Atheist Activist from Colorado Arrested on Suspicion of Second-Degree Murder

[rug]

May 15, 2017
by Hemant Mehta

In 2015, the Western Colorado Atheists and Freethinkers put up a digital billboard in Grand Junction saying, “Axial tilt is the reason for the season!” When the media wanted to learn more, the WCAF President representing the group was Aleksandr Kolpakov:

The local media called the sign “controversial,” though they didn’t name a single person who had a problem with it. Kolpakov told them the purpose of the billboard was to let non-religious people in the area know they’re not alone and that “WCAF is here for them to provide them with fellowship and community without the dogma of organized religion.”

Kolpakov (a.k.a. “Russian Deadpool”) was also one of the YouTubers behind The Skeptic Feminist, where he talked about “patriarchal monotheistic religions” because “religion and misogyny are inexorably tied.”

I bring all this up because Kolpakov was just identified as the lone suspect in a homicide case in Mesa County, Colorado.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2017/05/15/atheist-activist-from-colorado-arrested-on-suspicion-of-second-degree-murder/

[Eko]

1. You really hate atheists dont you?

Why?

[rug]

2. Lol! What an odd reaction.

I'm sure you have the same reaction to crime stories about priests and nuns.

What I do have little use for are hypocrites.

[Eko]

3. And I have posted

crime stories about priests and nuns?

[rug]

4. Have you ever posted "You really hate priests and nuns dont you?" in reply to one?

Let me know and I'll give you a list.

[Eko]

5. Dont think I have ever seen one here.

But, I am an atheist and here is a reply I did give. You might find it familiar.

"As an Atheist
I don't think that secular humanism necessarily mitigates any potential for radicalization. I will agree it tends to or seems to but correlation is not causation. I also think the use of "any" for "any potential" is incorrect, it would be phrased better and more logical to take out any. "
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1218249956

ps.
Yes, if someone were to post the religion of a killer when it was not relevant I would also call them out on it.

[rug]

6. OK. Next time one is posted I'll pm you.

[Eko]

7. There is also this

If this was indeed because of Religion,

Why do so few (percentage wise) religious people do this?
https://www.democraticunderground.com/123033303

[rug]

8. None of the hypocrites in that thread was you.

And yes, that's a fine example.

[AtheistCrusader]

12. I eagerly await stories about how the Atheists of America moved him to a new atheist parish

and hid his crimes, and made payouts to keep it quiet, and 'retire' him away with a pension in an 'unfavorable position' somewhere deep in the bowels of American Atheist Church... you know. Shit like that.

Do let's compare both sides of this sort of problem, see how far each goes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Francis_Law

He lives here now. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palazzo_della_Cancelleria

[rug]

13. Given the miniscule size of the Amerivan Atheists, Inc., you won't.

Although there is that matter of O'Hair's missing body.

There is nothing unique about atheists or atheism, AC. Given enough numbers and power, there are enough killing fields to go around.

[AtheistCrusader]

19. No, it's really a comparison i'd like to see.

Nobody squirreled Dawkins away when the sexism thing exploded. He didn't get air cover for that. In fact, he was lambasted in ways that kinda went beyond, or relied upon a stretched narrative of what actually happened, as reported by independent sources.

Hitchens was roundly criticized by anti-war atheists, and rightly so.

There is no entity, no organization with a PR/Persona to protect. These are just individuals, and while individuals may well be flawed, they only share a single idea; no apparent gods. They all get there by different paths. They all think and hold different ideas beyond that.

There is no atheist version of the RCC.

[hrmjustin]

26. Not true and an unfair accusation!

[Eko]

9. So,

since we are all adults here and I have provided some bonafides, why do you feel the need to highlight someones non faith in a crime?

[rug]

10. The Friendly Atheist highlighted it.

I don't have a "need" to highlight anyone's faith who is accused of a crime. Many here do. Ask them about their needs.

[Eko]

22. Good to know.

Here is a link that reports the murder without mentioning faith/lack of faith. You should replace your post with this one, but then you would have to post it somewhere else. http://www.denverpost.com/2017/05/15/mesa-county-shooting-suspect/

[rug]

23. Right here is where it belongs.

[Eko]

24. Thats sad.

You are doing exactly what you are claiming others do, highlighting someones faith/non faith in regards to a crime.

[rug]

25. Exactly who do you think wrote the story and the headline?

[Eko]

31. And there are multiple

stories about this and you choose the one that highlights that he is an atheist. "I don't have a "need" to highlight anyone's faith who is accused of a crime. Many here do. Ask them about their needs." and yet you did and continue to do so even when given an alternative. Why?

[MineralMan]

11. How are the two things connected, rug?

I know you didn't write the blog post, but I just wonder if you think there is a connection between atheism and murder. One's faith or lack of faith doesn't seem to have any relationship to murder, as far as I can see.

[rug]

14. There's as much connection between atheism and murder as there is between pedophilia and religion.

[MineralMan]

15. No doubt. However, I've never heard of

any atheist organization condoning or covering up murders. Have you?

[rug]

16. Ask me again when any of them have a billion members.

[MineralMan]

17. Why would I do that, rug?

Personally, I'm not a member of any atheist organization, nor are any of the atheists I know personally. I've never seen any reason for such an organization to exist, really.

Obviously, I'm not a member of any religious organization, either.

By the same token, I know of no atheist organization that has ever condoned or covered up either murder or sexual abuse of children. I cannot say the same about religious organizations. The number of members of either type of organization is irrelevant to that, I believe.

[rug]

18. Because, whether you realize it or not, you're asking about sociology not theology.

Your personal anecdotes are irrelevant.

[MineralMan]

20. Rug, I don't really care whether you think my posts are relevant or not.

[rug]

21. Then we agree.

[True Dough]

27. I'm an atheist

I don't take offense at the article or the way the accused is described. The media naturally latches on to what makes a person a public figure, if anything. In the absence of that, they highlight what makes a person unusual e.g. someone who was a hermit or kept a collection of rat skulls on their mantle at home, etc.

The individual in question here raised his public profile through his atheistic activism. This is how he was widely known in the community.

Just because of this one person's alleged criminal actions, I don't infer that atheists are therefore more prone to be killers. That's just a silly notion. No need to make that leap.

[rug]

29. I don't either.

That would be the logical fallacy of illicit transference.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallacies_of_illicit_transference

[True Dough]

32. I didn't even know the terminology

Just that any attempt at such an extrapolation rings hollow.

If pressed, I would have described "illicit transference" as putting an iron-on logo on a t-shirt without consent of the copyright owner!

[rug]

34. Or identity theft.

[True Dough]

35. There's insurance for that!

Boy, do I get tired of insurance agents trying to push that on me. My wife and I have never been victims of identity theft. We take reasonable precautions. I suppose it's not out of the realm of possibility that we are someday victims, but I'll just cancel all of our bank/credit cards and order new ones.

[HopeAgain]

28. Hmmm... people link religion and bad things on here all the time.

This OP didn't even make any link and hyper-sensitivity abounds.

[rug]

30. Those most likely to offend are those most likely to take offense.

[HopeAgain]

33. If this has been a religious leader,

It would have been posted all over the place.