Quite disgusted and shocked, yet at the same time incredibly fascinated by his motives and views, I have somehow managed to last through a majority of NBC's interview with prominent serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.
During his brutal murder spree between 1974 and 1986, Jeffrey killed 17 young men, even going so far as cannibalism because it made him feel as if they were 'now eternally a part of him' as a result of his digestion of their remains.
Rarely do serial killers ever agree to interviews of this nature, and even rarer still do they take complete and utter responsibility for what occurred as he does, or probe the origins of the reasons as to why he did what he did.
However, I don't wish to linger on the details as there is a certain observation I made that I wish to share.
You can watch the interview itself by clicking here. (Please be warned: it is not for the faint of heart, and may be very disturbing to some viewers).
During part of the interview, Dahmer describes in detail what he, personally, believes regarding the meaning of life and other such existential matters. The interview itself went as follows:
Dahmer's Father: Let me ask.. when did you first feel that everyone is accountable for their actions?
Dahmer: Well, thanks to you for sending that 'creation/ science' material.. because.. I always believed the lie that evolution is truth.. that the theory of evolution is truth.. that we all just came from the slime and.. when we died.. that was it. There was nothing. So it.. the whole theory cheapens life, and I started reading books about how.. that show how evolution is just a complete lie. There is no basis in science to uphold it, and I have since come to believe that, uh.. that the Lord Jesus Christ is the true creator of the Heavens and the Earth.. it just.. it didn't just happen.. and I have accepted him as my Lord and Savior, and I believe that I, as well as everyone else, will be accountable to him.
Religious commentary aside, what I observed was what I described in part of my previous post, "Where do the labels put me in respect to Nihilism?," in which I stated that "the nature of human perception, after falsely acknowledging there was only that single aspect to the entirety of the Universe, couldn't comprehend how full the Universe really was once God suddenly became absent from it. Our first reaction to the lack of a deity was to replace one single observatory aspect with another; from the optimistic certainty of a God, to the pessimistic certainty of absolute meaninglessness" and that "it seems to be human nature to gravitate to polar opposite sides of one side or another (ex: good or evil, everything or nothing, left wing or right wing, etc)." and Dahmer's observation caused me to whisper 'polar opposites' under my breath as that observation clicked once again in my head when he spoke of previously believing in the face-value, dry, scientific black-and-white interpretation of evolutionary theory, and then suddenly, out of some existential crisis, decided to switch to the absolute other end of the spectrum by deciding that "evolution is just a complete lie" and that "the Lord Jesus Christ is the true creator of the Heavens and the Earth." In doing so, he completely disregarded any sort of middle-ground he could have explored as there is quite a lot of truth to the old saying that there are 'two sides to every story, and somewhere in the middle lies the truth.' Still, the human tendency seems to be to draw our observations, perceptions, and beliefs in black-and-white as if it has to be one or the other.
On his observation that "the whole theory cheapens life," I would have to agree in some sense.
I haven't studied evolution enough to have my own valid opinion on whether I believe it to be true or not, but I take nothing at face-value, not even science which, in many ways, demands you do so in the same way religion demands you subjugate your mind to its will. This does not, however, alleviate the fact that I believe it holds much more credibility than any sort of religious faith does, and certainly holds more truth than Creationism ever could.
To truly have a humbled and rational perspective on the world, one must understand that science is simply human observation and is, in many ways, nothing but a human construct. It, to, is flawed, and one must resist the urge to take it at face-value simply due to the fact that it is the only clearly defined alternative to religion and metaphysics (both which intertwine with it at different capacities depending on the faith and context).
I agree with Dahmer in his assertion that the way he interpreted the theory definitely cheapens life, and that the way in which it is presented also gives a dry and meaningless feel to existence.
As human beings, we need to humble our observations and give absolutely everything the benefit of the doubt. Absolutely everything, otherwise we risk getting trapped in a mode of thought that propagates the illusion that we need to make definite decisions regarding our beliefs, and choose between one side or the other.
Not that I really expected a serial killer to have such insightful ability.
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