Comments on: Breaking: Unitarian-Universalist Church Shooting

By: Illisse

Illisse — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 01:55:00 +0000

Thank you Yvonne

~Illisse

By: Yvonne

Yvonne — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 21:04:00 +0000

Illisse asked if there was a relief fund for the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church.

There is: Unitarian Universalist Association Launches Knoxville Relief Fund

It will be used to provide spiritual care and practical financial assistance to those affected by the tragedy in Knoxville, Tennessee.

By: writtenwyrdd

writtenwyrdd — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:36:00 +0000

This is absolutely horrible, but it is not terrorism, Deborah. It is a hate crime, yes. And it’s wrong and all kinds of indescribably horrible that this idiot saw fit to attack innocent people. But it is not terrorism. If you start labeling every act of violence or protest terrorism, you are playing into the hate monger’s hands. Because soon anything that smacks of disapproval from the government–including peaceful protests–will be terrorism.

By: Yvonne

Yvonne — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 12:38:00 +0000

If anyone wants to send condolences, you can do so at this special blog set up by the Unitarian Universalist Association.

By: Yvonne

Yvonne — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 08:34:00 +0000

This is so sad. It’s terrible that people should be killed for trying to make a difference to others’ lives, and for being accepting and loving and inclusive. My heart goes out to the Tennessee Valley UUs, and they are in my thoughts and prayers. I hope they find healing.

By: Sangrail

Sangrail — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 02:28:00 +0000

Friends of mine were in the church at the time of the shooting. I am feeling so fortunate that they were not injured, but I have heard so much about the sad loss of Greg McKendry, who evidently put himself between the gunman and members of the congregation.

There's no if's here, there are pagans and members of CUUPS in that congregation.

When I first heard the news, even before anything about the gunman's motives were known, I couldn't help but guess that it was because the UU *is* the sort of church it is -
welcoming, and accepting of pagans, of religious diversity, of glbt, and human diversity.

By: genexs

genexs — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 00:13:00 +0000

Heartbreaking. We will help, Jason.

By: Carol Maltby

Carol Maltby — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 22:42:00 +0000

Brock and Lark, if you’re reading this I think we’d value your local perspective.

By: Carol Maltby

Carol Maltby — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 22:34:00 +0000

It wasn’t just the abstract enemies that the hate radio he listened to encouraged. It’s important to realize that Adkisson had a personal emotional connection to the congregation. His ex-wife Liza Alexander of Powell, was a former long-time member of the congregation there. They’d divorced 8 years ago after he’d held a gun to her head.

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/jul/28/woman-accused-shooter-hated-anyone-different-him/

Interesting emotional tone to the online responses to the Knox News article. I’m used to seeing a lot of anger and blame and reactionary zeal as online responses to this sort of news. Instead, I was seeing a lot of compassion and intelligence, the understanding that Adkisson seemed to have long-term mental problems, and an interest in talking about the positive aspects of Unitarian Universalism. Some posters said they hadn’t really known what the church was about, and appreciated learning about UU values. This congregation didn’t just give lip service to supporting LGBTQ issues, they did things like have a drop-in coffee house on Saturday nights for LGBTQ teens.

My heart goes out to the kids who were performing. I’m not clear if it was just a play of some sort, or if it was a Youth Sunday service in dramatic form. I remember UU Youth Sunday services giving me a good grounding in the crafting of ritual when I was a teen. May the loving embrace of their community help them with their healing.

By: Lonnie

Lonnie — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 21:15:00 +0000

One of the great mysteries of the universe is how conservative Republicans have made themselves seem to be the friend of the average guy. Despite cutting a huge range of social programs including Medicare, Housing and Urban Development, and Food Stamps, somehow they’ve convinced your average person that “liberals” are to blame for all the problems of working class America.

As more information becomese available from the horrible shooting in Tennessee, it has become clear that Unitarian Universalists were targeted for their liberal viewpoints. Here’s a guy that has lost his job, and just been told that the Government is cutting his food stamps, and yet he targets “liberals” who are generally the advocates for programs that help the poor by using federal money. True, this guy was not the brightest bulb out there, but how much sense does it take to realize that the people cutting the programs that you depend on are the ones you should be angry at?

True, it’s just one nutter, but I think it speaks volumes about a larger toxic lie that somehow much of the working class has bought into. By telling people that liberals are going to “take away your right to hunt” and “ban the bible” (both real tactics used in recent years) conservatives have managed to hide the fact that they are screwing the average person while making themselves rich. Nonetheless, this guy isn’t going to be hunting ever again, or owning a gun, and I suspect his bible isn’t going to do him a heck of alot of good either come “judgement day”, but he can probably be thankful that the liberals he terrorized will nonetheless be likely to advocate against the death penalty…