Atheists are unable to feel sympathy, horror, or love

Or any other emotion. PZ Myers at Pharyngula takes Dinesh D'Souza's bizarre claims about the absence of atheists after the Virginia Tech shooting and shreds it to pieces:

Start with the title: "Dawkins' Message to Mourners--Get Over It!". That sounds as if he is reporting that Dawkins has said something horribly callous directly to the grieving families, doesn't it? Well, no … all we actually have in this article from Richard Dawkins is a quote from his book, River Out of Eden^{(amzn/b&n/abe/pwll)}, published in the mid-90s.

The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind pitiless indifference.

Which is all quite true; I don't see the universe rising up to offer consolation to the families who have lost people they loved, or even better, magically blocking the bullets that have caused so much pain. I also don't see Dawkins offering this unpleasant fact of reality as funeral oratory, much less telling the families to "get over it."

So D'Souza has concocted an article entirely out of a lie. Is anyone surprised?

[snip]

After bumbling his way through more hateful stereotypes, D'Souza closes with a question.

I really want to hear what the atheist would tell the grieving mothers.

Hmmm. Something like, "I'm sorry. I wish I could help you bear your loss. Is there anything I can do to help?"

You know, some expression of regret and commisseration, and an offer of a shoulder to lean on. Like any other decent human being would.

Something D'Souza would find unfamiliar.