Imagine how this article would have been written had the suspect been a Muslim. How many times would the word "terrorism" been used?
But since the suspect is White not a word about terrorism. No mention about his religious or political affiliations.
Thankfully he was stopped before destroying this beautiful building.
399
@ScottW
Officials haven't determined motive yet, so to report terrorism as a possibility would be irresponsible.
18
@ScottW Three times the article uses some version of the word terror, not zero. He's being investigated by the "Joint Terrorism Task Force," and the "deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism" has indicated that he doesn't appear to have "any connection to a terror group." So your premise starts off false.
This is the NY Times, I assure you they would not have called him a terrorist at this stage regardless of ethnicity or religion. And although the authorities and the Times will rightly wait for more information, I'd say his actions strongly suggest he should be considered a terrorist, assuming he's sane enough to understand what he was trying to do, and should be punished like one. Not sure if that makes you feel better or not.
42
@ScottW
It would have been written the same way. I'm not naive but I think the NYT's reporting is often accurate and doesn't speculate needlessly or add unjustified bias like what you are implying.
You either missed this quote below or the article was updated after you read it. I'm not sure articles are edited here without a notification at the end of it. It's not the case AFAIK.
“There doesn’t appear to be any connection to a terror group,”
34
Too funny. White man in iconic church with 2 cans of gasoline, and a lighter, but no charges filed. What does a white man need to do before being charged with terrorism? Does death and destruction have to occur before the white man's benefit-of-the-doubt is removed? Were this man Muslim, his family and extended family would already be under interrogation. THe man himself would be charged with terrorism and bail denied - assuming he lived past the arrest.
366
@EME No charges filed yet, but that doesn't rule out that there will be in the future.
35
@EME: Your comment presupposes that he is not Muslim. Do we actually have any information about his religion?
38
@Mark I think it a safe assumption that were he a Muslim, it would have been included in the story.
17
Perfect example of a copycat crime. Notre Dame is all over the news, so a deranged person starts to think he will be covered with glory if he starts something similar on this side of the Atlantic. Good reason not to publicize the names of terrorists.
5
The world is becoming one big video game......The same world that brought us Smollett and his "views" when he was controlling the joystick, now encourages a new player and his "platform".
1
He is giving philosophy a bad name
4
Clearly philosophers live in an ivory tower, if they think you need charcoal lighter fluid to ignite gasoline.
7
1) Gives a whole new meaning to "lux et veritas"
2) really looking forward to what The Stone (the NYT philosophy column started and edited by a CUNY philosopher professor) will have to say about all this
4
Even though I’m an atheist and believe that Catholicism is the most hypocritical religion....I’m pleased to hear that this hoodlum was captured before possibly starting a brutal fire.
3
It is poignantly clear that we now need to have a ban on gasoline and barbecue grill starter fluid!
1
Hmmm sounds about right for a far left millennial . Why is this not surprising?
2
I could understand his actions better if he had been found sloshing gasoline around a philosophy department rather than a church: philosophy settled matters with religion during the Enlightenment and especially after Darwin. The CUNY philosophy department failed this student by not teaching him that crossing the firey brook separating philosophy from religion is crossed by ideas not gasoline canisters.
1
Whether you believe in God or His many manifestations throughout religion or the abstract of atheism, it will forever be a crime to attempt to destroy observance of each of our rights to choose what we believe. No one, sane or insane, has the right to deny that through act, subterfuge, or denial. This man may need help. This man may need incarceration or institutionalize, but, he has no right destroy the institutions of any of us.
4
The fact that he a student and teacher of philosophy is practically irrelevant to this article. Highly educated professional people do crazy things all the time. (Check out the recent NYT article about the doctor who wrote drug prescriptions for sexual favors.) The takeaway for me is this: if you are a white male arrested by the police, you will be treated respectfully and without incident. If this man had black or brown skin, the outcome would have been very different.
3
Praise to the ushers( volunteers) who approached and most likely stopped what could have been another catastrophe for New York and our country. Thanks to the NYPD....Our guardians, our committed men and women who literally put
their lives on the line every day.
4
One can read some of his book on Amazon. Perhaps there are some who can understand it as well. Phi Beta Kappa from Boston College.
They say philosopher's bake no bread; this one didn't manage to start a fire. Now he'll be put through the criminal justice/mental health meat grinder.
Maybe one day we'll find out why he thought it was a good idea at the time.
1
This man's study of philosophy may have played into his deranged thinking and planning, but to treat philosophy as the *cause* of the incident, as many commenters are doing, is to commit the very sort of fallacy that a basic course in logic would highlight and address. A contributing or influencing factor is not the same as a cause. The disparaging attitudes toward philosophy--and toward the people who study it--reflect a pervasive distrust of abstract thinking, which has profound beauty and meaning despite its pitfalls. Yes, abstraction has the potential danger of distancing us from the world, but it can also draw us more deeply into the world, through its investigation of essences. Philosophy does not cure the mentally ill, but it does not cause mental illness either. It can spur questioning; it can lead to some insights; it can offer hours and years of good reading.
I am glad that he was discovered and caught before anyone got hurt.
34
@Diana Senechal
Unfortunately, philosophers are no more immune to mental illness than anyone else. You see it among doctors, lawyers, ministers, and, believe it or not, even politicians.
14
@Diana Senechal Thanks for this sensible comment as it does seem a likely case of mental illness.
We don't know if he had mental illness but even if he does not, it would be absurd to think that studying a particular academic subject is correlated to committing particular types of crimes.
An economist was arrested for stalking her lover. A dean of USC medical school was well known for doing drugs.
Recently, a yoga teacher in NYC committed a horrible murder. Googling that, I see other yoga teachers have been accused of murder, including one who is accused of killing her identical twin sister. I don't think we need to fear that yoga makes people especially homicidal merely because a yoga teacher as murderer makes good copy.
3
Deep thought has a tendency to inspire people to teach others. He was making a social statement by virtue of his name and the places. I wish people would contain their reactions to their epiphanies.
In addition, I'm deeply concerned about seeing helmet clad gladiators with automatic weapons standing outside a sanctuary that I rely on as a beacon of salvation of spirits, not flesh.
1
@WITNESS OF OUR TIMES These are sad times. Those gladiators are there to protect the sanctuary that you prize so much from people like Philosopher Lamparello. We and those police wish it were otherwise, but unfortunately it is not.
2
I propose we compile a Philosophers Spreadsheet, comparing what each philosopher got right or got wrong. Oops, I forgot. In philosophy, there are no wrong answers.
Is it wrong to carry two gallons of gasoline into a cathedral a few days after Notre Dame in Paris burned to the ground? Well, that depends on your philosophical outlook. If that man is one of the Ubermenschen, then Society will progress from his heroic action. Or not.
This is very sad. It wasn’t at all uncommon to see normal, well educated college students and young professionals go off the deep end in New York City. Once, i saw a clean affluent young man screaming into bushes. Another time, it was an intellectual music major who disappeared one day after weeks of not bathing and talking about a move to Alaska to “live off the land”. Mental health issues were a pretty regular occurrence and nothing was done until someone, much like this man, proved to be a danger.
I’m glad he was stopped before anyone got hurt and hope he gets the help he needs.
12
What I would prefer as concerns reporting on every actual murderous event and even any such as this in which a man has been taken into custody because the man appears to have murderous intent.
Presentation of the facts, name of the man not given.
No comment section at the first article.
I write this after reading the top 20 Reader Picks. I suggest you who read this, read them carefully to see what you think they contribute.
After doing that, you may justifiably question what this comment has to offer.
I write this from my Swedish influenced point of view. Every case such as this or even the rare multiple killing would provide no information about the man other than his age. The emphasis would be on establishing the facts on what has happened, what the next stages of police involvement will consist of. No speculation about motive. No information about skin color, religious or ethnic affiliation.
Perhaps the singular most important fact presented here is that once an individual has been arrested he should be monitored more carefully.
Not a very satisfactory comment. I agree. But at least no speculation or attempt to joke about the case.
I invite you to speculate about my reactions to the Reader Picks.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Citizen US SE
12
@Larry Lundgren, thank you for sharing your thoughts on this. I see where you're coming from, and I'm inclined to agree. I'm just not sure how to make this change happen.
3
@Larry Lundgren
Multiple killings are not rare in the United States, Larry. That is why the police arrested him. He was probably going to do something bad--like burn the church down, then flee to who knows where.
@Blue Jay-Thanks. No, I too have no idea how to make such a change happen. And I am sure that I never would have thought this way had I not moved to Sweden and lived there/here for 22 y so far.
I can add that I have at times thought as several of the top Reader Picks have, why are only Muslims tagged with the name terrorists? But here we only have a man who might have been capable of carrying out an abhorrent act and did not.
And of course, even if my newspaper and at least some others never give details about someone charged or convicted, social media provides a forum.
Larry L.
1
I do not wish to know the name of this man even though he is a philosophy teacher in NJ and I live in NJ. Our knowing his name doesn't matter; it only harms Mr. Lamparello. He's not a person of importance (like, say, the President) and he has no power over our lives.
7
@Rae do you feel this way because his profile doesn't fit narratives that you endorse? Would you want to protect his identity if he came from the other side of the political spectrum than you, or would hold it up as proof of what you've always said?
The only philosophy PhD I know is is self absorbed and clueless. Doubt he could get gasoline into the can.
28
@Leslie
My ex-husband is a philosophy professor with a PhD from a top university; definitely self-absorbed and narcissistic but not clueless in the least with an IQ of 160.
Furthermore, he’s an atheist, like me, with a hyperreligious upbringing who feels religion in its present sexist, racist, homophobic, anti-science fundamentalist forms has been the single greatest impediment to human progress. We both believe that unless it evolves with society, as it was finally forced to do with slavery, it must be moved to the margins of society before we can solve the great problems facing the planet.
However, we both, like Carl Sagan, experience awe and wonder at the beauty and mystery of the universe. Furthermore, we understand that religion was merely primitive man’s attempt to come to terms with things it couldn’t begin to process without modern scientific knowledge. Having both had deeply religious upbringings with love and understanding of our parents’ limitations, we are still able to experience a spiritual expression of our atheistic awe and wonder inside the churches, mosques, temples, and cathedrals we visit. We also realize the importance of these structures in history and as great examples of art, architecture, and music that must be preserved for the sake of humanity.
Never, ever would our atheism even contemplate nor support the destruction of any religious building or object. Any who believe otherwise of highly educated atheists are simply wrong.
105
@left coast finch
I know a philosopher-activist-atheist who burns down at least one church a day in his imagination.
10
This is a pretty fabulous example of self-absorption.
10
This is why we should listen and pay heed to expert college professors extensively quoted in NYT articles.
10
@Aristotle Gluteus Maximus, you are clearly being ironic. Addressing your presumed subtext: The NYT quotes a variety of experts, including academics, when they are an experts in the field under discussion. At no point is that an implied endorsement of what anyone with an advanced degree says about any subject at large. We should all be skeptical of information presented to us, regardless of source, and look for independent confirmation. Surely you can get behind that sentiment?
18
Methinks you may have missed his point
4
@Aristotle Gluteus Maximus He wasn't a professor, he was a lecturer. There is a difference. Professors are required to perform research; lecturers are not.
8
Attention liberal reporters!
Is this not an example illustration how mass media reporting, hyperbolic, emotion evoking, bigger than life reporting on an incident or subject incites random people to further acts of violence or devious intent?
6
@Aristotle Gluteus Maximus are you talking about the Notre Dame coverage? That event in itself is emotion evoking. This guy is likely just mentally disturbed and would have done something crazy another time.
10
@Aristotle Gluteus Maximus You must have missed the part where it says he has been committed to a psychiatric hospital. He's mentally ill.
5
My oldest brother has a PhD in Philosophy, he’s not very good with making decisions either.
139
@Paulie
Which your brother would tell you is the availability heuristic or anecdotal fallacy, if you took the time to talk to him.
16
@Paulie: Generalizing from an awfully small sample size, Paulie ...
8
@Kyle
And they say lawyers are death to a cocktail party. Gee. Woody Allen would agree: we can only have sadness and compassion for those who confuse heuristics and hermaneutics.
1
I don't see what the problem is. Why shouldn't he be taking a short cut through the cathedral to refuel his car? and if something were to go wrong and St. Patrick's catch fire...We have another "very, very smart genius," who will send over the flying water tankers to put the fire out.
63
I’m going to bring him up next time a BC graduate goes on and on about the superiority of their very ordinary but picturesque school. Ditto for Steven Miller when Duke gets mentioned.
Proud BU grad
36
@GC
But BU is both ordinary and not picturesque.
11
@GC
Agreed.
A fellow Terrier
1
Another excellent reason to wean this country off of our dependence on fossil fuels...
13
@Scott Harris Tax Cuts Are A Shell GameIn the end, it will probably be up to the wisdom of the American people to decide the presidents feet. Come on this is not a joke or a reason to show that you too are fanatically wedded to your belief.
3
Wonder what he was planning to torch in Rome?
(Or was he taking orders from Rome, trying to generate more sympathy in a false flag?)
5
Couldn't they get more intelligent looking cops to arrest and escort a college "professor"? Couldn't the police department have an internal policy on those fattening 32 oz beverage cups?
5
@Aristotle Gluteus Maximus- not funny when such a serious matter was being dealt with
35
@Aristotle Gluteus Maximus
Hey - with all due respect, please stop with the wise cracks about the "good guys", for those remarks are unwarranted, unnecessary and simply plain mean.
32
@Marge Keller
Aww. Some police departments have regular physical fitness assessments and standards for people ostensibly serving the public on the taxpayers dime. Obesity is a serious public health problem and it's an added imposition on the public trust and taxpayer dollars when public servants contribute to the problem.
It was the Mayor of New York who tried to ban 32 oz beverage cups.
8
It is obvious the man could be mentally ill: manic. I find many of the comments shockingly insensitive and cruel. I did my PhD in the Social Sciences and it is very very stressful. Even the mentally strong among us go through depression, anxiety, exhaustion, crying spells and anger during the doctoral programme, especially during ABD. Those that have mental illness break down all together. Show some compassion and restraints in your comments. Next time you meet a PhD who is teaching and doing research for peanuts, or still musteting on with their ideals and ethics, touch their feet with respect or reverence. Getting a PhD in the US is not a joke.
5
@ExhaustedFightingForJusticeEveryDay
Really? Blaming this on getting a PhD? And "touch their feet with respect or reverence"? Please.
