There was a shooting outside of a downtown Portland, Oregon underage nightclub a few weeks ago. Out of respect to the dead I won’t go into details, as they really don’t matter as far as what I am gong to talk about. I’m concerned with an age-old device, blame those who don’t share your beliefs. And of course, if you want to blame some infidels, there’s nowhere better to go than to the Atheist!
After the shooting, in which three people (including the shooter) were killed, an upright citizen from the Portland area city of Milwaukie felt compelled to submit the following in a letter to the editor of The Oregonian, the state’s largest newspaper.
FROM THE OREGONIAN
I could not help but notice all the coverage about the downtown shooting. All this coverage got me thinking — the shooting was just a symptom of a much bigger problem. America lacks God.
America was once a godly nation. Times were better. People were safer. However, we have stepped away from God. We have let humanist views slip into our lifestyles. This absence of God was one cause of the downtown shooting.
The young shooter did not know the God that I know. He was probably taught about evolution. He was probably influenced by atheism. This lack of God leads to dangerous things that even the strictest laws cannot prevent.
More gun laws may be a result of the shooting. Fewer gun laws may be a result. Whatever happens, we should consider adding God back to our lives.
RUSSELL MATHEWS
Milwaukie
The esteemed writer seems to feel that the shooting would have been avoided by an America that didn’t “lack God.” Well damn, it’s that easy, eh? Oh year, that’s been tried before. For millenia, actually. Didn’t work so good. What brain trusts like the writer of the above letter fail to note is just how completely theocracies and/or countries that are dominated by religious thought have failed. He also doesn’t recognize America was, in part, founded to escape religious fundamentalism. And just whose God does he suggest we add back to our lives?
I was “taught about evolution,” I am “influenced by Atheism,” and I’m not planning on any shooting rampage. It’s fact that the countries with the highest levels of Atheism also have the lowest crime levels, among the highest health and living standards, and generally happier people over countries that are very religious.
It’s high time people looked to real ways to solve real problems. Pray about them if you want, but don’t begrudge those of us who want to use reality.
