Robert Long struggled with pornography, killed 8, and was a deeply religious Southern Baptist, which contrasts mystify many of his fellow evangelical Christians. Perhaps if they connected the dots some clarity might emerge.
1. A "sexual purity" subculture of shaming and condemnation rather than education regarding sexual desire as well as sexual acts.
2. A religious subculture that casts suspicion and shame upon all psychological help that is not "Bible-based."
3. A religious tradition that views women since Eve as temptresses responsible to dress and act to suppress male sexuality, except after marriage, when objectification is encouraged.
4. A white nationalistic religious subculture that has silently accepted or even encouraged the verbal and physical abuse of immigrants and non-white minorities, including a rise in hate attacks against Asians (AAPI) since the pandemic--Chinese virus.
5. A religious culture that is committed to gun violence as the solution to peace and security.
Connect those dots, Southern Baptists, and clarity about how a committed church boy might decide, after considering suicide, instead buy a gun and, as he told investigators, try to eliminate temptation by killing sexualized Asian women in spas for the glory of God. As a recovering Southern Baptist, I call for confession and repentance.