Congressional Candidate and Nephew of 'Duck Dynasty' Patriarch Under Fire Over Comments About Sandy Hook, Mass Killings and Atheism

It's a well-known fact that Zach Dasher, the nephew of “Duck Dynasty” patriarch Phil Robertson, is running for Louisiana’s 5th Congressional District — and, as his campaign forges on, some controversial comments he once made about Sandy Hook and atheism are getting widespread attention.

Prior to his congressional run, Dasher ran a website and podcast at WillingToThink.org, where he covered social and political subjects like the concept of "liberty," the Pledge of Allegiance and the Sandy Hook massacre, according to BuzzFeed.

During a podcast titled, "Why Did This Happen," Dasher, a Republican, addressed mass killings, saying that "mental illness and guns are not the cause of mass murder." He also lambasted both postmodernism and atheism as societal problems that have essentially led to mass moral decay.

Image via Zach Dash/Facebook

"We have denied that man is made in God's image. This is the why," he said. "This is the why — the reason why this happened is that we have denied as a culture that man is made in God's image."

Dasher argued that blaming mass murder on mental illness is an inaccurate way of looking at the issue, claiming that those who commit these crimes suffer from a grander internal and societal problem.

Republican Zach Dasher, a relative of TV's "Duck Dynasty" family, speaks after signing up to run for the 5th District congressional seat on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2014, in Baton Rouge, La. Dasher is one of several candidates seeking to oust U.S. Rep. Vance McAllister. (AP Photo/Melinda Deslatte)

"He has in some way rejected reality … the reality that man is made in the image of God and because of that he is intimately precious," Dasher said, presumably of Adam Lanza, who killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012.

The congressional candidate went on to say that the "atheist agenda" reinforces this very message — a message that says "you don't matter ... all you are is chemical, all you are is material."

"These children that were killed in Connecticut were made for a purpose and to be honest with you even the killer himself was made for a purpose he was made in the image of God. But somewhere along the way he believed what the atheist says," he said. "He reduced humanity to nothing more than a collection of atoms to be discarded like an old banana peel."

Dasher continued, "He planned a way for himself to rise above the status of mere chemical. He found a way to matter even if it was for the most disgusting unimaginable act."

This left BuzzFeed, among others, accusing Dasher of blaming "atheism for the Sandy Hook school shooting." What do you think?

Listen to the entire podcast here.

(H/T: BuzzFeed)