5
@publius I did not say his mental illness was caused or created by his PhD program, it might have caused enough stress to provoke his underlying or hidden problem. But thousands of people do go into depression, anxiety, etc. due to the stress of PhD program demands. They cope, get medication or counseling. Some with other underlying issues do breakdown. Think Kazinsky...who was doing his PhD in mathematics when he broke down and became violent.
Secondly, academics and intellectuals do need support and respect in the US. They don't get that.
1
@publius I did not say his mental illness was caused or created by his PhD program, it might have caused enough stress to provoke his underlying or hidden problem. But thousands of people do go into depression, anxiety, etc. due to the stress of PhD program demands. They cope, get medication or counseling. Some with other underlying issues do breakdown. Think Kazinsky...who was doing his PhD in mathematics when he broke down and became violent.
Secondly, academics and intellectuals do need support and respect in the US. They don't get that.
It is obvious the man could be mentally ill: manic. I find many of the the comments shockingly insensitive and cruel. I did my PhD in the Social Sciences and it is very very stressful. Even the mentally strong among us go through depression, anxiety, exhaustion, crying spells and anger...during the doctoral programme. Those that have mental illness break down all together. Show some compassion and restraints in your comments. Next time you meet a PhD who is teaching and doing research for peanuts, or still musteting on, inpite of their ideals and ethics, touch their feet with respect or reverence. Getting a PhD in the US is not a joke.
I’m curious how one would determine if a doctoral student in philosophy was mentally ill.
5
@John Easy. If he is in a philosophy PhD program he probably is.
3
Why did the philosopher cross the road?
7
Why does a 37 year old Doctoral student need to be released to Mom? Something is not right but yes I agree if he was a man of color things would probably be different. The entire thing smells fishy to me.
1
I suppose another possibility is that this gesture is somehow related to the sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church. Perhaps the man is a victim. It's even possible that his intention was not primarily to damage the building but to self-immolate, or to carry out a suicide mission of some kind.
As other commenters have noted, however -- the ready identification of this man as "mentally disturbed lone wolf" is in marked contrast to the typical reactions when the suspect is Muslim or African-American: "Shoot first, ask questions later" and "He's just like all the other _____s; they're all a menace to America; we need to throw them out, lock them out" etc. etc.
3
I really, really wish the NYT had the courage to decide that perpetrators’ names are NOT fit to print. Taking away the free publicity might discourage fame-seekers from seeking the limelight.
Maybe NY Times Readers could exert some pressure too: Stop naming names by Jan 1, 2020; or we cancel our subscriptions.
Who’s in??
2
I hate to say it, but when I hear that someone is 37 and working on a doctorate in philosophy, my first thought is, "very lost." Too long in the woods, my friend. There's a reason you're having to blaze this trail you're on: it doesn't go anywhere.
3
well if you hated to say it you shouldn't have
3
Is the use of the word “blaze” a pun??
2
There is something very wrong here. He needs to be fully investigated, including talking "at length" to parents, relatives, and friends. And I hope they confiscated his PC/laptops and intend to do a thorough search of that data. There is something very wrong here!!
14
Privilege at work.
1. He was allowed to go home with mom.
2. He has been allowed the privilege of being seen as someone who is possibly mentally ill.
3. His profession is being given central focus to his actions.
If this was done by a Muslim, or a black, the whole story changes and none of the above would be applicable.
Sickening hypocrisy.
35
@Mopitimop
Virtue signaling: "the action or practice of publicly expressing opinions or sentiments intended to demonstrate one's good character or the moral correctness of one's position"
3
Appears he wanted to replicate the fire of Notre Dame.
4
Clearly philosophers live in an ivory tower, if they think you need charcoal lighter fluid to ignite gasoline.
20
Another copy cat crime.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herostratus
We should ban fire. Fire bad.
5
A ticket to Rome? Sounds like he may have been going after St. Peter's after he burned St. Patrick's.
8
He gets a free ride because he's a lecturer and doctoral candidate, but if he did the same thing in a MAGA hat, the comments section would be much less forgiving
11
@Jim
Gets a free ride from who? He's been arrested and referred for psychiatrict evaluation. He's also only committed relatively minor crimes. Whether he would have committed a major crime, who knows? The fact is that he didnt.
16
@Jim So you think that all educated people are democrats.
2
@Jim If he had on a MAGA hat, you'd elect him to Congress.
5
Racism in the US "justice" system is a national admission of moral failure. Is there anyone alive who believes if this man's skin were black, or if he were "of middle-eastern appearance", the cops would have sent him home with his mum? American justice is bigoted, not blind.
22
@Mac Hoban: For respectfully refusing to leave a church? Not at all impossible that he would have been released to his mom, after being charged and medically evaluated. Racism is a very real, but it doesn't mean that every single black person is kept in jail after every arrest. It appears that this time, after the St Patrick's/gasoline episode, the person is still in custody, just as you would expect.
8
Trump is thinking now that he's really glad he didn't say, those years ago, that he could walk into St. Patrick's with gasoline cans and a lighter and not lose any voters.
8
@teach That's probably true though.
1
I'm not seeing the relevance.
2
seriously. it would be stupendous if he had ever said something THAT stupid. I don't think he's given religion or St. Patrick's much thought.
1
As a psychologist and professional counselor who has worked in mental health for years it's fascinating to read the accusations, responses and replies. There is no statement here that offers a diagnostic impression of this individual. There is only the attempt to have an evaluation, which is obviously necessary for prosecution strategy. Mentally ill people are often notoriously poor at planning. They don't typically buy tickets to Italy ahead of their lapse in judgement. Nor are all "mental illnesses" things to forgive - a saying in the profession sums it up for those of us who work with it day and and day out - Mental illness is not an excuse for bad behavior. Let's hope they figure it out, but in general hauling gasoline through cathedrals is ill-advised and doesn't appear to be a particularly impulsive act.
17
@Nnaiden this is not correct. His actions, taken along with his background, scream ‘manic episode’, as in the manic phase of Bipolar 1 disorder, otherwise known as manic depressive illness. Of course we are not there, but I’d be very surprised if this were not the case. And we should not engage in armchair diagnoses, or in such discussions about real people, but I feel compelled to object to the outing and mockery, and feels this ethical need overrides other considerations at this moment.
10
@Nnaiden
my first wife was bipolar - the serious type. When she would have a psychotic episode she would often book a flight to pretty much anywhere and off she'd go. She travelled Syria alone - many years ago - in a completely psychotic state. When she was 6 months pregnant she flew to Cuba (from Australia). Necessarily off her medication she was believed to be a foreign prostitute and arrested (because a concerned ambulance guy kept visiting her hotel to check on her). We managed to repatriate her from the hospital the Cubans quickly realised she needed to be in (and from where she wrote letters to Fidel Castro citing the Geneva convention).
You may be a psychologist but you seem to be a bit lacking in experience with real mental health problems.
7
We see the super thin line between religion and insanity here.
5
More like a Venn diagram, I’d say, with the larger part of each circle overlapping the other.
8
@S.F.
No, we see an irrational act, perhaps with someone having difficulty distinguishing reality from his imagination, with a religious theme. Try reading your book, Moses and Monotheism, and recall when you used to have a much deeper appreciation for the expressions of basic needs and unconscious themes that religion symbolically expresses, Sigmund.
