He did it because he was possessed by the Devil ....

I think he was possessed by intense and extreme anger and pain. Whatever abuses this young man felt he suffered at the hands of his fellow students overwhelmed him; and, unfortunately, completely over rode his capability to think and/or act rationally. I think he just snapped. We blame too many things on the devil.

satan can posses maney at one time, his power comes in waves. the reason his power isnt constant is because he isnt allmighty, and yes the young man was possessed. you must read to understand that they are 200 fallin spirits that possess powers like the father, the fallin influance us in maney different ways, all of mankind is under attack , what happend to cho could happen to anyone.

Since the public has limited resources as to the mental or psychic status of the prepetrator of the event, it is pretty safe from a logical standpoint to assume the action was the result of long term mental/emotional stress or defect. Such events are not the result of recent events, which are the catalyst for the action, but rather the result of long term problems aggravated by interaction with others, at least in the mind of the prepetrator. Sadly such conditions are often hidden, even from those who know such people best. They try to 'fit in' to meet the norm, to asimulate into the society inwhich they live and work...while the mental/emotional aspects continue to spiral in directions which lead to events which are damaging to others as well as the individual. The Devil Made Me Do it, whether spoken by the perpetrator or others, is still denial of accountability. We are all accountable for our actions, mentally unstable or not, we have to be. And that includes those who may have participated in any contact which may have fed the catalyst which lead to this terrible event.

"Possessed by the Devil", is an age-old Christian phrase. It is also a phrase that many criminals use in their defence in court, besides "It was the voices in my head." Now, I don't believe that the priest should have claimed this, in the case of a mass-murderer. Is this going to calm and counsel people?.. no, it's going to cause more panic, because they'll imagine the Devil can possibly possess any one of them and make them do a similar thing and the thought of the Devil embedding himself inside them, would indeed conjur up a vile and frightening picture. This is quite a contraversial discussion, as there will be many differing opinions on this subject, but for what it's worth, I believe that if a person who has previously been sane in everything he has said and done, suddenly turns to an act of crime similar to which you describe, then their mind is possessed by some negative force... (Christians would define this force as the Devil, but I won't)... which takes control of their mind and actions in order to execute a wrongdoing. I can't say why these things happen... all I can say is that the Moon is often named as the offending force in these instances, but there does have to be a reason, or some bizarre lesson. What on Earth that could be, I will never know, but I do believe. Thank you for this discussion Feralwoman. It's a quite deep and dark train of thought but interesting and thought-provoking indeed. Brightest Blessings my friend.

His life was just too difficult for him apparently. I don't think he was possessed by certainly haunted by demons of being belittled and rejected. No one wants to feel rejected or dejected from society. As an outcast, his evil thoughts only festered.

I think it all depends how you define the definition: possession. I think that it can be used to every situation that a person lost his mind, and went berzerk. i know that every person that have a psychological problem with his feelings, and crosses the red line between good and bad, is a psycho. The religious people refer to it as possessed, the other people refer to it as psycho maniac. But it is all the same. isn't it?

Well I definitely think he was unstable. However...being a believer myself I do think that there is something that overtakes people like this. I do believe there is evil in this world...and I do think that some people have this evil in them...for whatever reason...upbringing...parents...society...etc. I really feel bad and I hope that some day...people will realize that believing in a higher power may not be such a bad idea...

Well, if he can really explain throughly why and how devils possessed the man, then well and good at least we have a theory. But i think that the man is just mentally ill maybe for certain factors we dont know.

Personally, I think that Cho was mentally unstable and needed some serious help that he was not given in time. I do not buy the whole "he was posessed" thing, to me, it was quite clear that the boy had mental problems. He was even treated for it 2 years prior to the shootings for "stalking" two girls. I also think that all this time he was crying out for help in his horrific writings and no one REALLY heard him or did enough to help him. I think the whole situation is extremely sad, and I feel so bad for all of the victims and their families...also for all the students that had to witness such an event.

While it seems true that this young man had serious mental illness, it does not excuse all of the people who were aware that something was "not right" with him, but stood by and did nothing. I am fed up with our permissive society, political correctness, etc. Our nation is falling fast and if someone doesn't do something quickly I don't think we'll last much longer. The latest theory I've heard is that he was under the influence of mind control. Any of these theories might be right, but I fear that this is just the tip of the iceberg.

I agree that the "possessed by the devil" is ridiculous and insulting to any intellegent human being.....This young man had serious mental/psychological difficulties and poor coping skills....I think there were clear "warning signs" that were not acted upon.... This has been a horrific tradegy and my heart goes out to the victims, their families, the people who had to witness the shootings, the emergency response workers and other medical personnel that assited with treatment to the survivors.....I believe that this touch uncountable people all across the world. I also agree with the myLotian who said that we are all accountable for our own actios and that too many "cop outs" are fragrantly utilized in our courtrooms. Sorry, began rambling.....but there are so many emotions surrounding this tradegy. Great discussion, my friend. Blessed be!

Sometimes people try to justify something by saying that it is something supernatural (like being possessed by the devil) without even trying to understand the things behind the incident. That was before, but up to this age that thinking still exists, and it is kinda sad.

No, I don't believe the murdered was possessed by anything other than the demons his own mind created to torment him. I have read a little bit about him in the paper and it seems that since he was a small boy he was troubled. People have been concerned about him for a long time. Heck yes I think he was mentally unstable. He had already been sentenced to court ordered counseling. I wonder if he ever attended and what the mental health profesional thought about him?

This priest is not only wrong, but most of Christianity is wrong, for so many reason, too many to get into here. Priests like this see an opportunity to further their own agenda and take it. This kid needed real friends. Not just ones that said hello, but ones who cared, truly cared how he felt. He had no one. No wonder he felt alone and the world against him. We as a society have become detached from one another and prefer not to deal with one another as humans, but rather push anyone we feel uncomfortable with off onto some counselor, as if they were diseased, rather than befriend them. Before psychotherapy we dealt with one another as humans, listening and talking, not avoiding each other. When you ask someone how they are, listen, don't treat it as an annoying meaningless greeting.

There's evidence that points to Black Ops. Manchurian candidate type sh*t. It happened again tonight at some research facility. It isn't going to stop until the 2nd amendment is abolished. www.prisonplanet.com Don't believe me, look it up for yourself. Everything on that site is backed by documented proof.

I think he was on prozac.

Hello my friend sorry for being a 1 week late to respond in this discussion been sooo busy lately lol!! I think the priest involve should be more specific about the words he utter about the killer because it is so easy to say it but the proof needs more than that. It is so easy to say that the said killer was possesed with evil but it is more credible if he further explains it or cited it maybe the killer was mentally disturbed to that heinious crime he made.

maybe he was possessed and mental???

he's possessed by everything. he may be has unstabled mental that grew since he lived in america, both parents r too busy to watch his grown yet we can't blame everyone for this happening, i mean we faced this life with a different way, we strong or we weak that gonna affect the act that we show, this boy perhaps become the weak one, who can't face the reality, and he forced to do so by his environment, possessed by the evil? hmmm everybad thing come with evil and every good thing comes from God rite.... but until now, we never know which is bad which is rite, we'll never know if someday maybe we realize that cho's doing the right thing...... ^-^..

Well i feel that what Cho did was not right, But and a big but, is that he was treated in ways which would drive most people crazy and do things like he did.We all know that he was molested and that he was often bothered by most of the students.This could have been avoided if and if they had accepted him as one of them and treated him with some respect, as he too was human!!!!!!!!!!!!!1