Boy Brags of Church Arson on GameFAQs

Post by **BuckGB** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:56 am

Anybody else catch this story?

A 15-year-old boy on GameFAQs asked other forum users Wednesday whether or not it’d be a good idea to burn down the Mission Hill Baptist church in Palmyra, Mo.

The church was burned to the ground by Thursday, local station WGEM reported.

GameFAQs readers reportedly thought the initial post by the boy, a.k.a. “Jediknight12345,” was a joke. Administrators deleted the thread.

The next day, other posters asked what happened to the church. After claiming he set the church on fire, some posters praised him, while others asked for proof.

So Jediknight12345 posted pics from his camera phone (one apparently of him inside the church) to impress message board-goers.

He wrote, "Oh...and the best part...the whole school caught up on fire from 3 simple little fires. One was a bunch of computers, another a bunch of bibles, and the last was towels in an oven."

Nobody was injured in the fire.

GameFAQs readers who actually didn’t think that arson was totally cool forwarded the photos to WGEM, which contacted police. The boy has now been arrested and transferred to the custody of juvenile authorities. He's also under arrest for burglary.

Cnet said it is cooperating with authorities on the matter.

Meanwhile, members of the burned church met Sunday in Palmyra High School’s gym for church service, where they prayed for Jediknight12345 and his family.

"Regardless of where we are their [sic] is a family this morning who is hurting as well, they have a son that is filled with some stress, and some trouble,” said Pastor Alvin Lewis.

While I'm glad that the kid was caught, the fact that "some posters praised him" is pretty disturbing. Are people really this apathetic or do we owe this to a false sense of anonymity on the Internet?

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 9:01 am

There are some pretty disturbed people out across the internet... There's just something about the culture and relative anonymity that seems to bring to the worst in some individuals.
I always notice this when I cruise forums outside of GB..

DesR85 · Post by **DesR85** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 9:30 am

You just wonder how sick (and stupid) people can be sometimes...

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 7:00 pm

DesR85 wrote:You just wonder how sick (and stupid) people can be sometimes...

Well Einstein once aptly said:

Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.

and

The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits.

Sadly... he was right...

Loki[D.d.G] · Post by **Loki[D.d.G]** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 7:16 pm

dragon wench wrote:There are some pretty disturbed people out across the internet... There's just something about the culture and relative anonymity that seems to bring to the worst in some individuals.
I always notice this when I cruise forums outside of GB..

Most of the GB members I know are all friendly people. Can't really bring to mind someone who has been insulting in the past. Still, it is really sad that some people would praise a kid for his act of arson. Maybe if it struck them, then... No bad wishes, just a passing tought.

sparky_kat · Post by **sparky_kat** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 10:53 pm

well, also the fact that the majority of us here at Game Banshee are mature, even most of our younger members. I usually hate going to other sites that are similar (actually i dont anymore) because the majority of the users on other sites i have seen.... are pretty immature and think its cool to go against authority and like to brag about the petty crime stuff they have done, like graffiti, stealing, and similar. thats why when it comes to forum based sites for games, i stick with the lovely GB

Loki[D.d.G] · Post by **Loki[D.d.G]** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 7:36 pm

sparky_kat wrote:well, also the fact that the majority of us here at Game Banshee are mature, even most of our younger members. I usually hate going to other sites that are similar (actually i dont anymore) because the majority of the users on other sites i have seen.... are pretty immature and think its cool to go against authority and like to brag about the petty crime stuff they have done, like graffiti, stealing, and similar. thats why when it comes to forum based sites for games, i stick with the lovely GB

All of us like to be rebels in some sort of capacity. But when it comes to crime, it is my belief that a little restraint will go a long way.

Obsidian · Post by **Obsidian** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 11:11 am

Reference John Gabriels Greater Internet D!ckwad Theory

Normal Person (N) + Anonymity (Y) + Audience (A) = Total D!ickwad. (Td)

Ref - Penny Arcade.

Stupid on multiple levels. One to burn a church. Why? Just why?
Another kind of stupid to tell people about, and greater still to post pictures of you doing it.

GB certainly is the nicest forum I've visited. I don't even play games anymore, but I still hang out around here from time to time.

C Elegans · Post by **C Elegans** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 12:47 pm

BuckGB wrote:While I'm glad that the kid was caught, the fact that "some posters praised him" is pretty disturbing. Are people really this apathetic or do we owe this to a false sense of anonymity on the Internet?

It doesn't have to do with anonymity primarily. And yes, people are this disturbed and apathetic. Recently, a video showing a gang-rape of the 25-year old mother-of-two was pulled off Youtube after 600 views. The video is authentic, and the victims little children can be heard crying in the background.

Rape, abuse, mobbing, and all sorts of violence against other people is popular to put up on Youtube and other sites. There are special sites devoted to sharing videos of abuse of innocents (often homeless people), self-injuring behaviour, crimes etc. There are also sites for sharing videos of torture, war, executions and other violent events, but this is a bit different since it's usually not the participants themselves who put out the video in order for other people to see it.

