Atheist Attacker May Face New Charges

[struggle4progress]

COLORADO SPRINGS - Colorado Springs authorities are looking at more possible charges against an atheist man who allegedly threatened two neighbors with a knife because they are Christians Friday. The weekend dispute ended when another neighbor hit Russell Bowman with the butt end of a gun. Police said the injury to Bowman was so severe he may have lost an eye. Bowman remains in Memorial Hospital Monday morning, and a police spokeswoman says more charges are possible against him. There was no update on whether he's lost his eye. The neighbor who hit Bowman was not charged with a crime. Bowman told police he was an atheist and is charged with felony menacing. http://www.krdo.com/Global/story.asp?S=9010869


OPINION: Another hero with a gun
September 15, 2008 - 7:15PM
... Colorado Springs Police report that Russell Bowman, a self-proclaimed "atheist," showed up with a large knife at the at a woman's apartment in the 700 block of Tia Juana Street at about 3:15 a.m. Saturday. Police said Bowman wanted to behead two women because they were Christians ... Police suspect alcohol .. played a role. As Bowman threatened the women, another resident of the apartment building grabbed a shotgun and ordered Bowman to drop the knife ... He whacked the criminal with the butt of the gun ... Doctors at Memorial Hospital told police Bowman's eye was so badly damaged by the butt of the gun that it will have to be removed. That's a shame, but it beats a trip to the morgue ... http://www.gazette.com/opinion/bowman_40589___article.html/hero_gun.html


Does this story tell me anything at all about atheism or Christianity? I don't think so -- though it might tell me something about stupidity, mental illness, and violence

[MindPilot]

1. Whenever I see Atheist preceded by "self-proclaimed" or

the word Atheist in quotes, my BS-O-Meter pegs.

[struggle4progress]

5. Because you want all crime stories posted here to be about folk who proclaim themselves religious?

Or because you don't want to believe that a mentally ill atheist could attack people because he didn't share their religious beliefs?

[MindPilot]

8. No, it's because lack of belief is always the aberration

If this story were slightly different, it would not have been written "...self-proclaimed '<insert mainstream religion here>'..."

[beam me up scottie]

2. No, but the parts you left out tell us a lot about you:

OPINION: Another hero with a gun

Once again, a gun in the hands of a brave, daring and selfless hero has resolved a violent crime in Colorado Springs. As so often is the case when a gun foils a crime, no shot was ever fired. The gun brought civility where mayhem previously reigned.The power of a gun put a hero in charge of the situation, because of its enormous potential stopping power. Bowman refused the order and approached the gun-wielding hero.

So what did the hero do, armed with a weapon that could have removed a good portion of Bowman's head? He whacked the criminal with the butt of the gun - a polite response, considering the circumstances. As that got the job done, the hero never resorted to using the business end of the weapon.

[virginia mountainman]

3. Yep.....But, According to most gun control advocates..

That outcome is unlikely, because Bowman should have just taken the loaded shotgun away from that man, (after all he has a knife) and used it to kill them, and the "children" instead. :sarcasm:

[beam me up scottie]

4. You're in the wrong clubhouse.

The Gun Fetish Lounge is down the hall.

[struggle4progress]

6. Easiest-found source of facts turned out to be an opinion piece: I just cut out the opinion

[ZombieHorde]

7. The knife wielder sounds like a phycho.

I am glad that no one got stabbed.

[dmallind]

9. No No true Scotsman here

I have nothing vested in the silly fantasy that one religious opinion is any more moral than another. I don't pretend that morality and decency flows from atheism alone. Ergo, I have absolutely no problem believing that idiot criminals can be atheists and will not try some silly variant of the lame fallacies many believers spew out when one of their ilk does something despicable - that a "real atheist" wouldn't do that.

You only get defensive about somebody who shares one of your attributes doing nasty stuff when you pretend that those attributes make you better than anyone else. The fact that this guy is an atheist reflects on all atheists about as much as it does all men, or all people living in Colorado.

Yes the same is of course true of religious nuts, but again we're not the ones who pretend otherwise.