Just To Be Super Clear, Most Mass Shootings Happen In The Bible Belt

So don't go blaming us godless heathens for it.

It's that time again! The time when gun-loving, Bible-toting (or Bible-loving, gun-toting), god-bothering Christians start explaining to the rest of us that the real reason these people are going on killing sprees is because of godlessness . Yes, godlessness. The country is largely controlled by Christians ... but the ones responsible for this bloodshed are atheists like me.

Grant, we know you don't care. 

Now, we are not the ones who are actually committing these mass shootings. Indeed, many of the most prolific mass shooters and terrorists have in fact been self-identified Christian nationalists, people who — like those talking about "godlessness" — want to be able to force everyone in the nation to practice and/or abide by the tenets of their religion. How are we doing this? I could not begin to tell you. Is it simply by existing? We're just out here putting our godlessness particles into the ether and all of these gun-toting maniacs are taking them in by osmosis? Or are we perhaps beaming messages into their brains like "Kill! Kill! Shoot up your local grocery store or mall or school"? Are they sure that's us, or could it be their neighbor's dog?

The curious thing here is that the vast majority of mass shootings in the United States actually happen in the Bible belt, the part of the country with the highest concentration of Bible-believing Christians. The areas of the country where people are significantly unlikely to have any homicidal atheist cooties rub off on them.

 Gun Violence Archive  

We're not terribly well-represented in prisons, either. A 2021 report found that only 0.1 percent of people incarcerated in federal prisons identified as either being atheists or humanists.

If we're not doing these crimes, if we're nowhere near where most of them are taking place, then how is this our fault? Also, if Christianity prevents crimes, then why are there more mass shootings in the Bible Belt? Why are there so many more gun deaths in general there?

And why aren't these people taking any "personal responsibility" for them?

There are far more mass shootings in the South, with some of the most horrific ones this year happening in Texas, specifically. How much more religious would Texas have to be in order to solve this problem?

If the problem is "godlessness," then what is the solution?

The scary thing here is that politicians are actually using this rhetoric to impose religion on schoolchildren, with Texas legislators voting to require schools to put the Ten Commandments upin every classroom and bring back school prayer on the grounds that this will prevent school shootings. Or they're claiming that their "thoughts and prayers" would work to end mass shootings if people just believed in God. As if God is a very murdery Tinkerbell.

To be clear, if I did think that God existed and that he was sitting up there on his cloud going "Sure, I could stop this guy from going into a preschool and murdering a bunch of toddlers, but I juuuuuuuuust don't think people are praying hard enough!" then I can't imagine that I would worship him.

But if people really think that the problem is "godlessness," then they must think the cure for it is forcing others to believe in their God and follow their religion. Historically, this is rarely a peaceful and non-violent process.

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I have to say, I truly don't see the appeal.

I just want to be extremely clear when I say that the incredible number of mass shootings we have in this country is not an unfortunate coincidence or an inevitable reality we can do nothing about, but an active choice. It is not caused by "godlessness" or "secularism" or anything else. People with power — largely Christian people with power, given that the rest of us don't have nearly as much — have decided that mass shootings are an acceptable price to pay in exchange for them getting to have whatever guns they want with no restrictions.

It is not a choice atheists are making. Statistically, we overwhelmingly   support gun control . Then again, just about everyone else does too.

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