Do you hate atheists? If so, then OSU football player Jake Russell (#21, punter) might just want to be your friend. He recently posted to Twitter: "my roommate xxx xxx (look him up on Facebook) is an atheist, please show him some hate." I've removed the roommate's name for the sake of his privacy, though you can probably find it elsewhere by now.
I feel very sorry for Jake Russel's roommate. If I lived with someone who sent out a call to the world to show me some hate, and I'm a member of a minority group that has experienced violence at the hands of Christians, I'd fear for my safety.
The tweet was deleted later on by Mr. Russell, but not before it was captured for the entire world to see Mr. Russell's bigotry on display (see image below). Why did Mr. Russell want his 1,400+ followers to show some hate to an atheist? And what exactly does it mean to "show hate?"
Clearly concerned about the well being of Mr. Rouse, the screen capture was emailed to OSU Vice President of Student Life, Javaune Adams-Gaston. Mrs. Adams-Gaston assured American Atheists (via Greg Lammers, our Missouri State Director, who saw and reported the tweet) that the school will investigate the matter immediately. Thank you to Mrs. Adams-Gaston and The Ohio State University for not sitting idly by while this happens.
Source: American Atheists
Imagine if Jake Russel had sent out call that "my roommate is a Jew, please send him some hate" or "my roommate is a Muslim, please send him some hate," do you suppose there would be any debate about whether it was egregious and outlandish bigotry? I don't, and I'm pretty sure that the school administration would come down on him very, very hard for such statements.
But what will they do when the hate is being directed at atheists? Will they treat it as seriously as when the hate is directed at Jews or Muslims? Or will they regard it as a trivial matter, sending the message that the safety and welfare of atheists isn't very important? The latter has happened far too often.
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