Asa Coon Shooting : Columnist Smears Atheism

I missed this column by Mitch Albom on the Asa Coon shooting when it appeared in the Detroit Free Press. It merits a brief response if only because of Albom's misguided linkage of the school shooting/suicide with the decline of religion in America.

In covering the school shooting by a troubled 14 year old boy, Albom states that the youth in question, Asa Coon, was "reportedly" into a Goth lifestyle and Atheism. The manner in which it is presented makes "Goth" and "Atheism" code for 'a bad thing' ... even 'an evil thing'. In case the reader didn't get it, Albom includes a reference to Coon's fondness for shock rocker Marliyn Manson and includes a few lines of the the most loaded Manson lyrics he can find.

When would you ever hear a reporter saying of a school shooter and suicide victim "he claimed to be Methodist"?

Even in my former homeland of N. Ireland where prior to the peace agreement Christians were long engaged in internecine tit-for-tat murders, you never heard a reporter saying of a bomber - "he claimed to be a Presbyterian". But maybe they should have because then I could provide reams of quotations for Mitch to demonstrate that Christians are more likely to be the shooter than an Atheist ... as any review of crimes in the US will also confirm.

The smearing of Atheists by some in the media reflects flawed thinking - even outright prejudice. There simply aren't the stats to back up the negative spin. Run a poll of the inmates of American jails and see what percentage claim to be Atheist. You are looking at a very tiny percentage indeed.

Most Atheists tend to be critical thinkers. That comes with the territory because when you're born into a nation obsessed with God and organized religion, it takes a good deal of personal courage and conviction to reach the conclusion you don't buy into it.

The assumption is also made by some that since an Atheist is 'Godless', he or she is therefore bereft of any type of moral code. I've read Christian opinion pieces that go so far as to equate Atheism with perversion and drug addiction. In fact ethical concerns are important to Atheists as any who take the trouble to check out Atheist writings will find to be the case.

Albom's smear comes on the heels of the attack on Atheists launched by Dinesh D'Souza in the aftermath of the Virginia Tech massacre. D'Souza blamed modern science, specifically Richard Dawkins, for reducing humans to "agglomerations of molecules" - among other nonsensical accusations that bore little or no relation to the causal factors that lay behind the tragedy.

These commentators are misinformed. They should take the time to actually read Atheist writers on the subject of ethics before pointing the finger.


Tags: Nitch Albom, Detroit Free Press, Asa Coon, Atheist ethics, Dinesh D'Souza, Richard Dawkins, Virginia Tech<$BlogSiteFeedUrl$>"><$BlogSiteFeedUrl$>" title="Atom feed">Site Feed