Five years after the Columbine massacre, the so-called 'Trenchcoat Mafia' have become unlikely heroes for a generation of miserable, alienated teenagers around the world - and the appeal of the pair is growing. Johann Hari reports on a chilling obsession 15 January 2004

On the morning that Columbine High School was ripped apart by bullets and bombs, shot and planted by its own students, two cults were born. One is the cult of Cassie Bernall. She is America as the heartland wants us to see it: blonde and beautiful and a Bible-carrying believer. On April 20 1999, Eric Harris blasted his way into the Columbine library, pressed a gun to Cassie's head, smirked, and said, "Still believe in God now?" In a firm voice, she said yes. He shot her.

Within days, Christian shrines were appearing across the country to "the martyr Cassie". Her parents wrote a bestselling book, She Said Yes, which explicitly compared her to the early Christian saints who died for their faith. There are now more than 7,000 websites dedicated to her, and several churches take her name. One of America's most famous Baptist preachers lauded her as "the greatest Christian of the 20th century".

Yet Columbine spawned another cult, just as powerful for its own followers. This cult flourishes in another America, among the excluded, bullied, murderous and lost. It is the fable of Harris and Dylan Klebold as heroic avengers. Thousands of teenagers have adopted the killers as exemplars, for reasons best summarised by Mellissa Andersen, a 17-year-old girl from Iowa who runs an Eric and Dylan "fan site". She tells me: "The reason I believe Eric and Dylan were really cool to do what they did is because they stood up for themselves. Every single day they were teased, and I can relate to that. They were constantly messed with, and even though the

Just because you're teased and messed with it does not give you the right to exact violence on others. Revenge only lowers you to the other person's level.

Why? Why do you think that?


Why does it lower you to their level?


Fear is the only thing that people understand and respect.Its all that keeps them in line.
People can actually be scared into not being assholes!





Reb &Vodka are Gods to me in so many ways.They took the revenge not only against their school, but society itself.

Something I'd never,ever have the courage to do.

Fear isn't the only thing people understand and respect. Sure, people can be scared into not being assholes, but, if you are pointing a gun at them then that makes you an asshole, too. So, there is actually no point to it. You've only become what you've hated. You would be surprised at how far easy charm can get you in life. Not only do people help you get what you want but they even LIKE getting you what you want. And it's learned. To some it's natural, but it can be learned.

If you research them, you will find most friends of Dylan Klebold reporting that he was not really teased or picked on being that he was so tall and lanky. He wasn't in the "in" crowd, though. Eric Harris, they say, was teased. But, judging from his journals, he seemed the type that really wouldn't give a flip while Dylan seemed the type that would.

Psychologists have classified Eric as a textbook psychopath. He had no empathy. He knew what he was doing was wrong, but he didn't care. Dylan's is a bit more complicated as he was depressive and suicidal, but not a psychopath, it makes you wonder how he was drawn into planning that for over a year.

They weren't trying to exact revenge. Eric wasn't, at any rate, he makes it pretty clear in his journals that he just wants to cause major devastation. He wanted it to go down as the worst terrorist attack on American soil since the Oklahoma City Bombing.

What they did was not courageous. It was insane. A courageous person would've faced life head on, not snuffed out their own lives along with others. It wasn't a stand against society, it was mass murder. A stand would've been them actually CHANGING the way society handled things, not terrorizing it. Real courage would've been, IF they were being teased to near death, standing up for themselves.

And when I say standing up for themselves, I mean right off the bat when they are being teased. With words. Brooding over being teased and hashing out a plan to shoot randomly at classmates doesn't constitute as standing up for yourself.

I don't believe the attack was based on bullies, though. Not the driving force behind it, anyway. I believe Dylan Klebold might have been able to get help, but I don't think any help could've saved Eric Harris. I think that's genetics, sadly enough.

I dont think it was genetics.i think something snapped in him.he developed the problems he had over time.i don't know if he could have been helped,i like to think there was a chance.i think they were pushed too far.everyone reacts to things differently most people would never do what they did but it was the only way they could think of.my friend told me that the best approach to anything is whatever one you know;i dont think thats true but it explains a lot of what people do.

