Jesus Loves Me, But I Hate You

Another day, another mentally ill white male goes a-shootin' in America:

The gunman was identified as Matthew Murray, 24, who was home-schooled in what a friend said was a deeply religious Christian household. [...] "It appears that the suspect had been kicked out of the program three years prior and during the past few weeks had sent different forms of hate mail to the program and/or its director," police said. In a statement, the training center said health problems kept Murray from finishing the program. It did not elaborate. Murray did not complete the lecture phase or a field assignment as part of a 12-week program, Youth With a Mission said. "The program directors felt that issues with his health made it inappropriate for him to" finish, it said.

Police gave no immediate details on the hate mail. And the training center said that Murray left in 2002 — five years ago, not three — and that no one there can recall any visits or other communication from him since then. Earlier Monday, a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity said it appeared Murray "hated Christians."

Someone doesn't have their story straight. Nevertheless, this is a good reason to jump on the "hated Xtians" line from the anonymous law enforcement official. As a matter of fact, there's really no reason to read the other parts of the story. Just go w/ this:

It is perhaps worth noting that the toll in Sunday's shootings exceeded the combined total in all "hate crimes" against Muslims in the six years since September 11.

Unless we take into consideration the adventure in Iraq. That could be called a "hate" crime. Or a "war" crime. Some of us still remember the Sikhs murdered in the days immediately after 11 September 2001 by patriotic Americans who thought any one sporting a turban was "the enemy." Other excerpts from the AP story quoted in Powerline:

Matthew Murray lived there along with a brother, Christopher, 21, a student at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla. A neighbor, Cody Askeland, 19, said the brothers were home-schooled, describing the whole family as "very, very religious." Christopher studied for a semester at Colorado Christian University before transferring to Oral Roberts, said Ronald Rex, dean of admissions and marketing at Colorado Christian. He said Matthew Murray had been in contact with school officials this summer about attending the school but decided he wasn't interested because he thought the school was too expensive.

One certainly wouldn't get the impression that the sick, twisted (by excessive religiosity & home-schooling, perhaps?) murderer might have been a Christian, would one? No, just go w/ the "hate crimes" angle, based on the speculation ("appeared") of an anonymous source. See also: Sadly, No! & the new, improved TBogg.