"Anti-theist" kills 3 Muslim students

[Shad]

I think there have to be other factors, like racism for example. If he was an atheist looking for revenge on theists, he could have done a lot worse. Perhaps the fact that there was a 'convert' in the scene had something to do with it. At this point, the true cause of this tragedy is all conjecture. It appears obvious to me that regardless of what he was faith wise, he wasn't operating with a full deck of cards.

There are lot of factors to consider and we are speculating at this point. I just wanted a topic which would create a dialogue between various mechanism with religion which atheism lacks. I find myself becoming dissatisfied with the position that atheism lacks X so is absolved from X. While in principle this is easy to use I find that this veils issues that need to be addressed. Perhaps rather than washing our hands of various issues we should be combating them more actively.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Where does it say anything about this guy being an Atheist. I skimmed the article and didn't see any indication, but I might have missed it. Can you provide the quote for me? Thanks.

Have links to any?
(Morbid curiosity here.)

Good grief. It would take all of about 30 seconds to find sources. Here for example.

 

[leibowde84]

There are lot of factors to consider and we are speculating at this point. I just wanted a topic which would create a dialogue between various mechanism with religion which atheism lacks. I find myself becoming dissatisfied with the position that atheism lacks X so is absolved from X. While in principle this is easy to use I find that this veils issues that need to be addressed. Perhaps rather than washing our hands of various issues we should be combating them more actively.

There is no indication that this guy was an atheist. And, far more religious people than atheists commit radical violence, so how can you explain that?

 

[Shad]

Did you post the wrong quote? There was no indication that he was an atheist. Are you assuming that the mention of "anti-religious sentiments" indicates he is an atheist? That's crazy if you are ... and shows a clear prejudice against atheism.

It was speculation from other sources I had read before the OP. I wanted a source which was not outside the nation in question. However I failed to include all the sources information which I used to make my conclusion. There were few articles published during my first search. Now it is all over the news with a wider range of information.Supposed there are inductors of his view based on Facebook, twitter, pictures, etc.

Chapel Hill shooting: Three young Muslims gunned down in North Carolina family home - Americas - World - The Independent
Chapel Hill shooting: Craig Stephen Hicks condemned all religions on Facebook prior to 'Muslim mass-murder' arrest - Americas - World - The Independent


Google "killing 3 chapel hill".

 

[leibowde84]

It should be pretty obvious thaat there is a big difference between being an atheist and an anti-theist. The latter seems to be this guys problem, not the former.

 

[Lyndon]

He was a member of a group called "Atheists for Equality" according to the link Jayhawke posted and his facebook postings.

 

[Shad]

It should be pretty obvious thaat there is a big difference between being an atheist and an anti-theist. The latter seems to be this guys problem, not the former.

True but consider that many atheists actively discuss religion and oppose certain views. Such a label is easy to use just on the basis that one is arguing against a position. Speculating here but what if this guy use to argue against religion before his crimes. The sudden shift from talking to acting. Also the few named source he used, would Dawkins and AE be considered anti-theist?

 

[Shad]

I have modified the OP and title slightly due to objections with merit. Take previous uses of identification labels with a grain of salt.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Any hate-filled nut job who defines herself or himself/what s/he is against rather than for is a potential threat to society.

 

[gsa]

Let's hope this horrible incident is treated as a terrorist attack ON muslims, which is exactly what it is.

As all hate crimes should be treated, presumably.

 

[gsa]

Terrorism is a specific motive and there is nothing in the article that gives a motive for this crime (indeed, the police have specifically not reported a motive).

Automatically labelling any incident where the perpetrators and victims fit (or appear to fit) certain predetermined groups as "terrorism" only serves to weaken the meaning of the word and distract from the problem of real terrorism, by all sorts of people, all around the world.

I agree that we do not have a motive yet, but if it is a hate crime I have no problem labeling all hate crimes a form of terrorism. The purpose is intimidation of members of the targeted group after all.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

I'm presuming there is either more to this or this guy seriously has a screw loose. Quite possibly both.

But for what it's worth my thoughts are with the victim's family and friends. I honestly wouldn't spare the least thought for the murderer. Hate-filled extremism is a curse on humanity, regardless of motivation.

 

[HonestJoe]

I agree that we do not have a motive yet, but if it is a hate crime I have no problem labeling all hate crimes a form of terrorism. The purpose is intimidation of members of the targeted group after all.

Terrorism is violence (or the threat of violence) intended to bring political change. Individual "hate crimes" are about targeting specific individuals because of who or what they are. They are very different problems that need addressing in very different ways. Conflating the two can make addressing either more difficult. Sometimes the conflation of the two is a deliberate attempt to make it more difficult, sometimes it's done with misguided good intentions, sometimes it's just ignorance.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

I am not sure religion was involved in any way
It seems a parking "Road rage" incident that got out of hand.as they often do.
In the Uk it usually ends as a street fight and smashed glass as we don't have guns.

 

[metis]

I watched around 4-5 hours worth of news yesterday on several channels, and I only saw one story on this senseless killing. Imagine if the story was the other way around, namely three Christians being killed by a Muslim, and I just have to wonder if the coverage would have been different?

 

[gsa]

Terrorism is violence (or the threat of violence) intended to bring political change. Individual "hate crimes" are about targeting specific individuals because of who or what they are. They are very different problems that need addressing in very different ways. Conflating the two can make addressing either more difficult. Sometimes the conflation of the two is a deliberate attempt to make it more difficult, sometimes it's done with misguided good intentions, sometimes it's just ignorance.

There really is no agreed upon definition of terrorism. The purpose of the intimidation may be political, after all. Consider the recent firebombing of a synagogue in Germany by two Muslims who wanted to draw attention to the plight of the Palestinians. Is that a hate crime? The lower court said no, because they were motivated by a political cause (why that means targeting Jews is questionable of course, and what a German synagogue has to do with Israel apart from being a Jewish congregation is also bewildering). So that makes it terrorism?

I think that terrorism is a largely useless, politically slanted term. So it makes no difference if you label this man a bigot or a terrorist; all that we can say with some degree of confidence is that these young people were murdered, possibly because of their religion.

 

[gsa]

I watched around 4-5 hours worth of news yesterday on several channels, and I only saw one story on this senseless killing. Imagine if the story was the other way around, namely three Christians being killed by a Muslim, and I just have to wonder if the coverage would have been different?

I didn't watch the news yesterday but it was all over the news this morning. At least online.

 

[nilsz]

This is a tragedy. The death of these people is a loss to their community.

Human lives are always more important than religion/non-religion.

 

[metis]

I didn't watch the news yesterday but it was all over the news this morning. At least online.

Yes, I did see it online, but not much coverage on the news channels that I could see. Compare that to the extensive coverage I saw yesterday and the day before of the brave young lady from Prescott, Az. that was also tragically killed.

 

[Lyndon]

Consider the coverage of the one Muslim extremist/terrorist holding hostages and killing one Australian at a coffee shop in Sydney. The second death was a police bullet. Major top story on all the media, so far no such coverage of this story, that may or may not change, Actually that's not all true, I just check the ABC; here's a pretty balanced major story from the ABC in Australia, and its the middle of the night in AUS, they don't usually post stories after midnight unless it really important, 10 times more balanced than the BBC!!

Chapel Hill shooting: Man espousing anti-religious views charged with murdering three Muslim students - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)