Lubitz, Pure Evil

Due to the latest tragedy with GermanWings I have been getting several requests for interviews from media outlets all around the world. Currently, investigators are looking at the possibility that Andreas Lubitz, the pilot that flew the GermanWings aircraft into the ground, suffered from a mental illness. The medical facility that treated Lubitz denies he was being treated for depression. 

The only thing I know about Lubitz is that he was an evil coward. This type of hideous behavior is not created by depression. This is something that sprouts from pure evil. I feel badly if a person wants to commit suicide. However, when a person takes their own life and commits mass murder at the same time, that is the ultimate act of selfishness. 

I am not sure if we will ever understand what caused this person to do what he did. But I do know that he caused a great deal of pain to many people.

I was having dinner with the other members of the crew that I am working with this week when we saw on television a memorial to the victims. Many of them were so young. I was saddened by the loss that the parents of these young people are feeling right now. As a father who has recently lost a child I know their pain. However, I was able to be with my daughter during her final days. I was there when she took her last breath. My daughter knew I was there. The parents who lost their sons and daughters in this tragedy were not able to say their final farewells. These parents were not able to tell their own children how much they loved them.

My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone who lost loved ones in this tragedy. There are not words to describe the pain that they feel right now. Even though I have lost a child I still cannot comprehend what they must be going through. The circumstances of my loss is far different than something like this. 

My blog received a large number of hits after the news of what Lubitz had done had aired. Many people are speculating what caused him to do this. Some people are reporting that he possibly had a mental illness. I do know this. Depression does NOT cause someone to commit such an evil act. Depression is something that most people have felt at one time or another. Depression is an ailment just like any other physical ailment and can be treated. It does not make a person a monster. 

There is still a great deal of stigma surrounding mental illnesses. You cannot get through the day without talking with someone who suffers from some type of mental illness. People who come forward with an admission that they suffer from depression are often criticized. These words of criticism often come from those who are closest to them. 

Criticism makes it more difficult for a person to reach out for help when they need it the most. The answer to helping someone is not to scrutinize them, but to love and understand that they suffer from an ailment that is treatable. 

Depression is treatable, evil is not. Lubitz may or may not have been suffering from depression. I do not know. But if he was, that is NOT what caused his cowardly actions. I am sure that there are murderers who suffer from depression. But there are also murderers who do not have depression. It is not the illness that causes the act. It is the heart of a person that makes them what they are. In this case, Lubitz had the heart of a cowardly killer.