14
@Prometheus
Well said. Cheap shots against religion are a staple here.
5
Law enforcement officers get much hate and disparagement in the NYT comments. Let’s thank the officers who were alert enough to keep this man (of course, a man) from doing damage and harming New Yorkers.
24
Rarely do I take the time to read all of the comments and replies on a thread. Maybe because of his bizzarre behavior and his chosen profession philosophy is the reason why this thread has turned quite cheeky. Philosophy as an elective maybe but as a major, really?
Well bottom line is he is getting a psychiatric evaluation at Bellevue, no property was damaged and no one was injured. So I guess a little fun being made at his expense is not the end of the world.
Comicus: Stand-up philosopher
"I coalesce the vapors of human experience into a viable and meaningful comprehension."
4
Many of the comments are extremely insensitive. This talented individual is experiencing a break in reality. It is not something that anyone needs to laugh at or mock.
He taught at one of the most prestigious and highly stressful institutions Boston College where understanding of world wide religion is intense for students and the instructors have to deliver a comphrensive understanding of. Students and instructors work hard.
Law enforcement did an outstanding job and no one was hurt. We need to show compassion and understanding for mental illness. There for the grace of God we all could go. We all know God works in mysterious ways maybe we could all be thankful that St. Patrick’s is unharmed ,no one lost there lives. In the spirit of Holy Week we praise God for looking out for all of us.
21
@Tony
I agree. There is a great deal of insensitivity to the mentally ill. I hope Mr. Lamparello finds the help he needs to recover, far from the glare of the media.
9
@Tony Correction. He graduated from BC but did not teach there.
4
@Tony so he experienced a break with reality -- and you know this how -- from your psychokinetic remote examination of him? if he wanted to set the place on fire, loaded gas cans, lighter fluid and lighters sure qualify as accelerants.
1
Whut ? Huh ? Why would a doctoral candidate in philosophy carry cans of gasoline and ignition sources into churches ? It doesn't make any sense. Did he think this was going to improve his chances of finishing a PhD ? I hope there is a follow-on to this article after somebody figures this out.
6
@Iman Onymous I’ll help out. He has a mental illness. Unless they find some underlying neurological cause, which is possible but unlikely, he has a psychiatric illness. It’s not his fault and not under his control.
10
Do you think that was true for 9/11 perpetrators?
an expert above said
Mental illness is not an excuse for bad behavior.
4
He's mentally ill. He's having either a psychotic break or a manic episode. It's painful to me that you expose his name so gratuitously and expose him to mockery. What will he feel about this when the episode passes, as hopefully it will, and he regains his insight and judgment? Very sad, that you allow this. It's not his fault.
14
@person
Who's fault would it be if the cathedral had burnt down, likely with innocent people injured or worse? What would their loved ones. How would New Yorkers feel after the 'episode'. Where is the line between insanity and terror? Where is your sense of reality?
I don't see the mockery, just adequate police action. Cheers to NY law enforcement and freedom of speech!
17
@S.F. my sense of reality is intact. OTOH it would appear that the reality testing of the person involved is not intact. Had he done something, it would most probably fall under the ‘not responsible for reason of mental defect’ as I believe this is called in NY state. Again, we are not there, do not know anything for a fact, should not really be discussing this, and the only reason I’m making these comments is to object to outing and shaming the severely mentally ill. It’s appalling and saddening. I wish the guy the best.
5
Was he after infamy?
or was he a poor tool, programmed/triggered into insanity?
3
You allow a place to become a tourist mecca instead of a house of God and say nothing even when your own worshipers get out flashing camera phones/tablets during the service, and then you expect tranquility?
Just by chance (and though non-RC) I watched the stream of the Thursday Mass for Holy Week. During the distribution of communion a male with facial hair approached the Cardinal Dolan giving out the hosts. He pushed aside the prelates hand when offered communion and muttered something with an unfriendly look before taking communion. I bet the clergy there wish they were in a quiet suburban church.
2
His actions completely negate the value of his books. Who would spend the time reading the insights from such a deranged and antisocial mind? This loser needs prison as a reminder of who he really is.
5
@Jack Becker MD he has a mental illness. This is glaringly obvious and you as a physician should know this. I’m really surprised at your comment.
7
Wow. And you re a doctor?
5
Confucius say: “Always take your cans of gasoline into St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Saks Fifth Avenue shopping bags.”
6
It is utterly, totally, irresponsible for the NY Times to publish the name of Marc. L
It is the wish to get their names into the newspapers that drives many, if not most of mass shootings and other heinous crimes.
Doing so encourages more such crimes
Stop in NY Times. Adopt the European Newspaper practice and report , if have to do it all, the name as Marc L.
11
@talesofgenji
I'm just wondering if this is a principled stand. Decline to publish the names Dylann Roof, Tim McVeigh, George Zimmerman? How about Ted Bundy?
5
@talesofgenji
U serious?
On his way to Italy to join up with Bannon?
9
generally people "teaching" at a college are referred to as professors or lecturers but NOT teachers
7
@xyz Grad students are usually TA's or teaching assistants, far from professorship. Or even lecturer.
5
@xyz
God forbid, eh?
@xyz
Very often, they are referred to as "barely", or "marginally", employed.
1
I think that Lamparello has some mental problems. One of those in search of his personal 15 minutes of celebrity and exactly for THIS reason he should be jailed for a long time.
11
Have city fire officials ever determined the cause of the fire that disrupted Palm Sunday services at St. John the Divine Cathedral in Upper West Side?
8
The media should never publish or mention the names of individuals that do crazy things. Most likely their actions are for the attention they get.
10
What about Trump?
1
The country must be cracking up mentally. I have never read such a group of dispiriting comments in the NYTimes, many of which were just downright mean and nasty. This is no place for sarcastic jokes and/or cruelty.
31
I agree. Plenty of armchair judgements being made. Just shows how technology brings the dark side of people out. The incident just happened. Let the professionals investigate and determine if this is a mental health issue or criminal intent. Is it that important to guess?
18
@Julie Carter, somehow people need to unwind from the turmoil of mueller report today. Nothing happened thank God! So cracking jokes is just fine by me. Like they say...when things get dead serious, a joke is the way to break out of it. Tis the irony of life!
4
@I have had it
It seems there's always a comment like this from someone irritated by comments speculating about an event, with the tired refrain to let the "professionals" investigate, and to leave it to them. It is extremely important for people to guess. Armchair judgements are what people do and need to do. People gotta be people, and we're lucky to have a place like this to make that happen.
7
An object lesson in how not to try and burn down a cathedral.
9
Clearly philosophers live in an ivory tower, if they think you need charcoal lighter fluid to ignite gasoline.
19
My vote is that he wanted to start a fire in a church and then be a hero for extinguishing the flames. He may be crazy but not dumb.
Not sure which would be more effective:
Starting the fire with the gasoline and dousing it with the lighter fluid or vice versa.
4
Fine, dump on philosophers all you want, but they are the ones who specialize in disambiguating "Mueller found no collusion" between "Mueller did not find any collusion" and "Mueller found that there was no collusion." Where would we be without them?
10
@Mark
in mental flames, of course, in our yearning for wisdom
2
37 years old and his Mommy had to escort from the police station
9
@NYC Dweller
Cheap shot. Mother's are the best.
