American blogger Avijit Roy often wrote of his desire to one day see the world guided by reason and science instead of the superstitions and hatred so often associated with religious extremism.?But Thursday in Bangladesh, Roy’s voice was silenced forever by those very same extremists who killed him and seriously injured his wife.
Shortly after Roy was declared dead, a previously unknown group called?Ansar Bangla 7 posted the following message on Twitter:
“Target Down here in Bangladesh. (Roy)?was the target because of his crime against Islam.”
According to police, a group of men approached Roy and his wife as they were walking to a tea stall. The men used meat cleavers and machetes to attack the couple. They then disappeared into the crowd, but police found two blood-stained cleavers afterwards.
Roy, who lived in the suburbs of Atlanta, was a software engineer by trade, but he found fame as a blogger and writer of books which criticized what he believed to be the excesses of all organized religions. In one of his most well-known posts, Roy wrote:
“A man’s ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary.”.
Religious extremists denounced such statements as blasphemy, and Roy often said he knew there was a target on his back, writing:
“A well-known extremist…openly issued death threats to me through his numerous Facebook statuses.”
Ever the optimist, Roy thought he could convince those who disagreed with him by simply using reason. As his friend Michael De Dora said:
“Avijit was very idealistic. His understanding was that he wouldn’t be killed, that if anyone ever tried to attack him or hated him, that they could just kind of have a chat and he would convince them…that they could at least have a dialogue.”
That calm voice of reason, humanity, and tolerance has now been stilled. But his words will live on.
