There is a horrible triple murder being investigated this morning in North Carolina where three people from a Muslim family were allegedly murdered by Craig Stephen Hicks, 46. Some are speculating that Hicks’ strong atheist views may have been a factor after reading this “anti-theist” positions on the Internet. He has been described in some media account as a “radical atheist” though atheists have rarely engaged in violent acts against religious persons. UPDATE: Police have said that the dispute was not religiously motivated but a dispute over a parking space.
All three victims are from the same family and identified as Deah Shaddy Barakat, his wife Yusor Mohammad, 21, and her sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19. From all accounts, the family was the epitome of a hard-working and successful American family. Barakat was a dental student at the University of North Carolina was a volunteer giving free dental care to Palestinian children. He also helped provide free dental supplies to 75 homeless people in downtown Durham. The recently married couple also organized a fundraiser to raise money for dental care for refugees from Syria. Barakat was going to travel to Turkey to help treat child refugees. His sister-in-law Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha had been studying for a degree at North Carolina State University in Architecture and Environmental Design.
All three were shot in the head.
Hicks posted anti-religious positions on the Internet and asked “why radical Christians and radical Muslims are so opposed to each others’ influence when they agree about so many ideological issues”? His page suggests that he is paralegal at Durham Technical Community College. He reported turned himself in.
News organizations have been focusing on Hicks’ anti-religious statements on the Internet as well as his photograph of a gun. However, anti-religious sentiments do not naturally lead to gunning down family’s of religious people (any more than stated religious beliefs or anti-atheist views naturally leads to killing atheists or agnostics). That does not mean that this was not a motivation in this case but we have little information at this point. Update: The police said that they have evidence of a long-standing parking space dispute.
Nothing is known of any prior interaction or mental disorders on the part of Hicks. Hicks also posted less threatening images, including photos with his wife.
Atheist leaders immediately condemned the murders. The numerous articles focusing on Hicks’ reported atheist views show no specific connection to this family or advocacy of anti-religious violence. However, it creates the possibility of a crime motivated by religious hostilities and is presumably being investigated as a possible hate crime. In the end, the classification of the murders as a hate crime are unlikely to materially affect the prosecution in the case if Hicks confessed to the murders. The question remains an insanity defense. As previously discussed, the insanity defense has been substantially curtailed in this country. I believe that North Carolina uses the M’Naghten Rule with the burden of proof on the defendant. The test is generally defined as meaning “the defendant was laboring under such a defect of reason from disease or deficiency of mind at the time of the alleged act as to be (1) incapable of knowing the nature and quality of his act, or (2) incapable of distinguishing between right and wrong with respect to such act.” State v. Mancuso, 364 S.E.2d 359 (1988) (relying on State v. Evangelista, 319 N.C. 152, 353 S.E.2d 375 (1987)).
Once invoked, the state can press for an examination, though it is often ordered by the Court sua sponte.
(a) If a defendant intends to raise the defense of insanity, the defendant must file a notice of the defendant’s intention to rely on the defense of insanity as provided in G.S. 15A-905(c) and, if the case is not subject to that section, within a reasonable time prior to trial. The court may for cause shown allow late filing of the notice or grant additional time to the parties to prepare for trial or make other appropriate orders.
(b) In cases not subject to the requirements of G.S. 15A-905(c), if a defendant intends to introduce expert testimony relating to a mental disease, defect, or other condition bearing upon the issue of whether the defendant had the mental state required for the offense charged, the defendant must within a reasonable time prior to trial file a notice of that intention. The court may for cause shown allow late filing of the notice or grant additional time to the parties to prepare for trial or make other appropriate orders.
(c) Upon motion of the defendant and with the consent of the State the court may conduct a hearing prior to the trial with regard to the defense of insanity at the time of the offense. If the court determines that the defendant has a valid defense of insanity with regard to any criminal charge, it may dismiss that charge, with prejudice, upon making a finding to that effect. The court’s denial of relief under this subsection is without prejudice to the defendant’s right to rely on the defense at trial. If the motion is denied, no reference to the hearing may be made at the trial, and recorded testimony or evidence taken at the hearing is not admissible as evidence at the trial. (1973, c. 1286, s. 1; 1977, c. 711, s. 25; 2004-154, s. 10.)
SOURCE: NBC
“A memorial page honoring the way the victims lived their lives was started on Facebook early Wednesday.” (wral.com/chapel-hill-police-parking-dispute-may-have-led-to-triple-shooting)
https://www.facebook.com/ourthreewinners?sk=posts%2F503580046446633%3A0&app_data&pnref=story
Heartbreaking.
It will be interesting to see if these murders get labeled as random like the attack on a Kosher deli in France did.
Most atheists I know, or people that have a degree of distance from organized religions, are stable, objective, and against all killing, and see no justification through religious beliefs. They view the religious fanaticism in the Middle East as nothing more than opportunists organizing those who have nothing but despair and a residual belief in some self-importance through divine control. People who need a group to justify their existence sometimes tend to be offended by those who don’t participate. This morphs into the holier than thou causes of most of the problems in that area of the world. Ultimately when it comes right down to it, when everything is taken away it’s tough to impossible to go it alone. No man is an island, and all that.
You have this one guy whose despair got the better of him. Despair was expressed through anger and focused on those who enjoyed a sense of meaning and belonging, something that this guy did not have. On top of that they were members of a religion that some see as today’s enemy. Add a dash of mental instability and he took out his anger on today’s poster child for religious promises, Islam.
