The legacy of three generations of a pursuit of the “god within” was a rejection of the Twoist Creator of the intelligent and moral universe (that allowed Rodger to even speak [incorrectly] of things being “unfair) and, thus, a rejection of the only truly good news for the world. Since we are all potential psychopathic sinners (that is what really scares us about Elliot Rodger), only love from the “alien” God, revealed in the cross of Christ, can bring true sanity, in this world and in eternity.

The grandfather, George Rodger (b. 1908), was a UK pioneer of photo-journalism. His iconic photo of the corpses at Bergen Belsen murdered by Hitler caused him pain, especially when he discovered that “I could look at the horror of Belsen – 4,000 dead and starving lying around-and think only of a nice photographic composition. I knew something had happened to me.” He never forgave himself, but remained a faithful husband and father till his death in 1995.

His son, Peter Rodger, also a professional photographer, was apparently not so morally sensitive. Rodger was an assistant director on The Hunger Games, the gruesome film about teens killing teens. To make ends meet, so to speak, he now sells erotic photos of women’s naked derrieres for $1250.00 a pop. As a father, according to Elliot, his son, “he never made any effort to prepare me to face such a cruel world.”

Peter Rodger’s son, Elliot Rodger, 22, emerged last week as a mini-mass-murderer of six innocent young people in Santa Barbara.

What a legacy! What a devolution-from deep moral outrage in the grandfather, to unimaginable mass cruelty in the grandson. Though psychopathic illness is a mystery, can we get a hint of the causes?

Some blame guns, but Elliot Rodger also used knives and fantasized over crushing people with his parents’ Mercedes SUV. Others blame racism or machismo. Perhaps we should let the killer tell us. Hitler gave us Mein Kampf. Elliot Rodger gave us the 141-page “Day of Retribution.”

Divorce:

He plainly states: “I had loving parents…The prospect of divorce baffled my little (6 yr old) mind…I was absolutely shocked, outraged and overwhelmed…all the happy times were gone.” This gave rise to years of acrimony between him and his stepmother, Soumaya, and a growing disrespect of his often absent father.

Divorce is not good for kids.

Social Acceptance:

Early in his life, Elliot suffered bullying from insensitive kids. He was aware that he was not athletic; he was short and not white-skinned and blond. High School was “a living hell.” When a tall blond guy called him a loser in front of a group of pretty girls, he concluded that the world was “a cruel and brutal place.” Social acceptance is a very important aspect of youthful maturation, and, outside of school, where he was failing, there seemed to be few places where Elliot could be accepted.

Loneliness and selfishness are crushing.

Video Games:

In his case, the video game, Worlds of Warcraft, filled the void. He sometimes played for “two weeks non-stop,” killing his virtual opponents and rising to the top of “the Guild.” During these teenage years, he says, “I found sanctuary in a huge online fantasy world where I made my own character-a ‘night elf druid’-living another, more exciting life.”

Virtual reality is not a good preparation for real life.

Sex:

Sex with a girl became the proof of having made it into normal adolescent society, where everybody, including thirteen year olds, boasted to him of their sexual experiences, yet he had never had sex. This complaint appears in virtually every other paragraph of the 141 pages. It was obsessional, especially having chosen to live near the emblematic “party school” of UCSB. He died an embittered “virgin.” How sad that our society has normalized youthful fornication and pronounced virginity to be a curse.

Virginity before marriage is pure and healthy!

Oneist Spiritual Influences:
The grandfather, George, found solace in photographing African animistic native spirituality rites, in hopes that this would help bring the world together. The father believed in the “god within,” and gave his son the pagan book, The Secret, promoting the “Law of Attraction.” It only created anger in the son who failed to “attract” winning lottery tickets, and ripped the book apart in frustration. Going within, reaching psychopathic levels, the son, Elliot, began to see himself as “a righteous angry god…feeling empowered to exact revenge on all I hate and envy.”

The god within does not save.

The legacy of three generations of a pursuit of the “god within” was a rejection of the Twoist Creator of the intelligent and moral universe (that allowed Rodger to even speak [incorrectly] of things being “unfair) and, thus, a rejection of the only truly good news for the world.

Since we are all potential psychopathic sinners (that is what really scares us about Elliot Rodger), only love from the “alien” God, revealed in the cross of Christ, can bring true sanity, in this world and in eternity.

May this sad incident provoke Christians to take the good news of another legacy-that of the true Father’s love for those wracked by fear and guilt-to those who, by faith, can know they have been covered by the blood of Jesus, the true Son.

Dr. Peter Jones is a Teaching Elder in the Presbyterian Church in America and is Director of truthXchange, and Adjunct Professor of New Testament, as well as Scholar in Residence, at Westminster Seminary California.