The heart of man often is desperately wicked, an Old Testament prophet noted, declining to say that childhood grievances were the cause of such evil.

It was horrendous timing, but authorities were right to release the videos teen killers Eric Harris and Dyland Klebold made before their lethal assault on Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo. The videos arent too instructive they tell us little more about the two killers than we already knew but perhaps psychologists and psychiatrists could find them useful. The release angered parents of the pairs victims, who said authorities promised to show them the tapes before releasing them to the media. Certainly, police should have offered the tapes to parents first. On the videos, Harris and Klebold express their hatred for a variety of human groups including blacks, Christians, women, Jews, athletes, police and others, then finally admit they simply hate all humans. Dale Todd, whose son, Evan, was wounded in the assault, watched the tapes. It makes me realize that we need to look deeper into societys ills, that were creating kids like this, he said afterward. With all due respect to Mr. Todd and with great sympathy for him and his son, we dont have to look any deeper into this matter. The heart of man often is desperately wicked, an Old Testament prophet noted, declining to say that childhood grievances were the cause of such evil. On the tapes, the two killers relate a list of childhood and teenage grievances but admit they had good parents. They were raised in good homes, had financial advantages and had parents who, perhaps, did not pay them enough attention but certainly cared for them. The fact they suffered some slights that probably every teenager suffers doesnt justify or explain their behavior. The two teens hoped for everlasting fame or infamy fully expecting that a famous director would film their story of the intended bloody massacre, no doubt casting them as heroes or anti-heroes. Society may have flaws, but it cannot be blamed for the actions of criminal psychopaths, whether Jack the Ripper, the Boston Strangler or Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. The Colorado killers had good parents, good homes and a better chance at success than many people. Societys ills did not create Harris and Klebold. They were self-made men.