The morning after the tragic Sikh Temple shooting in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, The 700 Club’s Pat Robertson came out to place the blame on atheists and those who “hate God.”

STORY: Too Many Angry Men With Guns by Michael Skolnik

According to Robertson: “…people who are atheists, they hate God, they hate the expression of God, and they are angry at the world, angry with themselves, angry with society and they take it out on innocent people who are worshipping God…”

Wade Michael Page has been identified as the alleged Wisconsin shooter. Wade is a 40-year-old Army veteran who the Southern Poverty Law Center claims was a one-time leader of a racial supremacist group.

Robertson continued:

“Whether it’s a Sikh temple, or a Baptist church, or a Catholic church, or a Muslim mosque – whatever it is – I just abhor this kind of violence, and it’s the kind of thing that we should do something about.”

However, Rajwant Singh, chairman of the Washington-based Sikh Council on Religion and Education, told the Associated Press he believes the attacks took place out of ignorance.

Singh says:

“This is something we have been fearing since 9/11, that this kind of incident will take place. It was a matter of time because there’s so much ignorance and people confuse us (as) being members of Taliban or belonging to (Osama) bin Laden.”

Robertson’s claim may hold some truth, but it’s also clear that sheer ignorance played a role in this tragedy as well. We pray for the lives lost, and hope that this recent trend of mass shootings comes to an end.

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