I’ve had a mix of emotions regarding the killing and wounding of the churchgoers in Knoxville over the weekend. As someone who describes himself these days as a born-again Unitarian, I consider the victims to be fellow coreligionists and brothers in sisters in finding our own paths. Because of my connection to these people through our common covenant, I am saddened by the loss of two individuals, one of which it seems acted heroically in using his body to shield other congregants. This man and those who tackled the gunman to the ground and disarmed him before police could arrive are heroes and should be hailed as such.
This blog post by RJ Eskow in the Huffington Post gives a good overview of the UU theology and social activism which seems to have led this angry and bitter man to this horrible act of violence.
I consider it a crime of hate and intolerance, but since I don’t really believe in hate crime legislation—a pre-meditated murder is a murder is a murder, no matter the reasoning—that really doesn’t matter much. I just hope that the media will call a spade a spade here and point the finger not just at this man’s madness, but that his opinions were fueled by a right-wing noise culture that demonizes liberals as unpatriotic demons who work against God’s good work on the earth.
4 months ago