So who are those disturbed people who do this? Well, they are just the same people who, before internet, would have bragged for their peers in order to impress and bragged for "normal " people in order to spread fear. It's the people who glorify violence and destruction of society and social values and who view themselves as strong, brave and heroic for killing, injuring, humiliating and destroying. These people have always been there, but due to sociocultural factors their numbers are increasing, and they are more visible to us now since their audience is no longer merely the local gang but the entire industrialised world.

Smiley:) · Post by **Smiley:)** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 2:53 pm

sparky_kat wrote:well, also the fact that the majority of us here at Game Banshee are mature, even most of our younger members.

This is true. I am only 15 years old, and yet, I'm very mature.

sparky_kat wrote:I usually hate going to other sites that are similar (actually i dont anymore) because the majority of the users on other sites i have seen.... are pretty immature and think its cool to go against authority and like to brag about the petty crime stuff they have done, like graffiti, stealing, and similar. thats why when it comes to forum based sites for games, i stick with the lovely GB

You have no idea what kind of sites there are. There are too many of them. I visited some of them and they are.......... how can I put this.......... uhhhhh.......... let's say, you don't want to visit them. For our sake and everyone elses, we should stear clear of those sites. I don't even want to tell you what I found!

Obsidian wrote:GB certainly is the nicest forum I've visited. I don't even play games anymore, but I still hang out around here from time to time.

Aren't you a moderator?

Loki[D.d.G) wrote:All of us like to be rebels in some sort of capacity. But when it comes to crime, it is my belief that a little restraint will go a long way.

I was offered many times to do brutal things. I refused every single one of them. As a result, my teachers respect me and I get good grades.

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 7:32 pm

It doesn't have to do with anonymity primarily. And yes, people are this disturbed and apathetic. Recently, a video showing a gang-rape of the 25-year old mother-of-two was pulled off Youtube after 600 views. The video is authentic, and the victims little children can be heard crying in the background.

........

I keep wanting to formulate a response to this.. and somehow I just can't get there.

I shouldn't be surprised, and I'm not really.. It's not as though I'm some naive person who has never been aware of the atrocities humans perform against one another..
But, despite all of that, despite my oft cynical view of the world.. reading this story sent me reeling..

And once again the eternal question, though I realise it sounds naive, is what makes people like this tick?

DesR85 · Post by **DesR85** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 8:24 pm

dragon wench wrote:And once again the eternal question, though I realise it sounds naive, is what makes people like this tick?

We can jump to a myriad of conclusions but ultimately, we will only know the truth when these people reveal their motives for doing so.

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 8:52 pm

DesR85 wrote:We can jump to a myriad of conclusions but ultimately, we will only know the truth when these people reveal their motives for doing so.

Somehow I suspect it's not quite that straightforward....

Ned Flanders · Post by **Ned Flanders** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 12:02 pm

This kid is only 15 years old. He doesn't even know what makes him tick but it's obvious his influences are coming from the wrong places (it certainly ain't yoda). I'd love to read a follow up article on the parents of a teen stupid enough to believe burning down a church is cool and then posting pics of it on a web site. He calls himself jediknight, the council would be ashamed of him.

C Elegans · Post by **C Elegans** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 3:38 pm

DesR85 wrote:We can jump to a myriad of conclusions but ultimately, we will only know the truth when these people reveal their motives for doing so.

No we will not, because very, very few people who committ such violent crimes have any idea why they do it and even if they had an idea they would not be able to verbalise it. The most common answer to why people committ horrible violent acts is "I felt like it" or "It felt good".

Ned Flanders] This kid is only 15 years old. He doesn't even know what makes him tick but it's obvious his influences are coming from the wrong places (it certainly ain't yoda). I'd love to read a follow up article on the parents of a teen stupid enough to believe burning down a church is cool and then posting pics of it on a web site. He calls himself jediknight wrote:
Tragic as it is, a 15-year old who commits an act like this, is not at the start but at the end of a maladaptive process that is very, very difficult to change in any significant way.

Aztaroth · Post by **Aztaroth** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 5:25 pm

Actually, C Elegans, I do believe a person like this one could still change. At the tender age of 15, a person is hardly fully formed, and as such there's still elbow room for decency to set in. I was hardly a paragon of virtue as a 15-year-old (though I suppose I didn't burn any churches) but I've straightened myself out. The thing is, outside influence hardly affects him anymore. Any change is going to be of his own making.

I can imagine what he's going through, even sympathise. He's probably been ignored for a long time, and I doubt he's actually stupid... possibly even quite the opposite. Most likely he's been the target of bullying, and feels underappreciated, so he wanted people to pay attention to him. He would never say that, of course, if asked why he did it. I considered similar acts once, but in the end I realized the futility of such actions. Loneliness does terrible things to a mind.