What I’m seeing is that he was anti-theism, not atheist.
What have you heard?
Being a liberal doesn’t make him incapable of cold blooded murder.
A USA today story shows a picture of a man who may have had a rage disorder. He apparently threatened the young couple previously ( imo, when you are “talking” with someone and you are openly showing a weapon, that is threatenng.)
However, I do agree a brain tumor can cause personality changes, especially along the lines of intermittent explosive disorder.
@singermom4 “Wonder if the killer will be labeled a terrorist as he should… It seems most Americans believe that label only belongs to one group.”
I don’t understand your comment at all. Do you even know what a terrorist is, by definition? “A person who uses terrorism in the pursuit of political aims.”
He’s not a terrorist unless his purpose in the killing was political. I see nothing in the story that supports the conclusion that this was terrorism, and not an “ordinary” multiple murder.
Maybe he was motivated by the parking space problem. People do shoot each other every day over dumb stuff and more often than not they don’t have brain tumors. What a bizarre conversation. Hmmm.
Here’s the thing.
Even if he shot them over a “parking dispute”, I really do believe that his ill feelings towards Muslims played a role in his decision to kill them EXECUTION STYLE. A previous poster mentioned that they heard that this man was constantly arguing with neighbors over parking spaces – he never killed any of those other neighbors, did he? Even if this murderer was mentally ill, I still believe that the religious identities of these people contributed to his decision to kill them.
As a young Muslim, I find this especially upsetting. I applied to a school near UNC, and this really hits close to home for me. These poor people thought they had their whole lives ahead of them… and the decisions of a single man just ended their lives.
@singermom4 I agree. Probably won’t be labeled that cuz he’s not Muslim. I hate that stereotype because it’s no where near the truth. You can be any race and be a terrorist. Ever heard of the KKK? Says in sarcastic voice:“all Muslims are terrorists.” But it’s sad what happened.
I am tired of the “atheists don’t kill” mantra. Plenty of hate crimes have been carried out by atheists. I hate to evoke Godwin’s Law, but Hitler, for instance. In fact lots of mass terrorism. This is not any way to condemn atheism, but sometimes the (ironic) holier-than-thou is a bit much.
Hitler was not an atheist.
I was reading in another article about his Facebook page. Apparently it had lots of hateful stuff on it about Muslims and other religious people. I believe it was a hate crime for this reason, though some are trying to say it was just about a parking dispute. In that other article it also said that it wasn’t even his parking spot, so he was just trying to find some way to start a fight with them. Here’s the article from Yahoo: http://news.yahoo.com/self-proclaimed-atheist-charged-in-slayings-of-north-carolina-muslim-students-204302578.html
Just to clarify, Hitler was not an atheist. Some of his fellows wanted to replace Christianity with National Socialism, a sort of complete union of party and society, but Hitler not only didn’t go there but referred to National Socialism as the fulfillment of Christianity. Over time he came to a thing he labeled something like “positive Christianity”, which was Christianity with Judaism excised. He was opposed to the Catholic Church’s political influence - obviously - but was more appalled by the Soviet/Bolshevik blunt atheism. The idea that Hitler was an atheist is a lie spread by people who want to claim some sort of moral ground, that only religion can create an ethical system. As I said, by no stretch was Hitler atheist; he mixed traditional Christianity and appeals to providence with his peculiar National Socialist evil. Being not Christian, of a different religion, I’d say that if it weren’t for the hideous success of National Socialism, it would be considered just another weird Christian-derived cult. I find it humorous people don’t bring up Italian Fascism, probably because it wasn’t that successful at killing, but it was both anti and yet accepting of the Catholic Church, hoping over time to supplant it with total party loyalty but bound to the reality of the Church’s hold on the people.
So it boils down to the murder of three people because the shooter didn’t want to walk an extra 100-200 feet. It is a sad commentary on mankind.
I just heard the sister of the young man who was murdered speak about him on CNN. If you can stand listening to Anderson Cooper, it’s well worth watching. What a beautiful and well spoken young lady. Her brother sounded like he represented the best of us. What an awful, and brutally unfair thing to happen to someone so truly noble and full of life as he was.
You didn’t even know the guy. He could’ve been a terrible person for all we know. This brings to mind a quote: “Omnes te moriturum amant.” (House, MD)
I’ve heard of fights between neighbors before, but this seems to be an extreme action to take over a simple “parking dispute.” I’d wager this had some kind of hate agenda behind it.
What I find interesting is how many “news” sources labelled it a hate crime without having all the facts. After reading several stories on the subject as well as the perpetrator’s views on religion, I’ve come to the conclusion that it was probably a hate crime, but there were publications that denounced the crime as one of hate well before more facts had been released. Of course, /any/ incidence involving a minority (black, Muslim, etc.) victim where the perpetrator is white is viewed as a hate crime, even if the use of violence was justified (which, in this case, it wasn’t).
“You didn’t even know the guy. He could’ve been a terrible person for all we know. This brings to mind a quote: “Omnes te moriturum amant.” (House, MD)”
I guess I trust my eyes and ears. You listen to his sister talking about him, and tell me if you think he was a terrible person. I believe her.
What an utterly offensive and ridiculous thing to say.
The two women were sisters. All three of these young people were just like so many of our kids–earnest, happy and with their whole lives ahead of them.
Some of the news articles indicate that the suspect was seen as being threatening (terrorizing?) by many others in the neighborhood over parking and other petty matters. Of course, that may be in addition to possible anti-religious-people motives based on his on-line rants.
I.e. the various possible motives are not mutually exclusive.
I looked on his Facebook page and that of his sister.
I did not see anything offensive on either.
Yes this is terrible and unfortunate… My prayers are with the family.
I just want to point out what a sad commentary on life it is that my dad just stopped by my room to tell me to never get in any kind of confrontation, even if I’m not the one at fault. He warned me to not even look at the cars next to me while stopped at a traffic light. He didn’t say it in words, but he essentially told me not to stand up for myself.
Why?
Because I wear a scarf that marks me as Muslim, and he doesn’t want me to be killed by an insane person with a vendetta.
It may seem like an irrational leap, but what people need to understand is that this attack is hitting the Muslim community hard. In Deah, we all see our brothers and sons. In Yusor and Ruzan, we see our sisters and daughters… Frankly, in all of them, I see myself. And that’s a scary thing. Every Muslim person I know is hugging their family members a little closer and whispering to themselves “that could have been me”.
@marshmallowpop I’m really sorry, I hope you stay safe. I know that feeling, and it’s an awful one.
@TeamRocketGrunt Deah Barakat was fundraising to bring dental care to Syrian refugees in Turkey. http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/syrian-dental-relief/206249 Yusor and Razan were also working on humanitarian projects.
It seems a little unfair to the students to just throw around “he could be terrible for all you know” when you don’t know him, either. I’d take it from the people who did know him, Yusor and Razan.