How much of McVeigh's actions are his parents responsible for?

[Scrapster]

Quite a bit if you ask me.

 

[Boonesmi]

hmmm i think people are responsible for their own action.

 

[Train]

none

 

[Nutdotnet]

Same here.

 

[StageLeft]

How do you know? Some people are just pychopathic or screwed in the head. If somebody has schitzophrenia do you blame their parents? S**t happens, and it sucks but there isn't always a clear cause.

 

[Scrapster]

I guess what I'm asking is...How much of his 'hatred' comes from the way he was raised? Or on the opposite side of the spectrum, was he just a bad seed?

I think the latter is bs. personally.

 

[Robert01]

He's what ... in his late twenties, early thirties?

McVeigh even said he knew what he was doing, and HE made the decision to do it. Parents and video games are not always responsible; it's time to start blaming the culprit instead of their mommy and daddy.

As for his "hate," he developed those ideas himselves. In other words, he was presented those ideas, and he accepted them. Regardless if his parents did have some input, it was still HIS choice.

 

[StageLeft]

Scrapster, you don't believe he was a bad seed? How would you define a bad seed if he doesn't meet the definition? When you have kids and they start lieing to you and doing whatever else kids always do to their parents you'll see this in a different light.

 

[Russ]

Society is responsible for the Timothy McVeighs of this world.

Russ, NCNE

 

[Locutus of Board]

He should have been an assfsck.

Oh wait, he probably was

 

[Scrapster]

Scrapster, you don't believe he was a bad seed? How would you define a bad seed if he doesn't meet the definition? When you have kids and they start lieing to you and doing whatever else kids always do to their parents you'll see this in a different light.

He is definately a bad seed in a sense that he was a waste of an orgasm
-- should have been a blow job -- but by bad seed I'm asking would this guy have done what he did if he was raised in a healthy family environment?

 

[StageLeft]

He is definately a bad seed in a sense that he was a waste of an orgasm
-- should have been a blow job

So classy, I love it!

That answer we'll never know...almost certainly he is the result of being a bad seed and a negative environment. However his parents may have been great and for another kid they may have brought up an angle; but his predisposition matched with his environment summed up into him being a piece of crap. However he also went to school, army, etc. Its not all parents. Maybe it was the army that made him this way? It was probably everything plus being a crappy sperm.

 

[Duvie]

I agree that the parents are not responsible for his actions...Some people are just sick (for a lack of better words). I think this country in the last decade or so has moved towards this dangerous precedent of there is always something or somebody else to blame besides the person who does the act...

"he was sexually or physically abused", "tv or music voilence influenced him", "the justice system failed him"...all excuses used all the time...

The parents did not buy the exposives, they did not plan this, and they certainly did not set it off...

I am a kid of divorce and was brought up a latchkey (spelling?) kid...according to these type of prevalent studies looking for places to blame I should be filled with rage, been in trouble with law since I lack constant supervision, grades should have been poor, etc.

My mom is a smoker and dad was an alcoholic...I should have an addition as well, right? Wrong.

I make my own choices...I can interpret right from wrong on my own...

 

[DannyLove]

<< How much of McVeigh's actions are his parents responsible for? >>


OMFG!!!!!!!!!!!!! why does it always have to be pointed to the parents!!!!! I seriouslly hate that! I mean, I know that parents have a influence with their children and what not but COME ON, get freakin real here!!!

danny~! just MHO

 

[Scrapster]

I just think it's an interesting area to explore with an open mind. I don't think his parents should switch places with him in the chair. McVeigh committed a god-awful act, ofcourse he should die. I'm more interested in the root of this guys problems. I've heard that the brain develops critically during the pre-teen years. And it would be interesting to know if he experienced any trauma or a significant event that lead to his hatred. And I'm sure it's not a completely linear pattern either. Like if someone else was raised in the exact same environment as mcveigh that doesn't necessarily mean they would go kill 168 people (maybe 130). Ofcourse we will probably never know. The media tends to shy away from those facts. But nonetheless, I'm still curious.

 

[Thump553]

Anyone have any facts on how &quot;negative&quot; his childhood was? I have never heard anything about it. I've seen his father (briefly) on TV-he seems like a normal person who is absolutely mortified at what his son did &amp; his son's lack of remorse for his actions.

If anyone remembers Jeffrey Dalhmer (sp?)-the sicko from Milwaukee that was killing gays, storing the bodies in his apartment and eating them-his childhood was actually pretty normal per the TV specials and books I have read about him (was somewhat interested in him, I lived in the neighborhood he preyed upon-a few years before his time).

Frankly I think this environment/family thing is overplayed. Sure we should all do the best job we can raising our kids, but in my mind there are some people who are evil. McVeigh fits that category in my opinion. Don't try to put a guilt trip on his parents, I'm sure they feel bad enough for bringing that monster into this world.

 

[palad]

Absolutely none. He had the same freedom to make choices that every other person has. He chose to make poor ones. Certainly, your upbringing can affect your choices, but it does not shift the responsibility for them.

 

[GasX]

he's a big boy, he has full responsibility- except for the part that John Carmack played in this whole sordid affair from making Quake.

 

[Pretender]

LOL, if you listen to his reasoning, it is logical. How responsible are your parents for your closedmindedness?

 

[Pretender]

Hmm before I get flamed to hell and back for that last one, NO, I don't agree with him nor what he did and I think it was wrong, but he believed in something that couldn't have truly been caused by parents. The way it manifested itself could've (though this is a small factor) been influenced by his childhood, thoughts are thoughts no matter how they're manifested. He could've become an activist or a bomber, he chose the latter. Maybe this makes him an evil person, but in the end the result will be the same (his thoughts heard, people dead).

 

[Scrapster]

How responsible are your parents for your closedmindedness?

Very. Where do you think racists come from? Were they born not to like a certain minority? Ofcourse not. Their environment had something to do with it.