Joy Farrington comments on the massacre Elliot Rodger perpetrated

Joy Attmore

24 hours ago I had no idea who Elliot Rodger was; I wasn't aware that there had been another college campus shooting in the States and I didn't know that six innocent lives were needlessly taken from this world. As I was scrolling through my Twitter feed, a tweet stood out to me, which was a quote by Elliot Rodger, "All of those beautiful girls I've desired so much in my life...I will destroy.' Accompanying these chilling words was a link to the full tragic story with the option of also watching his YouTube video entitled 'Retribution'.

Elliot's YouTube videos and the full story of what happened in Isla Vista, California, last Friday, May 23rd, makes for some very uncomfortable viewing. In summary, Elliot went on a killing rampage that left seven people dead including himself. The reasons he gave for justifying his actions were to punish all the girls that had never been attracted to him and to punish the guys who had got the girls that he desired. He describes the last eight years of his life as being, "An existence of loneliness, rejection and unfulfilled desires".

I read up on this story and my heart filled with sorrow. Listening to this young man talk, it was so apparent that his life had become thoroughly entrenched in deception. He had placed at the centre of his world his desire for women, sexual intimacy and connection and, as those desires continued to go unmet, he believed the lie that it was a personal vendetta against him and life could not be enjoyed without those things.

Humanity was definitely made for connection and intimacy. We were not created to be alone and rejection is one of the most painful human emotions that we can endure. My heart goes out to Elliot in this respect as I have experienced both of those things and I know how damaging that was to me. When loneliness feels unrelenting it can be really hard to remember the truth that we are not alone and to push through out of that season.

I do not know the intricacies of Elliot's life, who he did have around him and who was absent, however it would appear to me that the desire to be sexually fulfilled and connected to a woman had become the most important thing in life; his idol as it were. Again, there is nothing wrong in desiring to be sexually fulfilled and wanting that intimate connection with a man or woman. It wasn't however the ultimate reason that we were created and it isn't the be all and end all of life.

There are more ins and outs to this story than I have the time to address in this article, however what stood out to me the most is how something that was intended to be a beautiful and treasured part of our lives can end up being the source of such pain and resentment, as a result of deception wrapping itself around the root of truth and clouding the purity of innocent vision. Deceit gains its power and strength by taking a little bit of truth and slowly twisting it until the end product is actually the opposite of its original design.

In his book, The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis gives insight into how deception works through his characters, Demon Screwtape and Wormwood, who write to each other regarding their 'patient'.

'All we can do is to encourage the humans to take the pleasures which our Enemy (God) has produced, at times, or in ways, or in degrees, which He has forbidden. Hence we always try to work away from the natural condition of any pleasure to that in which it is least natural, least redolent of its Maker, and least pleasurable.'

It grieves me to know that this tragedy could have been prevented; that lives were ended so suddenly and brutally all due to deception gaining the upper hand. I don't just mean within the mind of one individual, but I believe that these are lies that many of us have begun to see as truth, it just hasn't resulted in a killing spree. Our society pumps out the message that sexual fulfilment is high on the agenda in life and if we aren't getting it then we aren't worth it. If we make sex the ultimate goal in life then we lose the joy of discovering who we truly are and the purpose that has been gifted to us by our Creator. We begin to see those around us as merely the potential fulfilment of our desires rather than the unique, beautiful and precious human beings that they are.

This story has left me feeling challenged. Am I ensuring that I don't isolate those around me, but instead am I doing what I can to love and receive others, even if I don't naturally connect with them? Do I have my priorities right or have I started to believe twisted truth instead of pure truth? This is as much our story as it is Elliot Rodger's and we can change the future outcome of others if we all start communicating what is good, true, honourable, just and pure.