July 17, 2007

Religious Insanity In Action

Fryday, 20 Promise 2007

For the record: the next time a Reich Wingnut wants an example of a christian terrorist, please let them know about this guy.

A Cypress man charged in the death of a Southwest Airlines flight attendant said Saturday that he was doing God's work when he went to a Montrose-area bar last month, hunting for a gay man to kill.

"I believe I'm Elijah, called by God to be a prophet," said 26-year-old Terry Mark Mangum, charged with murder June 11. " ... I believe with all my heart that I was doing the right thing."

Interviewed in the Brazoria County Jail Saturday morning, Mangum said he feels no remorse for killing 46-year-old Kenneth Cummings Jr., whom relatives described as a "loving" son who never forgot a holiday and a devoted uncle who had set up college funds for his niece and nephew. He worked at Southwest for 24 years.

Mangum, who described himself as "definitely not a homosexual," said God called on him to "carry out a code of retribution" by killing a gay man because "sexual perversion" is the "worst sin."

Mangum believed Cummings to be gay.

"I planned on sending him to hell," he said.

Cummings disappeared June 4. His charred remains were found June 16, buried on a 50-acre ranch near San Antonio owned by Mangum's 90-year-old grandfather.

[snip]

Mangum — who claimed he has studied the Bible for "thousands and thousands and thousands of hours" — said God first commanded him to kill during a "visitation," or dream, while he was in prison in 2001. He said his victim must be a man because men "carry the harvest of the sinner."

After six months' planning, Mangum said, he went to E.J.'s, a Montrose-area club, where he met Cummings. After they drank a couple of beers, he said, the two went to Cummings' home in Pearland.

Mangum said he stabbed Cummings with a "6-inch blade."

"It's not that I'm a bad dude," he said, expressing concern that people might view him as "strange." Pausing briefly, he said, "I love God."

Much more over at the link. Go read (warning: not for the faint of heart)...

It seems the voices in his head told him that he was the latest version of the prophet Elijah, and that he was doing the Invisible Sky Fairy's bidding when he stabbed another human to death and buried him on his grandfather's farm. Which pretty much sounds just as wacky as anything I've heard people claim comes out of islamic terrorists.

And it is my humble opinion that this is yet another data point suggesting that a scientific hypothesis positing that

extreme religious fervor can cause some humans to exhibit symptoms of violently insane behavior in support of their religion

would be worthy of investigation.

[Editors' Note: this entry has been cross-posted at the American Street]

Posted by (: Tom :) at July 17, 2007 04:20 PM
Comments

Extreme *any* fervor does that.

Posted by: thud at July 17, 2007 10:02 PM

I agree, Thud - this is a more specific case of the general hypothesis:

extreme fervor can cause humans to exhibit symptoms of voilently insane behavior in support of their fervent belief

But it has sounded to me for, oh, forever, like the christians don't feel that their fanatics should be included in this sort of generalization, but everyone else's should. In other words, Barnes, Bennett et al will dismiss this incident (as an example of christian terrorism) out of hand, while simultaneously condemning any islams who exhibit roughly analogous behavior as terrorists. Sort of the same way moral scold David Vitter wants everyone to stay out of his private life, but feels he still has the right to condemn the eeeeeevul Clenis for his moral failings.

Funny how it always seems to be conservative Republican'ts who exhibit symptoms of doublethink, innit?

Posted by: (: Tom :) at July 18, 2007 07:09 AM