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As an atheist, the serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer engaged in cannibalism.^[1] See also: Atheism and cannibalism

The following is a list of atheist shooters and serial killers. Atheists have a long record of being mass shooters and militant atheism in general has a causal association with mass murder.

Due to this fact, peer reviewed research published in academic journals has found that society-at-large is likely to hold atheists responsible for capital criminal acts and that even atheists are likely to assume that serial killers are fellow atheists.^[2]^[3]^[4]

John Lott, President of the Crime Prevention Research Center states:

“

After the attack at the Santa Fe High School, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick denounced a loss of faith and religion in society. While the news media puts the lives of these mass public killers under a microscope, collecting any information that can be gleaned about their childhoods from their family and friends and social media history, researchers have ignored the religious views of these killers.

What is most shocking is how few of these killers appear to be religious, let alone Christian. Just 16 percent have any type of religious affiliation at the time of their attacks, with a slight majority of those being Muslims.

Over just over 20 years from the beginning of January 1998 through today, there have been 69 killers committing 66 mass public shootings in the United States where at least four people have been killed. Of those attacks, just four have been identified as Christians, with just three clearly regular churchgoers. With 70 percent of Americans identifying themselves as Christians and over 33 percent going to church at least once a week, those numbers are a long way away from the 48 or 23 we would respectively expect.^[5]

”

Ken Lambert in his Catholic Business Journal Daily article The Link Between Atheists, Agnostics and Mass Shooters wrote:

“

The facts are as follows:

There have been 69 “mass” shootings since 1998 in the U.S.
Only about 16% of which were from people who had a current, significant religious worldview/belief structure
Out of that small 16% majority, a little over half were Muslim
ONLY 4 OUT OF THE 69 KILLERS WERE/ARE CHRISTIAN
If my math is correct, only about 6% of the mass killers were Christian
Looking at the facts, what trait by itself correlates to NOT being a mass shooter? I would say, being a Christian.^[6]

”

1 List of atheist shooters and serial killers
2 Study: People assume serial killers are atheists
3 Young mass murderers and atheism
4 Atheists and psychological factors related to mass shooters
5 Agnostic shooters, serial killers and domestic terrorists
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

List of atheist shooters and serial killers[edit]

Jared Loughner's mugshot, released January 10, 2011

Connor Betts: the Dayton, Ohio nightclub shooter and avowed Marxist who killed 9 people (August 2019)^[7]^[8]^[9]^[10]^[11]
Dimitrios Pagourtzis, Santa Fe, Texas shooter who killed at least 10 people at a public school, described himself as an atheist on his Facebook page (May 2018)^[12]
Gabriel Ross Parker, shooter at Marshall County High School in Kentucky who murdered two people (January 2018)^[13]^[14]^[15]
Devin Patrick Kelley, perpetrator of the Sutherland Springs, Texas shooting at First Baptist Church, murdered 26 people (November 2017)^[16]^[17]^[18]^[19]^[20]^[21]
Chris Harper Mercer, Umpqua Community College gunman (October 2015)^[22]^[23]
Craig Stephen Hicks, perpetator of the Chapel Hill Shootings (February 2015)^[24]
Jared Lee Loughner, perpetrator of the Tucson Shootings (January 2011)^[25]
Seung-Hui Cho, perpetrator of the Virginia Tech shootings (April 2007)^[26]
Jeffrey Dahmer, serial killer and sex offender responsible for the rape, murder, and dismemberment of seventeen men and boys (1978 - 1991)^[1]
James Oliver Huberty, perpetrator of the San Ysidro McDonald's massacre (July 1984)^[27]
Carl Panzram (1891-1930) was an American serial killer, rapist, arsonist, robber and burglar. In his autobiography and prison confessions Panzram claimed he committed 21 murders (a majority of which were not corroborated) and over 1,000 sodomies of boys and men. He was executed for murdering a prison employee at Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary. Panzram declared "“I don't believe in man, God nor Devil. I hate the whole damned human race, including myself. I preyed upon the weak, the harmless and the unsuspecting. This lesson I was taught by others: might makes right.”^[28]
Payton Gendron

Dressed in all black with his face covered, Antifa terrorist Connor Betts during the Dayton nightclub attack.^[29]^[30] Betts stated “I want socialism, and I’ll not wait for the idiots to finally come round understanding.”

Study: People assume serial killers are atheists[edit]

The news and analysis website Axios reported:

“

A new study published in Nature Human Behaviour found that people around the world are predisposed to believe that atheists are more likely to be serial killers than religious believers — a bias even held by atheists themselves.

By the numbers: The study included 3,256 participants across 13 diverse countries that included highly secular nations like Finland and the Netherlands as well as highly religious ones like the United Arab Emirates and India.^[31]

”

Young mass murderers and atheism[edit]

See also: Young mass murderers A significant portion of the recent incidents involving young mass murderers have involved atheists.

