The Unabomber was an atheist

Yes, he had deep psychological problems. But, according to one court-appointed psychiatrist, he was not psychotic.

His parents were atheists. In an interview he said that he did not believe in G-d.

He did believe in gods. Living in the woods, he hunted rabbits. And he began to believe in a kind of god of rabbits, and he thanked this god when his hunting was successful. And he believed in another kind of god in the forest.

He was brilliant. He saw all the wondrous and abundant sources of animal and vegetable foods. He began to realize that there was something supernatural connected to everything. But his parents never told him the truth about G-d, that everything comes from Him.

He was a math prodigy. Professors were amazed by his intellectual abilities. But his parents and his professors didn’t tell him that G-d created and conducts the world by Divine Providence.

So when he became angry at others, frustrated, and aggressive, he didn’t have the knowledge of G-d’s Omnipotence to help calm him, to feel close to, and to obey. He grew up not cognizant of G-d and His command to not murder.

His parents and professors encouraged and taught him mathematics and other academic information. But he sorely lacked the one piece of awareness that guides a person into how to live a moral life.

Do religious people do immoral things? It happens. The Lubavitcher Rebbe was once asked, why do some religious people steal? And the Rebbe answered, that if you see a person walking out of a doctor’s office with crutches, do you think that this must be a terrible doctor? No, you assume that before this person went to this doctor, he possibly wasn’t able to walk at all. By following the doctor’s instructions, he is now able to walk with crutches. And if he continues to follow the doctor’s instructions, he’ll soon be able to walk without crutches.

The Rebbe explained that people are born with wild tendencies. Growing up, we are guided by parents, teachers, and others on how to behave properly. When you see a person who received religious guidance, behaving inappropriately, it’s not the religious guidance causing it. Just the opposite. The religious guidance has influenced the person to behave better than he used to. And hopefully, by continuing to follow the religious teachings and integrating it, the behaviour will increasingly improve.

But when there is no awareness about G-d, the child is extremely handicapped, having no strong rationale for living a moral life.

He can be close to nature, marvel at its beauty, and not be equipped at all to connect this wonder, to appreciating G-d’s hand in all this. His parents gave him everything, except what he needed most of all.

That’s why the Lubavitcher Rebbe promoted instituting a daily moment of silence in all public schools. And then to publicize in newspapers and similar venues, that parents can tell their children what to think about during the silent moment, beginning with that there is One Who is above, and conducts the life of the child, and the lives of the child’s family and friends.

And then watch the crime rate go way down, and society become peaceful, as everyone uses the world and its wonders, natural and technological, to build a beautiful world.