***Update***: The Sullivan campaign has issued a clarification statement here.

…

Michael Sullivan, a former U.S. attorney and current Republican candidate for Senate from Massachusetts, used a throwaway line the other day to describe the Boston bombers… but in the process, he slandered all of us who are law-abiding, patriotic atheists:

“I don’t have any doubt in my mind that they are going to identify the person or people responsible for this horrific, cowardly and godless act. I think there is going to be so much evidence available to the investigators that they will be able to put the pieces together.”

Horrific? Absolutely.

Cowardly? Sure.

Godless? Where the hell did that come from? Without evidence, that’s pure prejudice at play.

It’s easy to suggest that “godless” people committed this tragic crime because the stereotype is that we’re immoral, awful people with no regard for the sanctity of life. None of that is true. You can argue it’s just a figure of speech and he wasn’t actually referring to atheists, per se, but that doesn’t excuse the use of the word. It’s irresponsible and completely out of line to accuse someone who doesn’t believe in God, even in passing, for doing something like this.

But let’s give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he didn’t know what he was saying and he just needs to be educated. But he sure as hell should apologize for it.

Let him know how you feel via Facebook, Twitter, and email and let’s see if we can get him to issue a retraction on his statement.





(Thanks to Magerin for the link)



