Really. And yet it happens.
GUILTY WI - 12-Year-Old Girls Stab Friend 19 Times for Slenderman, Waukesha, 31 May 2014 #2
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Really. And yet it happens.
Well, I'm sorry, your research is imperfect.
The people I know who've been indoctrinated did not have faulty lives. Many people who join cults are just like anyone else - good job, nice family. No more "lacking" than the next person. The whole point of cult indoctrination is to break down the normal structure of how a person usually thinks and replace it with something else. This really is not hard to do, and it does NOT require the victim to have something "lacking".
I even know one person who was born to a (rather famous)cult. Interestingly, she said she *never* believed the garbage they fed the adults.
I meant something internally lacking. It has nothing to with tangible things or family. The cult fulfilled some hole (for lack of better terms) inside of them. A hole that for whatever reason normal religions, relationships, etc. could not. It seems like these people need the intensity and all-encompassing emotion of a cult. Even in the very introduction cults are more encompassing than other religions or practices. Before the breaking down and indoctrination, it's just more of everything. I do personally think the people attracted to that, have a certain lacking inside of them. I've seen it.
I would say that any research can be called imperfect. We all find and view things differently. It doesn't mean any one of us is wrong.
Your friend is a minority. It's very difficult for someone indoctrinated from birth to just think it's garbage.
rsbm
S.O. - good post. I'd be 100% in your court there, if there was more proof these girls had such sociopathic tendencies normally.
Could they really hide that all their lives? Perhaps there's stuff we're not hearing about, in that regard - it would certainly damage their defense if details that like came out.
Yet, teachers and friends and family are floored. I am truly struggling to understand how two girls not already well known for cruel and unbalanced - or even just severely 'disconnected' - behaviour can develop over a few months into these heinous criminals.
Folie a deux. Someone messing with their heads. Idk, but it just seems like this behaviour is out of character for these two, so I think it's valid to look for what might have influenced them, if anything.
There's plenty of "normal' (ie, socially acceptable) religions which use exactly the same techniques.
I completely disagree with the idea that people in cults all have some sort of "hole" in their.. what. Minds. Hearts, idk.
The insidious nature of cults is that they can take a perfectly normal but say, slightly curious, person and *break them down*.
But I'm not going off on this tangential argument. Just, I think it's possible a couple of 12 yr olds could be sucked in by dedicated, sociopathic trolls on the net. Whose existence we have pictorial proof of, up there ^
Mrs G Norris
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I think they let themselves get swept up by the Slenderman mythos to the point where the gap between delusion and reality became blurred, but if you had taken each girl aside a week before the murder and pinned them down and asked them they would have conceded that he didn't exist.
Kind of like when you watch a scary movie and find yourself jolting or even screaming even tho all you're doing is sitting in a chair eating popcorn and completely safe.
Kind of like when you watch a scary movie and find yourself jolting or even screaming even tho all you're doing is sitting in a chair eating popcorn and completely safe.
What I mean by "normal religions" is the average experience. The MAJORITY of churches do not break people down. Cults are not normal, as far as religions or religious experiences go.
The thing is these people are attracted to the intensity BEFORE they start to get broken down. Anyone I've ever met who was involved in a cult, said the first meeting was more intense than anything they've ever experienced. It didn't feel "normal." They were incredibly drawn to that. I don't believe someone who is a fulfilled person is drawn to that. There is a difference between curiosity and being drawn. The average person (IMO) would be totally weirded out by the extreme emotional intensity there.
Anyway, I agree that a 12 year old can be easily drawn into this. I don't think they actually killed for slenderman, but I don't think it's impossible.
I don't think there's an actual cult (as I think I very clearly stated), but there's now hard evidence that some trolls at 4chan think it's funny to pretend there is one.
Fake but, it could have an effect on impressionable kids. People like that could be looking for a thrill by messing with kids' heads more than even is visible on the various sites' comment boxes.
tlcya
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I think before I speculate further on someone communicating with the girls I may just sit back for a bit.
