into organized religion until all this lunacy with molesting priests, evangelical hypocrites, fanatic evangelical Planned Parenthood suicidal maniacs, etc, etc, etc.

I have NO place in my life for organized religion, and their demented followers. No better than Islamic fascist militants...our Christian fascist militants. They will ALL rot in hell, as far as I'm concerned.

[nealmhughes]

4. You know, I used to be a Eucharistic Minister and lay reader and on the vestry of my parish in NY.

I found out when I was leaving from the treasurer that I was the single largest donor as an individual and not from a will or endowment. Then I switched parishes, of course, when I moved and was on a finance committee. After seeing what they wanted to do with money I now make my Easter Duty and occasional masses, and I was a "go take Communion any time they had the church open and I wasn't sick or at work and in town" kind of guy, too. But I'm an Episcopalian, so my present parish will probably be handling snakes or on the floor writhing or else urging us to join the John Birch Society -- um, I meant to write this: affiliate with a Ugandan or Nigerian dioscese.
If they were to give me a graduate theology exam, and skipped the Greek, Latin and Hebrew I bet I could ace it. I have come to the conclusion that religious rites are just as we are taught: they have an outer and visible sign and a spiritual one as well. Too many are caught up on the visible and not enough on the spiritual for my taste. But some people aren't into the emotional or spiritual or realize anything but the visible, so if they believe they need it, more power to them. I had rather try to be Francis than to just have a statue of him with birds on my lawn for all to see.

[Lost4words]

9. Its time for a New type of religion, humanity based for a change!

8643

[Acadia Blue]

11. God without religion is my new religion. The organizations

corrupt everything to get power. I now think most of them are causing much more harm than good.

[fujiyama]

5. But focusing on professional mental health care

is EVVVVVVULLLLL! We don't want people who desperately seek help getting any. That's SOCIALISM!!! Don't you know that? Oh, and that mental health stuff is just babbling anyways. All that talking. Pshhh...

It's all about JEEEEEEBBBBBUS. This guy just didn't accept him.

[regnaD kciN]

6. It's another example of the Mormon War On Christianity...

...hear that, fundie Romney supporters?

[Acadia Blue]

12. Mitt asked the church main elder if running could help Mormonism.

That is enough to be a warning....Kennedy did not ask the Pope the same question.

[hlthe2b]

7. While I think we can all agree that "religion" was not his answer,

but good mental health intervention might well have been, I'd like to go on record that the majority of the religious messages he got, were likely anything but, in terms of adherence to the tenets of Christianity. Painting all Christians with the stripe that belongs to those who exploit his message to create something so bastardized Jesus would never recognize it--well, that is just wrong. I'm no more religious than most here, but clearly, the philosophies of Jesus would be embraced by any true progressive, 'religion' aside. How about we be fair, for once, instead of attacking all who sincerely try to follow his lead?

[Ilsa]

8. I wonder if he believed in "Blood Atonement" and if that is part of his

reason for going on the shooting spree.

[davsand]

10. Headlines like this one hurt more than they help.

I'm not bashing the OP in any way when I say this, but this kind of "news" is worse than a waste of time because it actually creates more problems. This does nothing to help anyone understand why or how this man got to the point he killed people--including himself. The headline does manage to link an entire religion to a horrible violent crime, and I guess that is just about all anyone is interested in.

I have zero doubt that the killer was searching for something in his life, and I think we all can agree that whatever it was the guy needed probably had a lot more to do with competent mental health care than spiritual comfort. Reporting that he went to this church or any other is roughly equal to reporting he bought his groceries at _______ grocery store--and probably is just about as relevant.

I'm not a Mormon--I've been a Pagan for many years--and I am not operating with any sort of agenda that is either favorable or unfavorable for organized religion. I AM, however, a person that feels religious tolerance is a cornerstone of our nation and its heritage. This kind of headline is just wrong.

Makes no sense to me that anyone would compound a tragedy by using it as excuse to hurt even MORE people.


Laura

[callous taoboy]

13. Did he try psychotherapy?

If not, it's too bad some people think that religion
is the only way to find a new way.