Indy Anna
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I went to a church that's pretty much how you describe. It was very Bible-oriented (at first) and people's lives were centered around the church, even socially. That I see nothing wrong with since we as humans are naturally drawn to people who are most similar to us - people who share the same beliefs, values, interests, etc. But, I became cautious and eventually broke from that church when the church became centered on venerating the distinct leaders, who had begun to veer from Biblical teachings, and certain people who seemed to have a lot of influence with the preachers because of their generosity in the church with their money and possessions. When I became suspicious and did some research on the church, I learned of a lot of immorality (including rapes and child molestation) and corruption within the ministry and among the lay people. So, I do understand what you're saying.
However, those things do not go in all churches, and I hate to speculate about a church I know nothing about. Even the discussions on the end times I don't find alarming, since the Bible does address the end times and so most churches do discuss it to some extent, usually pointing out the signs mentioned in the Bible for the purpose of encouraging church members to be faithful but not for the purpose of predicting when the end will come (which the Bible clearly notes that no man knows).
Some interesting "coincidences" have been pointed out here about religious events and the timing of death for these 3 people. But, if this was a murder-suicide connected with religious doctrine, why did only members from one family die? Would not other members of the same church commit suicide at the same time?
There's another angle I'd like to consider. It also focuses on the family's religion, but from a different perspective. First, I wonder whose Bible was found near the creek where the family members drowned. Most people write their name inside their Bible, so it would be interesting to know whether the Bible belonged to the Clutters or to someone else. If it does belong to the Clutters, that certainly wouldn't rule out the murder-suicide scenario. But, my thought is ... what if the Clutters had started talking to one of their neighbors about the Bible and even invited the neighbor to a church service, and that neighbor was offended. There are people who are hostile toward religious people today, just because they deem them odd if they are seen leaving for church with Bible in hand - and they would especially be deemed odd if they were seen leaving for church every day of the week - and because they may act differently, speak differently, dress differently, etc. Were the strange and unexplainable things happening in the neighborhood, mentioned by the pastor, things that someone was doing to harass the Clutter family because they were perceived as different?
One aspect of a triple homicide I find doubtful is one person, even a big strong man, overpowering both a woman and a 10-year-old boy at the same time. A scenario I can imagine would be if the death of the boy occurred separately from the death of the mother and baby. Since people noted the boy liked to talk to people about his church and invited them to attend, I wonder if he approached a neighbor in such a way and the neighbor responded violently. Maybe the man took the boy to the creek, stripped him and then performed a "baptism" in mockery. After the boy was dead, he could've gone to the Clutters' apartment and told Jamie that her son had an accident in the park. When they got to the creek and Jamie tried to reach her son, the neighbor overpowered her - especially easy since she was carrying the baby. He first stripped and "baptized" the mother and lastly the baby.
Just MOO :moo:
