religious hate crime

[slithers]

On October 18, 2004, Larry Hooper was murdered by his friend Arthur Shelton Why? According to Shelton, a devout Christian and an Eagle Scout, Hooper was an atheist and thus the "devil himself." Shelton seems to have believed that, as a Christian and follower of God, he had an obligation to kill Larry Hooper and remove his evil, atheistic influence

Comments

[shitblowsover]

I don't know if I'd call this a religious hate crime or not, but either way it's incredibly disturbing/fucked up.

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/01/30/Tampabay/Police_jail_rape_vict.shtml

[b_phil]

Man, that's fucked up. I hope she sues the ever loving SHIT out of those responsible.

[isancho]

Yes yes, and there are people who target Christians, Muslims, and every other group on the planet.

That article is severly flawed and biased.

It can't be mental illness merely to take your beliefs seriously enough to act on them.

True, but the implication here is that Christianity is the source of his beliefs. Most Christians I know don't believe that we should kill atheists, or act like the people at the courthouse.

Unfortunately, the whackjob minority are more vocal and get more attention, giving the rest of us a bad name.

[othersider]

True, but the implication here is that Christianity is the source of his beliefs. Most Christians I know don't believe that we should kill atheists, or act like the people at the courthouse.
Of course most of us don't. The majority of people, the whole world over, doesn't believe in that kind of persecution. But for every one who does and acts upon it (like this guy), it gives people a reason to badmouth any group to which he or she belongs. But of course, the world would be a boring place if we never had these outspoken wackos stirring up garbage and making headlines in the names of their causes. Heh.

Unfortunately, the whackjob minority are more vocal and get more attention, giving the rest of us a bad name.
Fortunately, though, all but the most fervent and/or fundamentalist of people I know aren't so judgmental as to assume that all people belonging to that group are like-minded.

[slithers]

I apologize Eric for making it seem like I was saying that religion is a mental illness or leads to such. I posted the article because while it was reasonable to expect there had been in modern times someone killed for being an atheist, I hadn't actually known of a specific case. The article was posted because it was a source and had more than a tiny blurb on it. I had not at the time read the whole thing

[isancho]

Some atheists attack Christians on a different front--I'm sure you've heard of the Blaspheme-for-a-T-Shirt Challenge?

Actually, it's kinda equal, from a certain point of view. Christians believe in eternal life or death, so the BfaTSC takes that away, whereas this guy took away the life of an atheist, which is (likely) all the atheist believed he had.

And yeah, I can't claim that there aren't verses in the Bible that can reasonably be interpreted as killing non-believers. Most of the new testament, however, promotes a peaceful message.

Anyway, perception's kinda funny. I'm a Christian, but I tend to trust other Christians less than most non-Christians, at least until I get to know them. I guess this proves that I'm not immune to a negative bias from my perception of the vocal minority *sigh*