Correcting Barry Lynn on Wichita

Image via Wikipedia

Americans United for Separation of Church and State is one of a handful of worthy organizations that I am happy to support. They do good work on behalf of atheists in the U.S., and I have great admiration for their executive director, the Rev. Barry W. Lynn. That said, I do have to take issue with something he was quoted as saying in a recent Americans United press release about the latest act of suspected Christian terrorism in Wichita.

Lynn was quoted as saying the following:

The murder of Dr. Tiller is an affront to every moral system imaginable.

I appreciate his willingness to issue a statement condemning the murder, but I think this statement is inaccurate. While the murder of Dr. Tiller should be an affront to every moral system, it is clearly not.

Regardless of what we ultimately learn about the killer, his motives, and the like, we know now that a segment of our population supports his actions. And no, I do not think I am merely nitpicking here.

It is important to recognize that there is a segment of society to which I have repeatedly referred to as Christian extremists. They cheer the murder and congratulate the killer. We need to talk about this.

The loss of Dr. Tiller is a serious one. His murder is indeed an affront to most moral systems, but unfortunately, it is not so to Christian extremists.

Subscribe to Atheist Revolution

Tags: Barry Lynn, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Americans United, Wichita, atheists, Christian extremism, Tiller, murder, Christian extremists