This message was self-deleted by its author

[Pacifist Patriot]

This message was self-deleted by its author (Pacifist Patriot) on Mon Feb 5, 2018, 02:18 PM. When the original post in a discussion thread is self-deleted, the entire discussion thread is automatically locked so new replies cannot be posted.

[marym625]

1. The guy was a fanatic

I'm sure that there are people of all religions that abhor what fanatics in their faith, do in the name of that faith. Now we have one.

What a horrible human being.

[marym625]

3. yep. sucks. n/t

[trotsky]

4. Nope, no disowning him from atheism.

Unlike what always happens when a believer does something horrible.

Difference is, as atheists we have no common holy text, no written commandments, nothing that we follow that has even one sentence that could be construed as an order to kill believers. He just really was a crazy nut.

[skepticscott]

5. Not sure why atheist groups have some special obligation to "respond" to this

What exactly does it have to do with the existence of gods? Or to the tenets or sacred texts of atheism?

Is anyone calling for the 4 Wheelers Club of America to respond to this?

[skepticscott]

7. I certainly hope they won't feel obligated to apologize for atheism

Though the politics of the day will probably have them doing it anyway.

[RussBLib]

9. the guy really is an anomaly

...whereas religious extremists are far too common.

I would expect something other than religious "hatred" sparked the killings.

[trotsky]

10. Well unfortunately that doesn't matter.

Insecure and desperate believers have already latched onto this as vindication that their religion can't ever be responsible for something bad. "See? This one was an atheist!"

[Curmudgeoness]

12. He doesn't represent me or my beliefs about how to live.

Since atheism is only the absence of a belief in a supreme being, we are not an organized group. One individual is not representing us or doing this in our name.

[trotsky]

13. Nor have I seen an atheist blame all Muslims for Charlie Hebdo, or all Christians for Hitler.

But that's the straw man argument the insecure believer has concocted. It's easier for the believer to accuse atheists of attacking all followers of a religion than it is to acknowledge and explain the calls to violence in the holy text they share with extremists.

Once you've committed yourself to that misunderstanding of what the atheist is saying, this Chapel Hill tragedy fits oh-so-neatly into the "teaching those mean bigoted atheists a thing about tarring all believers with the same brush" box.

When it's actually a total fail. No matter, atheists are gonna be hated regardless.

[Curmudgeoness]

29. They just don't get it.

Our problems with "religion" are not problems with individuals of faith. The disagreements that we have with believers are more about issues than about people....and the only people we have a problem with are those who have problems with us, or those who champion religious interference in government.

I personally know of no atheist who would be violent against anyone. This one person who does a horrible thing, and is a proclaimed atheist, does not represent atheists. He is just a very sick individual...who happens to be an atheist.

But don't let that get in the way of a good spanking for the atheists.

[AlbertCat]

15. condemned all religions on Facebook prior to .....

Hmmmmm... seems like he's too caught up in religion to be a rational atheist.

(how many religions are on FaceBook?)



I wonder.... is he a liberal or a conservative?

[Gelliebeans]

23. That would be interesting

Although does not excuse him. He is a POS.
Since he is alive I believe we will learn more about him in the next few weeks.

[PeaceNikki]

16. Aaaaaand there it is... someone implied in GD that it was a member of DU's A&A group.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026211372#post82

[trotsky]

18. Holy shit.

Well, I'm sure the oh-so-tolerant folks who lecture atheists about speaking respectfully toward religion will be along to take him to task for a direct implication that a DUer could have done this.

[onager]

19. Well, that was fun...

ETA - Trotsky & I must have posted about the same time. I saw many familiar names in that thread, with their familiar gripes about those evil & shadowy "Fundamentalist/Militant Atheists." I swear, it won't be long until some of them are going Full Mel Gibson on that subject.

[onager]

21. Yep. It would have been Alerted/Hidden in seconds.

Especially in this group. Not that I'm suggesting people obsessively monitor us or anything...

[Gelliebeans]

26. Ugh

Same Ol stuff

[Fumesucker]

22. Well at least this one got hidden..

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=6211732

I'm glad to see this triple murder made someone happy.

[trotsky]

24. Wow, yes how fortunate that the murder of three innocent people...

gave them a chance to rub atheists' noses in it. Somehow.

[Gelliebeans]

28. Ye the being absolutely

Giddy over the fact that this asshole was an atheist is troubling.

[Mariana]

30. I know some RWers who would jump up and down with glee

if there were another 9/11 scale attack in the US, so they could blame it on President Obama. The victims? Never mind them. That's exactly the same kind of thinking being expressed in those posts.

I can't even imagine hating someone - or a group of someones - that much.

[Fumesucker]

31. I can think of two posters I lost a lot of respect for today

That being one and the other is also mentioned in this thread.

[Rob H.]

25. Hey, at least he self-deleted

Oh, wait. He didn't--he struck through it and apologized but his original post is still there and still legible. That might be one of the ballsiest not-pologies I've ever seen on DU.

[LiberalAndProud]

33. Ah, we shouldn't get sore.

It's crossed out. He took it back. (NOT)

[haikugal]

37. Disgusting post and surprising poster.

Atheists that post here are equivalent to a murdering, angry man....pretty damn bad.

[LiberalAndProud]

32. I've never read the Atheist handbook.

I'd like to read through it to determine whether Craig Hicks misinterpreted their meaning. Help me out here.

[onager]

34. Will an Atheist Bible do?

http://www.amazon.com/The-Atheists-Bible-Illustrious-Collection/dp/0061349151

I have this little book by Joan Conner. It's not quite as advertised. We don't get any fun instructions on slaughtering Amalekites or siccing she-bears on annoying kids.

It's also very small, pocket-sized. So we can't bash anybody with it either. (Alert-Nannies - that's a joke.)

It's basically a collection of quotes from atheists of all eras. The one-star Amazon review has a good point - many of the quotes aren't referenced, which I found kind of annoying.