It’s been all over the news today that a man armed with a gun and a suspected bomb stormed into the Discovery Channel building in Silver Springs, Maryland, took hostages, and was eventually killed by the police.  No one else was harmed.

In a bizarre manifesto entitled simply “My Demands” James J. Lee rants about overpopulation, evolution, and Daniel Quinn’s 1992 book Ishmael (which Lee incorrectly identifies as “My Ishmael”).

Lee apparently had an obsession with babies as a threat to the ecosystem.  He refers to them variously as “filthy human children,” “disgusting human babies,” and “parasitic human infants.”  He also calls for an end to TV programming that glorifies large families and military technology.

In several places, Lee mentions Malthus, Darwin, and evolution; for example: “Develop shows that mention the Malthusian sciences about how food production leads to the overpopulation of the Human race. Talk about Evolution. Talk about Malthus and Darwin until it sinks into the stupid people’s brains until they get it!!”  As a reminder, Thomas Malthus (1766-1834) who theorized that the increase in population would soon outstrip the available of resources like food and lead to inevitable disaster.  Malthus’ theory was a key influence in Charles Darwin’s development of the theory of evolution by natural selection.  Although population growth is a major social problem, we have yet to realize the direst Malthusian predictions, partly due to advances in food production by people like Norman Borlaug.

It’s easy to sympathize with Lee’s frustrations.  Only a fool would claim that overpopulation is NOT a problem.  I, too, loathe programs that glorify gigantic families and the supposedly heroic attempts to conceive multiple babies.  And while the little boy in me does enjoy watching documentaries about the latest military wizardry, I understand that such shows can lead some Americans into a false sense of technological invulnerability.

That said, Lee was clearly a disturbed man and not typical of people who understand the subtleties of Darwinian evolution.  The way forward is through education and easy access to birth control, not taking hostages and blathering about “filthy babies.”

I’m sure more details will emerge in the coming weeks.