Originally Posted by Conan

Am I the only one who thinks the Sihk Temple shooting was far, far worse than this one? It is awful to compare the two and call any act of mass murder "better" or "worse" than the other, but due to the media's very different reactions to both events, I'd say it's justified in this instance.

The Aurora shooting, despite having a higher death toll, was the work of someone who is very clearly disturbed, with no other motivation than whatever rationale his deeply disturbed mind came up with. James Holmes is clearly not well. Regardless of your opinions of his courtroom appearance and whether or not he's faking his erratic behavior, the very fact that there was no apparent motivation beyond inflicting as many deaths as possible should tell you that this man's brain alone is responsible for his actions. It was, in this sense, unavoidable.

The Sihk Temple shooter was motivated by hate. Hate for those of another race, of another religion. He associated himself with hate groups and violent White Supremist culture. He was in full control of his faculties. If either men were to be called evil, it would be him. Holmes may very well be insane, this man was full of hatred for his fellow man, simply because they do not fit his vision of an ideal person.

Unlike the James Holmes case, we can actually prevent these types of hate crimes with education about tolerance and respect. This case should have recieved more attention, but it didn't. It should have opened up a huge dialog about hate groups in the United States — it didnt. Instead we get 2 hours of experts speculating on what Holmes had for breakfast on the morning of the murders.