Someone told me:

In the midst of the recent Colorado theater and Wisconsin Temple shootings, it has been brought to my attention that many people in the media, as well as those who respond to the media (bloggers, etc), have very strong opinions when it comes to dealing with the mentally ill.

(For argument's sake, I will leave out the fact that neither suspect was ever diagnosed with a mental illness; that was just the assumption of the court)
In a Facebook thread recently about all white criminals being mentally ill, someone told me the following:

"He's clearly mentally ill. No crime in stating that. It's the biggest contributor [for the crime]."
To which I responded: He didn't receive the right treatment. And sorry, but, that's his fault. I have bipolar disorder and my greatest fear is that I could be capable of something like this. Mental illness or not, he is just evil.and he's never been officially diagnosed, either, so it's just an assumption at this point which is really unresponsible

Her reaction: Isn't being "evil" just the lack of a conscience? Evil and several mental disorders go hand-in-hand.I'm saying mental illnesses are just a lack of conscience"

I am baffled. Speechless. I guess we have a long way to go in our understanding of mental illness and crime.