Updated: Three US Muslims killed, motive unconfirmed, #ChapelHillShooting hashtag slams media http://t.co/HCIzeBsejb pic.twitter.com/3uKEKylOFQ
— Al Jazeera Breaking News (@AJENews) February 11, 2015
It is perfectly natural to assume that someone’s ideology might well have driven their actions, and there is little room for doubt that the alleged perpetrator of the Chapel Hill shooting was indeed an atheist, and at least moderately active in online atheist activism. I checked his social media feeds, and to my great dismay, they don’t look all that different than mine. We even have a handful of friends and interests in common. Just yesterday, I would have thought Hicks a comrade in the struggle against faith-based irrationality.
This is literally sickening.
We should remember that facts remain sketchy and motives unconfirmed, but it seems reasonably likely plausible that this was indeed a hate crime, motivated by fear and loathing of Islam in particular. Because we often put our shared humanity in the background and our religious identity in the foreground, there will surely be a backlash against atheists as a result of these murders.
https://twitter.com/amjadt25/status/565473496927830016
https://twitter.com/NesrineMalik/status/565440458080677888
Shooter was an atheist? I'm now awaiting apologies and condemnations from @SamHarrisOrg and @billmaher. #ChapelHillShooting
— Huthaifa (@Shack_Rat) February 11, 2015
No one should have to apologize for acts of violence they did not personally commit or foment, but condemnation is surely in order here.
We condemn the taking of innocent lives.
We condemn those who treat Muslims as less than equal citizens.
We condemn all efforts to denigrate people of faith as beneath human dignity.
There is nothing in our atheist “holy books” that counsels violence against believers, to the contrary, all of humanism counsels compassion and affirms our shared humanity. Deah, Yusor, and Razan were young and full of hope, you can see it in all their photos. If you would honor their memory, as an unbeliever, please find some way to help people of all faiths and no faith coexist more peacefully.