I don't see why you people are arguing over it. If you go back and read their journals, it explains very clearly what the motive was and how they planned it.

It was like a real live video game. They wanted to leave a mark in this world. They didn't care who they killed. Their goal was to kill as many people as possible. And eventually themselves. Maybe it had alot to do with years of pent up rage and anger. But my conclusion to it is that some people are just born miserable. They had everything going for them but all they focused on in life was the negative parts.

Not the fact that their parents would be devestated, or they could have been happy if they finally moved out on their own and went to college. They didn't believe in it. They just pretended to so nobody would suspect their plan.

I can personally tell when someone is about to snap.

It's something in them that appears off. There normal routine changes and suddenly everything is backwards.

I don't hate these guys because they too were victums, to themselves. Which means they turned the gun on themselves so it was more then just 12 people they murdered, it was two more..

Real rebelling is doing what no one expects you to do. Eric and Dylan were labeled as freaks and creepy kids, so i'm sure the general population believed them as the type to snap and kill themselves, maybe or maybe not dragging other people down with them. On the other hand, no one expected the massacre to go down. I think that Eric and Dylan were as much victims as the ones they shot. GODDAMN SOCIETY FOR DOING THIS TO THEM!!!

Anybody that believes Eric was psychopath doesn't understand his brilliance.
Hes so far ahead of most of the robots in this world
they don't even have a glimpse of his true greatness, and that includes you

he is no psychopath. just a great man

immortality that lived in human form

as was Dylan

Its only right that two god like figures as they met up and became friends!

Anybody that believes Eric was psychopath doesn't understand his brilliance.
Hes so far ahead of most of the robots in this world
they don't even have a glimpse of his true greatness, and that includes you

he is no psychopath. just a great man

immortality

as was Dylan

Its only right that two god like figures as they met up and became friends!

Anybody that believes Eric was psychopath doesn't understand his brilliance.

THEY AREN'T SMART ENOUGH TO EVEN START TO UNDERSTAND HIM!
Hes so far ahead of most of the robots in this world
they don't even have a glimpse of his true greatness, and that includes you

he is no psychopath. just a great man

immortality
as was Dylan

Its only right that two god like figures as they met up and became friends

when the world abuses the special ones among us,sometimes they are made to pay the price

that is what happened here

I agree as well. All my life iv just wanted to b left alone,
even though i hav done nothing to any 1 ppl keep pushing me an pushing me.. eric and dylan r my HEROS! I wish i was as brave as them... I hope this world will ends soon.

Good going Helgast!! Hope u post here again. forum needs more reb and vodka fans!

Hell yeah! love what u say! i'm still here goin strong. lots of other fans of the gods reb&vodka out there to now. keep postin g here. i'll be here and check back ok?
i check here ever several weeks.

Helgast, allright ! i hope u are still here and will see to look to read this. i'm open to your idea and whatever u think.
i would love 2 be able 2 talk to other reb and vodka fans more regular! i am an alone worshipper of them. i don't no any other fans! so pls write back soon with your ideas! i'll be looking and reading here.

Humptydumpty
yeah 1 i agree and like what u say except about dylan. vodka is just as godlike as reb is. he always was. i worship both r &v as equal to each other.both gods! i feel bullying caused it but both were way 2 smart and god for this world and the shit pple in it.
check back here. maybe all who feel for reb and vodka can hook up and talk somewhere online sumtime.

YES!! you have no idea how long ive waited for someone else to think...no... to KNOW that they were heros! eric and dylan showed me that i dont need to be someones bitch that i can strike back.
i love those two and the people they killed were just in the way of their greatness

This one is gonna sound weird but is there anyone out there that will pretend to be Dylan and talk with me? You have to know a lot about Dylan as you will be portraying him..preferably a guy. Anyone wanna help me out?

I can't understand why they did this. Why are the so "godlike" ? Saying that "You are all too stupid to understand" is not an argument.

Yes,it is.You'd never understand. So go away.

I'm extremely glad to find other people who see Eric and Dylan as the amazing minds they were.

I'm crossing my fingers that some of you might check in here, it would be great to meet like minded people..