I see a lot of crazy behavior and attention centered on the slenderman now. Which is not surprising because trolls do love a good meal. But because some ^$$hats are out there stirring up stuff and pretending to be or represent this fictional construct NOW after all the press, does not quite get me to where I need to be to believe that this was going on before the girls and that they were exposed to something like it and it factors into their decision to try to kill their "friend".
jmo
I see a lot of crazy behavior and attention centered on the slenderman now. Which is not surprising because trolls do love a good meal. But because some ^$$hats are out there stirring up stuff and pretending to be or represent this fictional construct NOW after all the press, does not quite get me to where I need to be to believe that this was going on before the girls and that they were exposed to something like it and it factors into their decision to try to kill their "friend".
jmo
Spice
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She never said their was a cult angle. Just used it as an analogy to speak to how people can come to believe in the unbelievable, and yes kill themselves and others for it. It was completely on topic due to the nature of this case and the fact that two 12 year old girls have stated that tried to kill for Slenderman, to prove that they were worthy to him, and to prove to others that he was real. If you go on creepy pasta and read the commentary there, there is a person speaking as "slenderman" and there are posters who believe he is real and those that don't. The commenter posting as or for Slenderman definitely eggs believers on and this occurred before the actual crime was committed "in his name". This also happens on the "Official" Slenderman twitter account.
We are speaking to what may or may not have been going through the heads of AW and MG and how two children could have committed such a horrific crime in the name of a fictional character on the internet.
Adults do that for and in the name of God every single day around the world. That is what the analogy was speaking too.
Maybe, just maybe, for whatever reasons, they had convinced themselves that he was in fact real. However, that is not an excuse whatsoever for what they did to this poor victim.
Absolutely.
I think these girls need to be locked up for quite some time, regardless of what, if anything, prompted them to stab their friend 19 times.
Wanting to understand, speculating on the "how" does NOT equate to "looking for excuses". I don't know how that even becomes an issue of contention here on WS where I can't imagine ANYone thinking they should get off lightly. It's a bit offensive, really.
Spice
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For the record, I do not believe that you didn't understand that. I know that you believe they need to be incarcerated, as do I. I added that at the end because I have been questioned about my stance regarding their punishment more than once, although I have always been vocal and maintained they need to be imprisoned in many of my posts.
I added it for clarity for others. Sorry for any confusion or offense taken.
I agree. I find it odd that they would not be specific in who they were proving wrong. They gave very detailed confessions, and it would odd to leave that out. They used really vague language and didn't point at anyone in particular. I doubt anyone really trolled them. They definitely could have witnessed trolling, but I don't see how seeing it second hand would really ignite all this.
I'm just waiting for more to come out. I think the mental evaluations will shed a lot of light on this.
Spice
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They specifically said "Skeptics" if I recall correctly. Simply, people who did not believe. There are plenty on Creepy Pasta calling believers "stupid" for believing that he is real. There are pages of comments, from people who apparently truly believe he was watching them, to people that knew it was fiction and made fun of those that believed. There was also specific poster who spoke as or for Slenderman. All Pre Crime.
And I agree, the mental evaluations ( which will never become public due to confidentiality and HIPPA) will tell a lot.
I saw a comment on Creepy Pasta from a poster recalling a specific sighting of Slenderman who claimed to be 10 years old.
A read through will give you an idea of all that "egging on" , "trolling", "real or not real" argument/dynamic that was clearly happening. There seems to be a pretty wide age range as well.
And I agree, the mental evaluations ( which will never become public due to confidentiality and HIPPA) will tell a lot.
I saw a comment on Creepy Pasta from a poster recalling a specific sighting of Slenderman who claimed to be 10 years old.
A read through will give you an idea of all that "egging on" , "trolling", "real or not real" argument/dynamic that was clearly happening. There seems to be a pretty wide age range as well.
claudicici
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The police officers were killed by a man,the mother suspects her daughter attacked her because of Slenderman.I think the media is grasping at straws,trying to link Slenderman to other crimes,when that really is not the case.Now,it doesn't surprise me at all if more girls than boys are drawn to Slenderman. He is such a mysterious,poetic,dark figure and I can see the romanticized thinking going on in young girls minds,just like the women that write to serial killers,Slenderman is the only one that understands me......
claudicici
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As with everything,I believe the effect of social media can be just as positive as it can be negative and it depends on the individual.For some it really opens up the world to them.You can connect with anyone,anywhere and I'm sure it can teach compassion and empathy just by being exposed to of what is going on around the world .For others it sadly seems to blurr the lines of what is real and what is not IMO
claudicici
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I tend to agree with Ausgirl.I do think they were in contact with someone pretending to be Slenderman since they had so much specific information.Where he supposedly lived,that they had to kill in order to become proxys.All these details.
I'm not putting it forward as a hard and fast theory, but it's certainly one I am considering as very possible, and is an area I hope is explored properly by police and the pych professionals examining these girls.
If it does turn out they were 'egged on' over the net, I don't think that should lessen their personal responsibility for the horrible injuries and distress they caused the victim.
I just would hope it would lead to further prosecution of anyone else involved.
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