The Nexus of Mental Illness and Bad External Prompts (EPs)

The killing of 49 people in Orlando has moved the attention of America in many directions.  Bigotry against the LGBT community has gotten attention, as well it should.  The self identification of the killer, who may have been gay, and his extremist understanding of the Islamic faith has also gotten notice.  And, the killer's use of a machine gun-like weapon has has brought renewed attention to gun laws.

But, what deserves more attention is the nexus of terrible deeds and mental illness.  Gassing populations and then cremating them is more than a terrible deed.  It is evil.  What ISIS has done to the Yazidi people  and to people they have captured is also evil.  But these deeds have a nexus.  They are not simply a result of mental illness.  They have external prompts.  In the case of the Holocaust it was extreme antisemitism that grew from generalized antisemitism.  In the case of ISIS we have a evil being done on the basis of a deviant form of Islam.

But, how deviant?  Is there any connection between the fundamental views of Islam and the deeds of a mass killer who no doubt suffered some sort of mental illness?  It's high time we examined both aspects of this horrendous deed.  The extremism found in Sharia law which is based on Islamic writings deserves to be examined, if for not other reason than to educate Muslims regarding their own religion.

Machine guns and assault weapons are a different matter.  They can unquestionably be the instruments of evil, much as the gas used in gas chambers or the swords used by ISIS to decapitate prisoners.  Automobiles driven by a drunks can also be an instrument of evil.  That's why we license drivers.  Gun owners should also be licensed.  But, that's mainly an issue regarding hand gun owners.  It is incomprehensible to me that ordinary civilians should be permitted to have machine guns.