7
@NYC Dweller He should not have been let out.
3
@Terry
As a categorical statement, that is simply untrue. Mothers are not the best (whatever that means). There are many lousy mothers.
5
Had he attempted to self-immolate in Times Square, people would have taken selfies with him.
9
Other philosophers who favor Mr. Lamparello could go out on strike to support him.
Of course, if they do, they will run into Douglas Adams' dictum concerning a philosopher's strike:
"Who would THAT inconvenience?"
14
Sad to say the old childhood phrase "Monkey see, Monkey do" is increasingly acted out everyday!
14
How did he get into the U.S.? We have to stop these philosophers at the border!
88
A 100-year old philosopher lay upon his deathbed, gasping for air. His devoted student knelt beside the bed with pen and paper in hand, hoping to jot down his master’s last words for posterity. “O Master,” the student of philosophy asked, “How. do you know that all the great wisdom that you have imparted in your many philosophical writings over the years are, in fact, true?” With a shaky finger, the wrinkled, bearded old man beckoned to his student to come nearer. In a cracked, weak voice, he whispered in the student’s ear: “Because I say so.” Dutifully, the student copied the word’s “Because I say so” into his notebook.
Like Jesus, I like to speak in parables.
7
@Irving Franklin.
luv it. We are on the same page.
3
@unreceivedogma
No. We only should keep out stupid philosophers, ones who think you need charcoal lighter fluid to ignite gasoline.
4
another fine example of our liberal educators extra curricular activities...
7
His landlord better kick him out before he returns from the police station. That's a lease breaker, for the sake of everyone else living there. But it might also encourage him to come back even angrier, so what you gonna do? Bellevue?
4
The comments are so predictable. He IS indeed being investigated for terrorism. If he attempted the arson in the name of an ideology he will also be charged with terrorism. His race is irrelevant as always! Ideology or a religion is not a race so stop inciting racial hatred.
11
Why are so many commenters’ immediate reaction that he is mentally ill, rather calling this an attempted terrorist attack?
17
@L Guess Maybe because he's white.
12
@Bill maybe because we're used to people going around shooting off hundreds of rounds or blowing themselves us---so, by using that as the standard form of attack, this guy is clearly mentally ill! Anyone who would attempt a terrorist act without a gun or explosive device is obviously nuts.
3
@L Guess
You read the story?
His antics a few days ago?
"Shortcut through the cathedral"---a one liner to go down in history.
6
I have to agree with some of the other comments noting how BIZARRE the headline for the story is. If the headline doesn't strike you as completely tendentious, how about "Bearded man with Italian surname arrested for ..."? The problem isn't so much that it insinuates something that's unfair to a group (philosophers), but rather that it insinuates an explanation of the man's actions that's obviously spurious. An editor rather than the writer of the article usually picks the headline. What was this editor thinking?
15
@Danny
clicks
3
He should add a new volume to his slim publication profile:
'Confession of a failed pyromaniac'
12
A one-way ticket to Rome? Was he preparing to burn down Saint Peter's Cathedral after he torched Saint Patrick's?
14
Sadly he is mentally ill and looks like a blank slate. Though he may be an expert in philosophy, he reminds one of the Columbine follower who just killed herself to avoid arrest. The word fanatic comes to mind.
8
@JHM
As far as I know, We don’t know what her plans were. Maybe suicide was always her plan in the midst of her depression and confusion.
1
Mr. Lamparellos need psychiatric help.
Why he did not receive any after what happened
at the Cathedral in Newark says a lot about
psychiatry.
10
@John Brown. It says more about the state of care of the mentally ill in this country. It is disgraceful.
18
Illuminate me. What could it possibly say about psychiatry?
5
@Spectator A pysch eval will determine that the subject claimed that he has never had and does not have any homicidal suicidal or criminal intent. A history of previous mental problems or unusual behaviors will be solicited. The subject does not have to tell the truth. If there is no history available about him and he and his family deny any issues, there is no legal basis to confine him. But I believe his behavior is quite strange and possibly dangerous. I would at least try to encourage him and his family to permit some kind of supervision of his activities for the next few months. I would try to discover if any neighbors, associates, friends, co-workers found his behavior or speech threatening. If this country had any decent care available for the mentally ill, he could voluntarily reside in some kind of respite care. But we just throw em all out on the street and many end up in prison. Fortunately, a very small proportion of seriously mentally ill persons are dangerous. But the relatively few who are dangerous can destroy innocent lives. Obviously the guy's got something going on with Catholicism and he isnt telling anyone yet...........
5
I did read once that St. Patrick's has a large amount of wood painted to look like stone.
Of course the facade is real stone, but parts of it are not.
I checked Wikipedia, but there was no mention of this.
The reason for this, would have been the cost factor in its construction.
A disaster was averted.
4
It is a sad truth that mentally ill people cannot be kept inside a locked facility for any length of time for this sort of behavior. He has rights. He appears to be displaying a desire to burn a church. Obvious to most rational observers. But the law allows people like this to be released very quickly. Grateful to the cathedral’s security staff and police for acting quickly and apparently professionally.
17
This is the result of our toxic political culture fueled by a reckless president and a right-wing ideology that spews hate and conspiracy theories. In this climate, fragile minds break.
10
Recently, the mayor of New York had to mandate measles vaccines due to a major health concern. With just this week's news alone of women with shotguns, preachers with Yeezy's, and professors with gasoline, its more than time to order every single American to get a mental health screening. Seriously. We've become a nation of people who get into Twitter wars in the middle of the night and think that people want to watch us put our Ikea furniture together on video. We complain about traffic and global warming yet buy bigger and bigger trucks and SUVs. We stare at phones. We are crazy.
61
@tom Harrison
someone keep the gas cans from this guy
1
@Brad. His comment is one of the sanest I have read today.
10
@Brad - I have not bought a gallon of gas in about 10 years now. Global warming and all of that.
5
The unifying factor behind most of our present day world's badness is .... religion. The type and/or denomination is irrelevant. This has been the case since the advent of recorded history. I'd love it if we could all stop tolerating and supporting such dangerous foolishness.
7
@GBR That's too simplistic. There are multiple reasons people don't get along with one another. Remove religion from the equation and the world will be just as chaotic.
10
This is a tired, shopworn bit of inanity, masquerading as daring commentary. Yes, religion has been associated with violent episodes because both have been a product of human beings since "the advent of recorded history". Religion has also been associated with centuries of great art, the beginnings of science in the west and much of the origin of the American civil rights movement. And science, politic and commerce have equally been associated with violence.
12
False equivalence here. Absolutely nothing beats religion for violence and terrorism.
“The only difference between reality and fiction is that fiction has to be credible.”
Mark Twain
32
Pace (Llatin for 'peace') to the depts. of Philosophy, but this is a philosophy prof, down to his curled toes.
untreated mental illness is not uncommon in our society.
11
@winchestereast exactly right !
3
"Mr. Lamparello, [is] a 37-year-old graduate student and lecturer on philosophy."
So I guess the ultimate question he may have been debating is - "to torch or not to torch - that is the question".
Thank goodness the security guards were sharp as nails and New York's finest were there to arrest this guy.
Today was a good day for the good guys!
59
@Marge Keller
Absolutely agree with you!
7
A strange man, indeed.