Atheists and psychological factors related to mass shooters[edit]

Atheist mass shooter Devin Patrick Kelley

The atheist PZ Myers, quoting fellow leftist Alex Nichols, said that jibes associating outspoken atheists with neckbeards (among other things) caused many liberals/leftists to leave the atheist tent and those who remained for the most part lacked in social skills and self-awareness.^[32] See also: Atheism and social skills

The FBI has performed some preliminary research on the psychology of mass shooters: FBI on psychology of mass shooters and FBI Study Identifies Warning Signs Of Future Mass Shooters.

John Stott in his 2018 Daily Caller article entitled What Is The Religion Of Mass Public Shooters? wrote:

“

Just 16 percent have any type of religious affiliation at the time of their attacks, with a slight majority of those being Muslims.

”

Mass shooters often have these characteristics:

1. Frequently are sociopaths or have psychopathic tendencies (see: Atheism and sociopathy and Atheism and psychopathy).^[34]

2. Most mass shooters are men. Of the 62 cases of American mass shooters from 1982–2012, one of them was a woman.^[35] The majority of atheists are men (see: Atheism and women).

3. Tend to be proud, narcissists who crave attention (see: Atheism and arrogance and Atheism and narcissism).^[36]^[37]

4. Many are loners (see: Atheism and loneliness and Atheism and social outcasts and Atheism and social/interpersonal intelligence and Atheism and marriage).^[38]

5. Many have interpersonal conflicts with family, friends, and colleagues at work or school (see: Atheism and social/interpersonal intelligence and Atheist factions)^[39]

6. Often have substance abuse problems (See: Atheism and alcoholism and Atheism and drug addiction).^[39]

7. Often kill themselves or engage in "death by cop" (see: Atheism and suicide).^[37]

8. Frequently tend to kill out of revenge/bitterness/unforgiveness/anger (see: Atheism and bitterness and Atheism and unforgiveness and Atheism and anger and Atheism and love).^[39]^[40]

9. Often have poor emotional control (see: Atheism and negative emotions/thoughts).

10. Frequently are very unhappy people (see: Atheism and happiness and Atheism and depression).^[41]

11. Many mass shooters are disgruntled people with a sense of entitlement (see: Atheism and gratitude and Atheism and envy).^[36]^[38]

12. Most come from fatherless homes (see: Atheism and illegitimate births and Atheism and divorce and Atheism and poor relationships with parents and Psychology of atheism).^[42]

13. Many mass shooters have feelings of despair (see: Atheism and hopelessness and Atheism, agnosticism and pessimism).^[43]

14. Mass shooters often see violence as the only answer (see: Atheism and violence and Irreligion and domestic violence and Atheism and mass murder and Atheist atrocities and Atheism and human rights violations).^[44]

15. Some experts believe that a significant percentage of mass shooters have mental illness (see: Atheism and mental illness).^[45]^[46]^[47]

16. According to Business Insider: "According to the nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety, the majority of mass shootings in the US are in some way related to domestic or family violence. A 2018 Everytown report indicates that in at least 54% of mass shootings, the perpetrator also shot a current or former intimate partner or family member." (see: Irreligion and domestic violence).^[48]

17. A little over third of the adult mass shooters had prior criminal convictions (see: Irreligious prison population and Religion and crime reduction).^[39]

18. Often have health concerns which acts as a stressor in their lives (see: Atheism and health and Irreligion and recovery from illnesses and Atheism and life expectancy)^[39]

19. Many are active on the internet and frequently it is found that they have posted disturbing things on social media and/or other websites (see: Internet atheism).

A study entitled Mass Shootings and Media Contagion Theory: Social Media’s Influence on Frequency of Incidents published by Kristina J. Lee at Elon University indicates:

“

This study suggests that there is a pattern between the spread of mass shooting news on social media platforms and the increase in these crimes. Over time, as social media has increased in usage, so has the coverage of news concerning mass shootings. This also further reflects shooters’ desire for fame and their tendency to copy a crime.

Evidence from this study reveals a large increase in the number of mass shootings after 2011’s social media milestones, and one can conclude that social media most likely has some effect on these crimes, although the degree of this relationship is beyond the scope of this study.^[49]

”

Agnostic shooters, serial killers and domestic terrorists[edit]

James Holmes, perpetrator of the Aurora shooting (July 2012)^[50]

Timothy McVeigh (April 23, 1968 – June 11, 2001) was the main perpetrator in the Oklahoma City Bombing on April 19, 1995, which killed 168 people in the worst act of domestic terrorism in American history. Contrary to the popular and oft-repeated belief among liberals and the irreligious, McVeigh was not a right-wing evangelical Christian. In fact, McVeigh was raised Roman Catholic, but professed agnosticism.^[51] His political beliefs were libertarian.