Is it possible Not believing in God enabled Jeffrey Dahmer to kill?

[AUTONOMOUS]

I had this discussion with a friend recently the possibilities children who are raised without religion teaching morals & ethics may feel free to act on impulse, no boundaries therefore unaccountable. Then I just saw this interview on Dateline where Dahmer talked about it:

Jeffrey Dahmer, one of America’s most infamous serial killers who cannibalized more than 17 boys before being captured, gave an [sic] last interview with Dateline NBC nine months before his death, and he said the following about why he acted as he did: “If a person doesn’t think that there is a God to be accountable to, then what’s the point of trying to modify your behavior to keep it within acceptable ranges? That’s how I thought anyway. I always believed the theory of evolution as truth, that we all just came from the slime. When we died, you know, that was it, there was nothing….” (Dateline NBC, The Final Interview, Nov. 29, 1994).

Other than the parents arguments do you feel being an athiest was a contributing factor to his acting on his thoughts?
http://tfninsider.org/2009/02/02/jeffrey-dahmer-believed-in-evolution/

 

[AntonK]

He killed people because he wasn't right in the head. Your conclusion is illogical since theists kill people too.

 

[RockHarders]

Quite plausible. I wouldn't say it's the cause of his murderous rampage because many people kill because they believe in God!

 

[fireball]

it is more possisble that he was at one time possessed...

 

[DreamstuffEntity]

It's the old "all morals come from a god, and specifically my god".

If you found out tomorrow that no gods have ever existed, would you start killing, raping and stealing? Is your belief the only thing preventing you from doing that right now?

If so, are you really a moral person?

If theists believe they are rewarded for doing good, it's only atheists who only do good because they are good, not because they believe they will be rewarded.

And let me point out that your god is not somebody I'd consider moral - sending bears to kill kids for making fun of a bald guy, murdering babies, drowning kittens...

And why, do you think, are atheists underrepresented in prison population?

Here's a hint:

hurting others = bad
helping others = good
no gods needed.

And by that standard, the Christian god is one of the most immoral villains in literature.

Of course, this argument makes even less sense since many christians believe they are not required to actually *DO* anything, since they are "no longer under the law".

P.S. The bible doesn't speak against slavery - how did you determine it's wrong? What about genocide? Is it always wrong, or were the god-ordered genocides in the bible justified?

 

[AcidZebra]

Bruce Lee murdered 26 people. The Flint Journal article says "Bible reading was his only consolations" and he quoted the bible saying "Matthew 6, verse 24 no servant can be a serve of two masters."

David Berkowitz (Corbis) called the SON OF SAM, murdered more than 10 women. The newspaper said "He called himself a born again Christian"

Berwid The article in the Flint Journal quotes him "I was searching the bible and soul searching and I decided God wanted me to do that."

The Yorkshire Rapier "was on a divine mission and felt he had been chosen to hear the word of GOD (JESUS)." Reported the Flint Journal. He murdered 11 girls.

Miller a serial killer had that thing called faith, believed in Jesus. The Flint Journal article says he was always carrying the Bible.

Sampson Kanderayi, a mass murderer called The Ax Killer, killed more than 30 people. The newspaper reported "he did it to appease evil spirits." He was a Christian

Watts, The Sunday Morning Slasher killed 11 women. This article says he did it "to eliminate evil spirits".