Glad the tragedy was avoided.
In the world of heated partisanship that we live in, I can't but wonder if he had shouted names of POTUS and Mueller in the same breath - why there would be yet another torrent of
conspiracy theories.
This time the conspiracy would have been to take attention away from Mueller report.
1
This cretin has not helped the cause of higher education, at least Philosophy departments. I hope his university gets rid of him. Colin McGinn (whose scandal was covered by NYT a couple of years ago) was tossed from a Philosophy Department for bad behaviour (rightlly so, and he was one of the top academics in his discipline). This guy's (alleged) actions are even worse. Violence endangering life. That should be career ending. End of (if found guilty).
10
How about Lehman College getting rid of its philosophy department?
2
He’s probably a lecturer in Nietzschean philosophy.
6
Cheap shot w/o any back up. Nietzsche is the man!
Rate my Professor, disregarding 18 April flammable creative writing posts, giving philosophy instructor high marks.
9
My son was in a class taught by this man last semester, said he was a great professor, so this is surprising and very sad news. Might be an issue with meds/chemical imbalance? Thankful that NYPD didn't miss a step!
120
@NJB agreed, so sad! Possibly this brilliant but deeply troubled person has avoided all pysch treatment/evaluation up til now..........he does need lots of help but he may not want to accept any. Also it is not easy to get decent mental health treatment anywhere. You have to want it, make multiple attempts to get adequate care. Medication is difficult and follow up care nearly nonexistant UNLESS the patient wants it....this country's disgraceful mental health system makes us a dangerous country to live in.
14
I am glad he was stopped and I hope he gets the help that he obviously needs.
26
@J. Kahn. Thank you for a kind comment in a thread where a likely mentally ill man is being held up for ridicule.
12
Talk about scrambled brains, this guy fits it to a T. What is really frightening is that there are many more of them walking among us. What fuels all of this is the hate rampaging through our country, all of this fueled by constant never ending onslaught of 24/7 news; Facebook; social media; shows like Fox News which simply inflames people like him. All we need to do is change the subject here and you will find people like him weather it be guns; government; immigration or simply whatever.
12
@General Noregia In this case it's not all the things you mention, it's just mental illness. However, I do agree with you that aggressive media propaganda of all kinds is both horrible and harmful and I hate it too.
I don't think this man was playing with a full deck. Who carries two gasoline cans, lighter fluid and lighters in public. This is not something a normal person does but then this is New York City where people do unusual and bizarre things.
29
More than a few shingles loose on his roof - how in the world did the 2 ‘guards’ at St Pat’s allow him to even enter the door, let alone not immediately summon police.
8
Classic copy cat. He watched the footage in Paris, and wanted his moment, in a blaze of glory. Happy he was nabbed in time.
36
Now imagine if St. Patrick's Cathedral was a historically black church.
7
And you point is?
9
@Bob Albin
That it would have been painted an act of racism. Obviously.
4
I can’t figure what you’re getting at here. What if it was?
Sounds like he he was having a manic episode, bipolar disorder.
23
@Alan Falleur totally possiible....... there are many possible causes of pyschosis and delusions bipolar is only one
2
Churches used to left unlocked when I was a child. It seemed important to allow the people to go to a house of worship whenever they needed it. At the very minimum, they were places of peace and sanctuary even for non-religious folk. Times have changed.
155
@P Poon: You have never spent much time in the rural South, have you? Perhaps even reading about it would extend peoples' knowledge.
America was never this utopian garden of peace that people wish to fantasize about. I can't help but wonder if we could find better paths to mending our errors if everyone had a better-informed and realistic knowledge base about our past.
19
@Aaron Taylor: The original commenter NEVER said anything about America being a "Utopian garden of peace" - you are putting words into that commenter's mouth.
And yes, for many years a great many churches were routinely open during the day, for anyone who wanted to pray or just to have some time in quiet contemplation.
It's a shame that while fewer people wish to belong to a religion and/or attend church regularly, we have an increase in haters and brazen crazies who want to destroy our churches along with any sense of community and/or peace and safety we might manage to have due to our churches.
Times have indeed changed.
44
@L Yes, in my past life around the country churches routinely were left open for anyone to come in and pray/contemplate or just enjoy the peaceful silence. It's a sad day when they can no longer do that due to what seems like rampant criminality in all facets of life.
16
From parking illegally on 5th avenue to bringing two cans of gasoline into the cathedral sounds to me he wanted to get caught. He could have easily made his way in with just the lighter fluid unnoticed. Secondly why two of each item? Copycat looking for his 15 minutes? I give up.
72
@mlb4ever Did you miss the part that says he's in a mental hospital? The poor dude is mentally ill, have some compassion.
17
@Todd: Sorry, I don't have a lot of compassion for people who NEED to be in a locked ward, but who are walking around prepared to start a fire that could kill hundreds of innocent people.
You don't have to be sane to be a terrorist.
15
@Todd "They found nothing wrong with him"; He was in a mental hospital for a CHECK-UP
2
What if this guy had been 'the wrong' religion or race or sex?
Anybody with tools of destruction inside any public space should be locked up immediately.
No bail.
Probably no cure either.
Sad but what do we do?
10
I wonder if there's some history of church abuse here...
12
After his first criminal actions how was he not in jail? I don't accept that his mental defects (whatever they might be) support him not being held to account for his actions. He belongs in jail.
51
@vulcanalex We usually try people before putting them 'in jail'. He was arrested and detained.
41
@Roger I think @vulcanex is referring to the first attempt, not the St. Pat's attempt.
10
The "first attempt" at what? Defiant trespassing?
We don't usually keep people in pretrial custody for more than a few hours on charges like that. Sensibly . . . and thankfully.
30
Two of everything, this is the Noah's Ark of pyros.
16
My guess is that he is a bit like Ted Kazinski, the unibomber. Most likely some form of delusional personality disorder and takes philosophy a little too seriously. In other words half a bubble from level headed thinking. Maybe even a psychopath, a padded room inBellevue would serve him nicely while he gets checked out.
8
@jeff bunkers a reasonable guess, certainly delusions from psychosis or another cause (many possible causes) Bellevue is a NYC mental hospital but no patient can be kept against their will unless they are deemed a danger to self or others This guy had to be let go because of legal issues- he obviously denied any intent of harm to self or others and denied criminal intent. He could have been lying, but that doesnt matter. If no past problem behaviors were discovered and he denies, he has the right to be free. If this country had any decent mental health care he could be offered a respite stay under supervision but such places simply do not exist. Obviously, he needs to be watched/supervised but there is no service like that available, even if it were legal.
Another reason for gun control. This guy could easily have flown to Colorado and picked up a gun like that Columbine woman. Mental illness can strike anyone. Easy access to powerful weapons does not make our society safer. More mental health services, while desirable for many reasons, cannot be expected to protect us from individuals like this. That said, I hope Mr. Lamparello gets the help he needs.
9
Another reason for gun control? How about gasoline and charcoal starter control?
6
@The F.A.D.
I don’t think the readers get your satire.
1
Once again, sharp eyes and quick actions by the police and security staffs avert horror. Thank you, thank you!
46
The Good Place is right, no one likes moral philosophers.
5
@T SB
Oh stomachache!
2
Clearly philosophers live in an ivory tower, if they think you need charcoal lighter fluid to ignite gasoline.
