Atheist Asked By Wolf Blitzer If She Thanked the Lord After OK Tornado Honored

September 5, 2013
4:10PM
Post by Becky Garrison

"I have something to put in my obituary now." –Rebecca Vitsmun

The Biggest applause at the Atheist Alliance of America 2013 convention went to Rebecca Vitsmun, the young mother living in Moore, Oklahoma who became a viral sensation after CNN's Wolf Blitzer asked her if she thanked the Lord for saving her life during a deadly tornado, to which she responded, "I'm an atheist." The AAA chose to reward Vitsmun for her courage in coming out to her family and the nation by awarding her a "Grace Under Pressure" award, as well as giving her son a toy microphone.

In her talk and subsequent interview, she debunked Time columnist Joe Klein's assertion that humanists did not contribute to the Oklahoma disaster relief efforts. However, she compared the lack of organized humanist organizations and secular groups like the Red Cross working on the ground to the clearly identified Christian groups who could be spotted sifting through the debris, as well as providing victims with meals and other basic physical necessities.

"The local humanist groups were disjointed and just doing their own thing. They didn't have matching shirts like the Christian groups did so they weren't easy to identify as a group. Hence, secular individuals who came in to help didn't know how to get plugged in. So they just volunteered with a church group without stating they were secular."

http://www.religiondispatches.org/dispatches/guest_bloggers/7290/atheist_asked_by_wolf_blitzer_if_she_thanked_the_lord_after_ok_tornado_honored/

http://aaaboston2013.com/

https://podio.com/webforms/5258754/412194

A simple matter-of-fact answer to a stupid question pretty much says it all. Amazing presence of mind to say that while standing next to the ruins of her home.