It’s one thing to kill a thug trying to shove its religion down someone’s throat. Killing these three is right on the line between insanity and pure anger. They seem to be as balanced and normal as any society would want. That the guy knew it was wrong to kill but believed it was right in this case, puts it all on him. He deserves nothing less than the death sentence, perhaps he should be airdropped into ISIS territory with his crimes hanging around his neck.
Oh, there’s a pretty well-traveled path from atheism to the murder of the religious, among others.
Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, etc.
But here’s a weird example:
“The embattled frontman of a Christian metal band sentenced to prison for plotting to have his wife killed recently confessed that he and other band members had become atheists, but continued to pose as Christians so they could keep selling records, according to a report by The Christian Post.
He said he was afraid of revealing his true beliefs about God, or lack thereof, because he didn’t want to impact his band’s record sales, so he chose to say “I’m not a satanist” instead.“
Here’s a clue about Hick’s motive on his facebook page:
Hicks, the alleged shooter, frequently shared links about atheism on what appears to be his Facebook page. One such post reads:
“People say nothing can solve the Middle East problem, not mediation, not arms, not financial aid. I say there is something. Atheism.”
Olly, JT lives in the secular progressive mecca, DC. To have atheists killing in the name of “no god” does not comport w/ that culture. But, to his credit, he posted it @ least.
The only thing connecting atheists is a lack of belief in a deity. That hardly creates a homogenous set of beliefs to even rationally talk about ‘atheist communities’ or ‘atheist leaders’…..
Mike wrote: “The only thing connecting atheists is a lack of belief in a deity. That hardly creates a homogenous set of beliefs to even rationally talk about ‘atheist communities’ or ‘atheist leaders’…..”
There are authors who lead an atheist movement. Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens come to mind.
From The Literary Response to Radical Atheism:
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Broadly speaking, atheists seem to fall into two camps on this matter. There are disappointed disbelievers, those who would like to believe in God but find themselves unable. Then there are those who find the very idea of such a being to be an outrage.
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Also:
The New New Atheists tend not to take up the question of God’s existence, which they take for granted as settled in the negative. Instead, they seek to salvage what is lost when belief erodes, concerning themselves with what atheists ought to believe and do in religion’s stead. Botton, for instance, asks how the benefits of faith—a sense of community, a sense of wonder—might be found in the secular, while Harris addresses what might be the most vexing problem facing atheists: how morality is possible without God.
————
http://harpers.org/blog/2012/07/the-literary-response-to-radical-atheism/
A course in Moral Philosophy will disabuse anyone of the notion that there is no morality without a god. Thinking otherwise displays a lack of education.
A few studies over the years have purported to show that people with cognitive deficiencies such as autism and Aspergers are more likely to be atheists.
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0036880
I hope we’ll learn if this guy was ever treated for autism, Aspergers. or any other mental illnesses.
Man I cannot type today to save my life. Gaylor I meant.
Hate crime laws need to be abolished. Are the victims any more dead because they may have been killed for their beliefs?
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Gary T
Individual atheists are much like libertarians. They just want to be left alone, and few are proselytizers of their belief”
Having grown up in the land I Annie Gaynor and her cult in Madison, I can assure this is not true for all. And more and more atheists are becoming vocal about their opposition to religion as the younger generation that has been taught to be vocal and activists about just about everything gets older.
I don’t care either way, but let’s not pretend that there aren’t many people actively trying to tear down what’s left of the churches in this country. Or should I say, Christian churches.
Gary,
How exactly do you believe “atheist” governments get elected? When you have the government acting on your behalf then it’s easy to sit back and claim you want to be left alone. On the other hand, when your government is attacking your religious beliefs, well then one is proselytizing. That’s some fanciful rationalization. Nicely done!
I wonder if the shooter went to church every Sunday.
Individual atheists are much like libertarians. They just want to be left alone, and few are proselytizers of their belief, at least not in any aggressive demanding way.
Atheist Governments are not so much that way though, because they consider religion to be competitors in their control over the populace.
I would be curious and surprised to know if Atheism really was the motivating animus for these murders.
I don’t like hate crime law it seems to demean some deaths and raise the importance of others. If you murder a human being, you should be punished with life in prison.
earsoftheworld, Fox has several articles about this already. Here is one:
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/02/11/north-carolina-man-charged-in-shooting-death-three-people/
“However, anti-religious sentiments do not naturally lead to gunning down family’s of religious people.”
Naturally? What DOES naturally lead to it? Why is the Professor trying so hard to disconnect the crime from the real possibility it was motivated by this atheists intolerance towards those of faith?
Does anybody know if this murderer knew the people he killed? What exactly provoked him to kill these three people?
I truly do not understand the defense of insanity. The harm is the same, so what difference does it make if the person is insane?
Also, in the case of murder, it obviously is motivated by hatred. Nobody murders someone unless they hate them. I just cannot understand why the law gets so deep into the motivation of crimes. I certainly understand mitigating factors that might lessen the punishment of a crime, such as accidentally causing harm, but I am always scratching my head when I hear about insanity as a defense to murder. Maybe somebody can explain it to me.
Point to the passages in New Atheist literature that mandate murder, censorship, or the imposition of eternal threats upon individuals or larger populations.
Now look to scripture. Can any such passages be found?
It’s fallacious to think it’s a 50/50 argument, and today’s non-believers engage only in intellectual war, with most simply wishing to be left alone. I wouldn’t call what this lunatic did a result of accepting Humanism and Enlightenment principles. I mean, really.
Not a word about this on CNN, Fox or the BBC, although I heard it initially on the BBC Outside Source.
Reblogged this on LUWAGGA ALLAN.