39
Was St. Peter's on the agenda for Rome?
11
As Pascal said, “I’d wager that most of the people criticizing philosophers in this comments thread began their freshman comp papers with non-sequiturs from Plato culled from Brainyquotes.com.” It’s time to put that old book-smart vs. street-smart binary to bed.
16
Philosophers have long defended their useless profession with the quote “the unexamined life is not worth living” (Socrates?). Lamparello has shown by example that the self-examined life ain’t worth a bucket of gasoline.
15
>>> "Lamparello has shown by example that . . ."
Well, actually, no. On the other hand, Irving Franklin may have shown, by example, that snippy sarcasm is a poor substitute for reasoned comment.
36
@Irving Franklin
Philosophy is the love of wisdom. As Socrates, the Buddha, and the Christ all demonstrate, it is not a profession. Wisdom is not bought or sold.
22
@Gerald Thank you for this comment.
8
I'm disturbed by the fact that he would pay $2800 for a one-way ticket to Rome. Perhaps business class? But a philosopher in business class doesn't sound any less absurd.
28
@DeltaZero
Ever tried to book a flight, one way, on short notice?
39
@DeltaZero A last-minute ticket during Easter week? Probably just what coach costs, given the demand, or the last seat available.
10
@DeltaZero A last-minute ticket during Easter week? Probably just what coach costs, given the demand.
1
Eugene Ionesco wrote a play in which everybody decides to turn into a rhinoceros because it's the latest fad:
http://jochnowitz.net/Essays/Rhinoceritis.html
After the horrible fire at the Cathedral of Notre Dame, the perp in this case apparently decided that burning churches was the thing to do.
14
@George Jochnowitz Or he's suffering from mental illness, as the article indicates.
17
Another day, another American lunatic. Good job by the ushers and the officers to prevent a terrible event.
158
This incident, once again, proves the NYPD is the greatest.
33
@Angel @vulcanalex People with criminal intent belong in jail. People with mental illnesses do not have criminal intent, and belong in the hospital.
6
If the NYPD is so great why wasn't he locked on his first infraction? Really, somebody is a little slow here and it's not just the police! Hmmm?
1
He had criminal intent, probably. He knew to lie when he was asked what he was doing.
7
I am so glad,no one talked about his faith,regarding this criminal attempt.
2
Could this be an individual who is against the Church due to the sexual abuse of minors by priests and others connected to the church?
6
@Jocelyn Could be many things. Why do you suggest this one - do you have specific knowledge?
13
@Jocelyn
More likely that he insane and irrational for other reasons. Sadly there are a lot of reasons for people to become irrational.
7
@Roger
Possibly because she's a thinking human being and has been following the news about sexual abuse in the Catholic Church for the last decade.
4
I wonder if this was an elaborate experiment on his part given that he is a philosophy PhD candidate. I cannot, however, come up with what he could be trying to study/prove with this behavior. I am just very glad that this did not end in another heartbreaking disaster.
9
@Sam: You are out on a very long thin limb there. He wasn't trying to "study" anything. He was just trying to be an arsonist in the main cathedral of NYC.
7
@L
No. Igniting the cathedral was his winter term project at Goddard.
A man of thought trying and failing to become a man of action?
16
This mope was carrying TWO of everything - gas, lighter fluid and lighter. Clearly, he intended to start multiply fires inside St. Pats.
On the other hand, I also think he wanted to get caught on some level because toting stuff that big and bulky in the open is asking to get noticed.
Thank God for all of those who noticed, who said something, and who did something. Never again will I think it's silly to have guards stationed outside of a church, especially one that is iconic in nature.
You folks saved the day. People could have died, gotten seriously injured, and this beautiful cathedral could have been badly damaged.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
153
@Marge Keller
St. Patrick's Cathedral has guards at every exit and entrance. Nobody can enter without having their purse, carry on, or backpack inspected. Obviously, he had never entered the cathedral before. There was no way he could've gotten away with it. He did not want to be caught, either. Why else would he spend all that money for a one-way ticket.
16
@ART
A $2800 back up plan?
I'm not suggesting that he consciously wanted to get caught, but I think on some deep level, that possibility exists.
Who knows - I'm just the run-of-the-mill social worker, yapping out of my classification.
14
@Marge Keller
That's a lot of money for a college instructor, particularly with expenses living in NYC. That's the salary for teaching one course for the whole semester in many colleges.
10
What he carried shows his clear intent; arson. I cannot doubt it.
19
Arson and Bank Robbery are the only two crimes in which the prosecutor does NOT have to prove intent ie., mens rea aka Knowledge Aforethought. The act of carrying those items in and of itself, inside the dwelling, establishes the intent to commit the crime. Same for bank robbery. Asking the teller for money, or passing a note establishes intent.
15
@Ernest Werner Do you doubt the part of the article that says he's been moved to a psyche hospital? The poor dude is mentally ill.
8
@Todd Thank you Todd, I agree with you. It is unfortunate that commenters use words like idiot and psycho when the man is clearly mentally ill. Unfortunately, the adult mentally ill have every right to act this way because no one can do anything to stop them until it involves law enforcement. No one can force them to take medication or force them to seek treatment. A very sad situation for many, many families that find themselves aware of a family member's mental problems, but are completely helpless to do ANYTHING about it due to laws concerning patient rights. A big problem until it becomes a big catastrophe.
16
I am naturally suspicious of philosophers...
19
@Diane
A philosopher might tell you that your suspicion is the genetic fallacy. See: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_fallacy.)
10
@Diane: Why? Because they question everything?
2
I think the line "His mother escorted him that night from the precinct to his parents’ home..." says all you need to know about this 37 year old man.
132
@Steve Sorry that your mom wouldn't come and pick you up from jail, Steve, but most of us would be thrilled to see ours. --Signed, a 47 year old man.
25
@Steve
That struck me also, but in a much different way. My thought was about how moms are, in the end, the ones who stick by you no matter what. I'm in my 60s and am always grateful for my mom's love and support, which she still willingly gives. (I'm not a mom myself.)
24
@Todd - my mother was a bi-polar ex-Marine. No one was ever thrilled to see her:) If she ever came to take me home, I would have begged the police for some kind of witness protection or something. Seriously:)
11
The affair of the placards, the iconoclastic fury, the St. Bartholomew's day massacre, Guy Fawkes night, the Popish plot .... the day of Lamparello. History repeats itself, the first time as tragedy, the second as farce.
10
No one else seems to recall Robert Pirsig, another graduate student who became mentally unbalanced in the study of philosophy, went into therapy, and eventually recounted the story in "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". His pursuit of the unanwserable question 'what is the nature of the Good' morphed without his noticing into the search for God and his ontology and epistemology got all twisted around until he lost contact with the everyday appearance of reality.
24
@Jim
Well said my man.....loved that book!
3
Oh- good, sharp eyes and likely good training for the guards and personnel in both buildings - and I do Thank God. I thank them for their love and their caring.
54
Unless Marc Lamparello was hoping to convince someone inside St. Pat's Cathedral to burn him at the steak, his story went a tad farther than being "off from the start".
I am extremely grateful that the church security officers were on the ball and took no chances when they flagged down some police officers. I think these officers averted a tragedy that could have turned deadly in a very short period of time. They are true heroes. Thank you!!!
