Columbine's
Christian Martyrdom Never Happened
The media slobbered all over Columbine high
school student Cassie Bernall's faith in god. Cassie said "yes" when asked
if she believed in god, and was shot because of her faith. Cassie's faith in the
face of death made her the newest Christian martyr. Her story confirmed the
Christian idea that Satan is real and causes atheists to persecute
Christians.
While Cassie's murder is a tragedy, there is a problem with
her martyrdom -- it never happened. What really happened was exactly opposite,
and it didn't happen to Cassie.
Salon magazine, the Rocky
Mountain News and Denver Post tell the stories of the girl under the
table with Cassie, the Sheriff's doubts, and the girl from which Cassie's myth
grew. [Read the stories]
Sheriff investigators had been saying
unofficially they were unable to confirm Cassie's martyrdom. Witnesses' stories
were inconsistent. The primary witness pointed out the wrong table for where
Cassie was shot. These doubts were shared with Cassie's parents.
Emily
Wyant and Cassie Bernall were together alone at the
back of the library. They got under a table when the shooters burst in and
started shooting. "Dear God. Dear God. Why is this happening?" is what Emily
heard Cassie say. Then, Dylan Klebold banged on the table, looked underneath and
yelled "Peekaboo." He shot
Cassie without them exchanging a word.
Emily later had dinner with
Cassie's parents and told them Cassie's real story. Cassie's parents now deny
that Emily said the popular myth about Cassie was false. Emily also told the
Rocky Mountain News what happened five months before the News ran
her story.
The Rocky Mountain News finally ran Emily's story two
weeks after an article on Cassie's mother's book, "She Said Yes: The Unlikely
Martyrdom of Cassie Bernall." The book has 350,000 copies in print
and was recently number 14 on the Publisher's Weekly best seller
list.
Yep, the News promoted a book about Cassie's martyrdom four
and a half months after Emily Wyant told them it never happened. But, where did the
martyrdom myth come from?
Cassie's myth came from one Christian student.
He apparently heard Valeen
Schnurr talking with one of
the shooters. Valeen's story
has now appeared in the Denver Post.
Valeen was bleeding from 34 shotgun pellets. She was
down on her hands and knees saying, "Oh, my god, my god, don't let me die." One
of the shooters then asked her if she believed in god. Valeen said yes. He asked why. "Because I believe and
my parents brought me up that way," Valeen responded. The shooter reloaded, but did not
shoot Valeen
again.
Cassie's Christian martyrdom not only did not happen, what really
happened was exactly opposite. The shooters were not targeting Christians. A
Christian was not killed for professing their faith, but a Christian that
professed faith was spared.
The Columbine killings had nothing to do with
Christianity. That has not stopped Christians from exploiting a lie to advance
Christianity, demonizing atheists, and proclaiming Christianity as the cure for
violence.
You can bet the truth will never get the publicity of a popular
Christian lie. You can bet Cassie's mom will keep selling her book. You can bet
preachers will keep using a lie to get money and converts.
The good news
is that
If we can watch here and now Christians rejecting the truth when the
evidence is fresh and readily available, then we are fully justified in
rejecting old Christian myths that are unsupported by outside
evidence.
Why should anyone trust anything said or believed
by people who invent lies and reject truth? Why should you trust anything the
media says positive about Christian faith or magic?
by Howard
Thompson. This article first appeared in the November 3, 1999 issue
(#35) of The Texas Atheist ,
an independent, free e-mail newsletter. Copyright © 1999 by Howard
Thompson
This file is presented courtesy
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http://www.atheistalliance.org.
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more information:
Email info@atheistalliance.org.