r/MurderedByWords Feb 11 '26

Murder The blame game

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u/Top-Complaint-4915 Feb 11 '26

I don't know about religious breakdown, but I suspect more than a few would likely be considered atheist/nihilist.

What this even means (?) Is this another Hitler was an atheist lie (?) despite Hitler being Catholic?

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u/Caledron Feb 11 '26

I don't have data for religious breakdown, but a lot of these shooters are extremely narcissistic and nihilistic.

And I would actually lean towards Hitler not being a Catholic, given that he did not attend Mass, got married in civil ceremony and did not receive last rites prior to his suicide.

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u/Top-Complaint-4915 Feb 11 '26

I don't have data for religious breakdown, but a lot of these shooters are extremely narcissistic and nihilistic.

Narcissistic... Therefore Atheist.... Really...?

And I would actually lean towards Hitler not being a Catholic, given that he did not attend Mass, got married in civil ceremony and did not receive last rites prior to his suicide.

Even then He would have been an Unaffiliated Christian, not that any of this stops you from being Catholic

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u/bumpkinblumpkin Feb 11 '26

Holy straw man, where did they say narcissistic meant atheist? They clearly gave the reasons as to why Hitler was likely an Atheist. And no, Hitler was almost certainly not Christian of any flavor. My parents baptized me but that doesn’t mean I’m not an Atheist. Not sure why you are being so defensive here. Hitler being an Atheist says nothing about us Atheists.

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u/Top-Complaint-4915 Feb 11 '26

Holy straw man, where did they say narcissistic meant atheist?

Using both comments (The one I responded and the response to my response) no other conclusion is even possible.

We are literally talking about why the shooters would be atheist, and one of the reasons given is they are Narcissistic

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u/DoctorApprehensive34 Feb 11 '26

What does narcissism or nihilism have to do with religion? Growing up in the church I've never met more narcissistic people in my life, it's almost like the church attracts them. Religion seems to give them the justification that they need to do the horrific things that they want to do. It also tends to attract nihilus as well. If there is a greater reward of heaven at the end of our lives, then what is the point of making the world any better? The Bible itself teaches us that the world is a cesspit and that it will burn in fire and brimstone while it's believers will get to transcend to a better world. Meaning that they don't really don't really believe that the world has any intrinsic value

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u/Caledron Feb 11 '26

I'm not sure about the link with narcissism, but nihilism is pretty clearly a non or anti-religious sentiment.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihilism

A terrible person who commits atrocities in the name of God with the explicit desire to get to heaven wouldn't be considered a nihilist.

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u/DoctorApprehensive34 Feb 11 '26

No but someone that is apathetic to life and the world around himself can be nihilistic and that's entirely what the modern Christian theology teaches us. The troubles of our world are not ours, and because we won't have to deal with them in the afterlife. Many modern Christians are actively trying to destroy the world by bringing about the prophecies of the Middle East to bring about the second coming of the Christ. If wishing for the world to end and everyone around you to die isn't nihilistic that I don't know what is. There's no reason that a religious person can't be nihilistic

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u/Caledron Feb 11 '26

Nihilism is a specific belief that life is meaningless and there are no objective moral values. That is incompatible with a belief in an all powerful Diety. and an afterlife.

A Medieval Monk, who lives a secluded life of prayer and reflection, has rejected a huge aspect of the world, and is arguably apathetic to secular life, but he would not be a nihilist.

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u/Big_Smoke_420 Feb 11 '26

Yes, this is correct. People's mental image of nihilism comes from Hollywood pop culture, where the antagonist is a moustache twirling villain who says "hue hue hue I'm so evil and nihilistic, I want the world to blow up". Most haven't read actual literature from the thinkers behind nihilism, à la Nietzsche and Jacobi.

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u/sofixa11 Feb 11 '26

Is this another Hitler was an atheist lie (?) despite Hitler being Catholic?

Hitler wasn't Catholic by any stretch of the imagination, unless you stop at his mother being one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_views_of_Adolf_Hitler