Yesterday, there was a shooting at a Unitarian church in Knoxville Tennessee. Shootings at schools, malls, and even churches have been occurring with somewhat regularity. However, this shooting is something that brings into sharp focus many disparate issues affecting our nation.
There was something mentally wrong with this man. As information comes out on the shooter, we find that he had a history of getting in trouble, being court-martialed as a soldier in the 1970’s (he did not serve in Vietnam). His wife filed a protection order against him, fearing for her life. He had been in and out of jobs for years, and recently, lost the ability to gain food stamps.
He blamed his condition on life, not because of the hard drinking he had done, or depressed area in which he lived, or on his anger or rage... but because of liberalism.
Yes, liberals were the cause of his situation in life. He further focused his hatred towards "the gays." Ten years ago this fall, we saw a similar act of violence against a boy in Laramie Wyoming. Ten years ago, we saw a similar act of violence to a man in Jasper, Texas. It seems that we have not gone very far from those days, where we looked darkly into ourselves and thought, "How did we get here?"
So this man, so angry, upset, and enraged at the world around him lashed out at the only thing he saw as being able to get back.
So he shot up a church.
It wasn’t any church, it was a simple, Unitarian church, who had long opened their arms to the gay community in Knoxville Tennessee. They did what most Unitarian churches I have seen in my life do: they let you have a personal relationship with a greater being, and through the church seek friendship and fellowship. It is amazing that a man could see such evil in a church like this... but he did.
The church will bounce back... and the church will do something that we will come to admire. In the heart of the south, where the gays go to Atlanta or up north, where the queers are around because of the University in town, and only tolerated, this church will stand up and continue to embrace it’s mission.
It could be a turning point. For so many gay Christians out there, afraid to show their belief in Jesus Christ, to show solidarity for a church, literally, under fire. This could be a flash point, where the gay community (at least in Knoxville Tennessee) will be shaken awake from their worlds, to look to their allies, and say, "Thank you for taking a stand, we’re here to help you" and actually do something about it.
This man, this shooter, this murderer, is a sick man. He needs help. We need to understand how he got to this decision. Some in the media are already looking to his reading: Right Wing Pundits, and claiming a brainwashing propaganda... but I am not willing to go there. Bill O’Reilly alone cannot take the wrap for this. Instead, we need take a step back and look at our society, and why such a man can make a blanket state towards "liberals" and hate them so much.
In 2004, Barack Obama said simply:
"The pundits, the pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I’ve got news for them, too. We worship an "awesome God" in the Blue States, and we don’t like federal agents poking around in our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and yes, we’ve got some gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and there are patriots who supported the war in Iraq. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America."
We need to remember this. We need to remember to not separate ourselves, because the artificial boundaries we make create real divisions in our hearts, our minds, and our souls. We need to not vilify our conservative brethren, because we need them to become a more perfect union.
Send good thoughts, prayers, and light candles to those from that church. Send good thoughts, prayers, and light Candles to those who go hungry tonight so that they can drive to work tomorrow. Send good thoughts, prayers, and light candles to those who want this country to become greater. Send good thoughts, prayers, and light candles for each other, your neighbors, and your friends... for you never know when something can change forever.