This guy is either delusional or a real knucklehead for actually thinking he could convince anyone that his ". . . toting two gallons of gasoline, lighter fluid and lighters" through St. Pat's as a short cut because his vehicle was out of gas. Save it for the confessional Lamparello.
29
@Marge Keller Yeah, Marge, the article pretty clearly indicates that he's been moved to a mental hospital.
2
Will the would-be arsonist's philosophical defense of his decision to burn the cathedral be published after he writes it for the police department?
8
And I suppose he was on his way to a barbecue as well. So this guy has two 2+gallon containers of gasoline with the closest gas station a mile away, two pints of charcoal lighter (where can you even buy that in midtown?). and two lighter sticks. With that much gasoline, I guess the barbecue was in the Poconos.
73
"Spooked, church security officers flagged police officers as Mr. Lamparello turned to leave, sloshing gasoline on the floor."
I have gas cans like that, with the same type of cap. It's difficult to take at face value the above statement that he sloshed gasoline on the floor as he turned to leave. He wasn't carrying a bucket of gas, was he?
10
@Aristotle Gluteus Maximus those details should become clearer as the investigation continues. Maybe he deliberately spilled the gas. I doubt the church security people would lie about that.
8
@Aristotle Gluteus Maximus
"It's difficult to take at face value the above statement that he sloshed gasoline on the floor as he turned to leave. He wasn't carrying a bucket of gas, was he?"
Oh sure, it's fake news! Of course the media made that up about him sloshing gas on the floor (note my sarcasm).
Maybe the cap to one or both of the gas cans was loose or off completely causing the spillage. Maybe there was a hole in the cans. Maybe a at the same time he was walking out a huge sewer rat started chewing through one of the gas cans spilling some of it's contents. Maybe, just maybe they made that statement because it was true.
19
I work across the street from St. Pats. You can see it from my office. The notion that you would try to walk through this building to get from 5th Avenue to Madison is ridiculous. And it's not like this guy doesn't know NYC either, or somehow isn't aware that 50th and 51st Streets are much easier, quicker ways to traverse that distance. No, he obviously was intending to set a fire and then use it. Maybe he was going to make some kind of academic point. Maybe he was going to set up across the street and film it and try to sell the video to the highest bidder -- adjuncts don't make a real living.
92
@local Or maybe, just maybe, as the article says, he has a mental illness.
14
@Todd: You keep saying the exact same thing over and over again. It's extremely likely that he is quite mentally unwell - which means he needs to be detained in a locked ward for the safety of everyone else.
But if you die in a fire set by a mentally ill person, you're still dead!
12
@Todd the article says no such thing.
"At least one of the courses he has taught, Introduction to the Problems of Philosophy, touched on the idea of religion."
Well...yeah, is this supposed to be something that is not well known? This insertion of the obvious honestly puzzles me, and makes me worry for educationin America. Do people really know that little about what philosophy is? This also just in, an Architecture course touches on the idea of buildings!
40
I highly recommend a mental health evaluation. Most days it seems like the crazy stuff people do is because their mental health is not good. Can we please help people before they get here? I am thinking of others, including the teenage girl who committed suicide before doing a mass shooting.
64
@Joel Stegner
"committed suicide before doing a mass shooting"?
It's hard to do anything after committing suicide.
23
@Joel Stegner
It's not usually mental health (that's an assumption some make, not a formal diagnosis) - and even if it was - what difference does that make? Is a fire set by someone mentally ill less damaging, less deadly?
5
@SusanStoHelit No Susan, but you cannot be convicted of a crime without criminal intent, and people who are not in control of themselves because they suffer from a mental illness cannot form criminal intent.
Punishing a mentally ill person is like punishing a small child, they literally do not know any better.
10
He sounds disturbed. But Maxime Koecky has it wrong. Boston College is an elite Jesuit University, and one of the top universities in the country. It is hardly conservative.
29
@WBYeats
Interesting that you define a Jesuit College as not conservative. How does that work?
12
@audrey ford: Good grief. Who, besides @audrey, does not know that Jesuits are considered the liberal enclave within the Catholic religion? Historically, they were established as the 'learned' sect within religion, with rather liberal outlook on many social issues.
18
@Aaron Taylor
The faculty of the Boston College Philosophy Dept and the political theorists in the Political Science Dept have included a disproportionately high number of followers of Leo Strauss for decades, and Strauss's is definitely not a liberal outlook.
2
It's been a few years since I've been in St. Patrick's. Do they still have open votive candles or electric votive candles?
3
@Patrick Molly's question concerned whether they were open flames or the electric kind. I think they had switched to electric the last time I was there.
6
@Patrick
Are you serious? I understand the safety benefits, but that’s sad. As someone who has lit candles in cathedrals all over Europe, it Kinda ruins the act.
Electric candles in a juke box arrangement?Hologram saints for more money!
I’ll bet they’d take in a lot more with slot machines. And probably better returns on the investments...
8
@Molly Bloom Molly, as I go to St. Pat's several times
a week to light candles, I can confirm that there are open votive candles throughout the church. I'm glad this tradition continues!
6
Another troubled soul seeking vengeance against society. More evidence will be revealed and he will be convicted. The fact that he was apprehended before he could start a fire will not overcome a properly drawn inference that arson was his intent.
19
@Zipster But for the fact that, as the article plainly states, he's been transferred to a psych hospital because he is likely mentally ill. Mental illness is not the same as criminal intent.
2
When are the other philosophers going to condemn his apparent intent? Until then, we should probably consider a ban on all of them.
211
@OWCA
Touché.
13
@OWCA: When you find the page in the Philosophy Handbook that says to torch what you don't like.
19
OWCA if my brother that has a PhD in philosophy is any indication, they are too lazy to make any attempt to critique one of their own, too busy thinking about how smart they are.
10
Boston College is a Catholic, extremely conservative institution. And the fellow has an Italian name- possibly he was raised in the church, and has some personal reasons for this? His picture gives the appearance of someone traumatized. Doesn’t excuse the act, but may contextualize it.
9
Good thing we avoided the Notre Dame type tragedy here. This city already has too much going on. Seems like he was intentionally trying to set the place on fire.
29
We can all question any religion and keep our beliefs personal, but physical destruction of any religious sanctuary is against the tenets of basic moral ethics.
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@Ms. B
As is the physical destruction of ANY building or property that isn't yours.
11
@jcz Yes! Absolutely! Ahimsa! Do no harm.
4
It's not surprising that the fire at Notre Dame would bring out the unhinged copycat crowd. How can they charge him with anything? Walking through a publicly open church carrying arson materials is not a crime until you light something. This is very disturbing.
56
@BG You don't have to light something if intent can be proven.
29
@BG
Sounds to me as though they have sufficient evidence to charge with intent to commit arson, viz., walking through the church s/p Notre Dame fire, carrying two gallons of gasoline and lighter fluid, and, finally, lying to police saying he was taking a shortcut, which it was not, and saying he needed the gasoline because his car had run out of fuel when it had not.
64
@BGPut a turban and a white robe on this guy and see how quickly he is charged
4
I am shocked he found parking in that area. Anyway, glad he was taken into custody before he executed his plan.
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@Lynn in DC
It doesn't say he was LEGALLY parked. ...
122
@Lynn in DC - I am more shocked that he thought there was a gas station in midtown.
28