Mass Murder 'Normal' in World That Rejects God -- Ray Comfort Explains Why The 'Joker' Pulled the Trigger

By Christian Newswire

The experts are fervently seeking clues as to why James "the Joker" Holmes murdered 12 people and injured 58 others in a shooting attack at an Aurora, Colo., movie theater where people had gathered to view the latest Batman movie.

But they're not likely to find it, says author and television host Ray Comfort--because they're looking in all the wrong places.

"This latest alleged mass murderer isn't so easy to peg," says Comfort, author of the new book "Hitler, God, and the Bible." "He came from a good home, in a good area, and he had a good education. But those who ask 'What went wrong?' are asking the wrong question. It should rather be 'What is wrong?' The biblical worldview isn't that anything went wrong. Here was a normal, sinful human being involved in an evil act of murder. The Scriptures tell us, 'The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked' (Jer. 17:9), and that no one is morally good in God's eyes."

Comfort continues: "However, the humanistic worldview is radically different. It says that no one is born with a sinful (evil) nature. All human beings are inherently good, so when someone goes off the rails, there must be some mitigating factor--he was bullied, was a loner, had an abusive father, or a domineering mother, etc. While some of these are serious issues, millions of people get through them without going out and murdering others."

In other words, in a world that rejects God, mass murder would be normal.

As a sequel to "Hitler, God and the Bible," Comfort is working on a book called "The Beatles, God, and the Bible" and a movie about John Lennon. In preparation he has been interviewing people to ask if they would murder for $10,000. While most say they wouldn't, some would.

"When I questioned those who refused, it usually came back to being morally responsible to God for murder," said Comfort.
 
"However, any real fear of God is slowly dissipating from our nation. I would dare to say that there are many who love violent video games and violent movies, who would like to know what it feels like to kill another human being. But they don't carry out their fantasy because of the fear of retribution from civil law."
 
Comfort explains that when the biblical premise of man being evil by nature is forsaken, a criminal often isn't held responsible for his crimes. Societal conditions and life's circumstances are frequently blamed, and so the criminal gets a mere slap on the wrist for his violent crime. He is not considered evil; he is just sick or insane, and therefore receives rehabilitative treatment rather than punishment.
 
"Imagine how wicked society would be if the fear of God and the fear of civil law were both completely removed," said Comfort. "Imagine if a man could rape and murder, with no concerns about being punished. That's when we would see the true heart of humanity, and that's where we as a nation are slowly heading."

With the rejection of God by more and more Americans, Comfort expects to see an exponential escalation of Auroras.
 
"We have turned our backs on God, and given Him lip-service by maintaining a belief in His existence while at the same time embracing that which is abhorrent to Him: things such as homosexuality, abortion, adultery, fornication, pornography, lying, theft, and blasphemy," said Comfort. "Few have any fear of God, which the Bible says is the 'beginning of wisdom.' A wise man once said, 'Most I fear God. Next I fear him who fears Him not.' When men don't fear God, they give themselves to evil. This was clearly the case in the latest mass murder."
 
So what's the answer?

"The only answer is the gospel," says Comfort. "Christians must share their faith in obedience to the Great Commission, because we are only seeing the fruit of sin this side of death. There's another side, what many call 'the other side.' There's a very real Hell after death for anyone who dies in sin. Yet God is rich in mercy and has provided a Savior. All who repent and trust in Him not only find everlasting life, but they no longer give themselves to evil by lying, stealing, or killing. That's the only answer for America--and every other nation."

Trip wires, Batman items found in theater shooting suspect's home

By Louis Sahagun and Alexandra Zavis

The apartment of the suspect in the Colorado theater rampage was decorated with Batman items and crisscrossed with waist-high trip wires attached to more than 30 improvised grenades strewn across the living room floor, a law enforcement official close to the case said Sunday. Nearby were 10 gallons of gasoline “to enhance the thermal effect.”

The suspect, James Holmes, 24, is accused of opening fire at a midnight showing of the latest Batman movie,"The Dark Knight Rises." Twelve people were killed in the attack; 58 were injured.

Investigators who served search warrants Saturday at Holmes' 850-square-foot, third-floor apartment in a rundown section of Aurora “found a Batman poster on a wall, a Batman mask and other Batman paraphernalia,” according to the official, who has not been identified because of the sensitivity of the case.

The design and placement of the improvised explosive devices “seemed to mirror a chaotic state of mind,” the official said. “There was a level of sophistication to it all. It will be interesting to see what a post-mortem forensic analysis determines regarding the chemicals, powders and devices rigged up in there, and whether the firing train would have actually functioned.”

The apartment was earlier described as a death trap, designed to kill police or other first-responders.

Investigators discovered one “trip wire about waist-high and just inside the door, so that if the door opened it would push on the booby trap,” the official said.

A second trip wire was found in another part of the apartment, he said, adding that it was connected to acids that would have been highly corrosive and explosive when combined.

The improvised grenades included 30 aerial shells that had been emptied and refilled with mixtures of explosive powders, jars containing explosive liquids and .223- and .40-caliber bullets. The devices were connected by wires to a “control box” in the kitchen, which on Saturday was neutralized and dismantled by authorities.

“Regarding the bullets in the jars — bullets don’t usually explode like that,” he said. “Overall, however, if the devices including the 10 gallons of gasoline had gone off, the fireball alone would have blown up and consumed the entire third floor of the apartment building.”

Items seized in the apartment on Saturday included chemical compounds, some of which had been purchased locally, and a desktop computer, the official said.

Police on Sunday concluded the processing and collecting of evidence from inside Holmes’ apartment, but chemical hazards remain, Det. Shannon Youngquist-Lucy, a spokeswoman for the Aurora Police Department, said in a statement.

Building residents who were evacuated after the shooting are being allowed to retrieve personal items from their apartments, but Youngquist-Lucy could not say when it would be safe enough for them to move back home.

As for the theater where the shootings occurred, police had expected to return it to the owners on Wednesday but now say it could take up to a week to release the premises.

“This is for evidentiary purposes for case preparation,” Youngquist-Lucy said.