Shock, confusion over Knoxville murders
Dear Mr. Bageant:
I am heartsick. Some nut went on a shooting rampage at our sister church in Knoxville last Sunday. I am a Unitarian Universalist living in Eastern Tennessee -- not the most liberal area in the world, for sure, but not a land of drooling maniacs, either. I like my neighbors, and have no reason to fear them. I am originally from New York.
It's so hard to make sense of all this. In my heart, I feel that this was the depraved act of a sick individual, who was incapable of taking responsibility for his lot in life, and instead, went looking for a scapegoat. It disturbs me greatly that there are such disturbed people in our midst- our neighbors, aquaintences, and perhaps, even families, but it is a fact of life. Life is very fragile.
It was revealed today that the shooter admitted to having a grudge against liberals and gays, and deliberately targeted the Unitarian Universalist church because they are a progressive community, and support the gay community, among many others. If the guy did this because he was sick, the trigger for the rampage wouldn't matter. It could have been anything.
Still, I feel an unease that a few over-exposed windbags, men with big mouths and no courage, have succeeded in convincing average, everyday ignorant working class redneck schlubs, who barely have two nickles to rub together, that liberals are the root of all evil in this country. I have heard the drool on the AM dial. The seething, apoplectic hatred of liberals being hissed out in ever more sinister tones, every day. The irony is that the UU community would have fallen all over themselves to help this man, had he asked, and the progressive causes we support greatly benefit people like him. Oh yeah, he was also upset about his food stamps running out. Imagine!
And then there are the guns. I don't think there was any way to prevent this from happening. Plenty of my neighbors own guns, and use them responsibly. I personally choose not to, but gun owners, per se, don't bother me.
But yet, as a UU, I don't want to see this man executed by the state. The damage is already done, and state-sanctioned murder isn't going to bring anyone back, or bring anyone comfort or satisfaction. I also refuse to be cowed into silence. I am proud of being a UU and proud of what we stand for. This tragedy makes me even more determined to stand up and be counted, because my calling to fight for justice far outweighs my fear of death. I wouldn't be living if I had to worship with armed security guards in the sanctuary every Sunday. No. Never. That is what true freedom means to me. Live free, or die.
I am shocked, confused, and heartsick. What do you think, Joe?
Do be well,
Daniel
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Dear Daniel,
I have no more insight than most other Americans. I simply have more time to think about our national problems because I write about them. However, I would like to off excerpts from two letters from your area of the country, both of the writers descendants of Border Scots Irish, regarding the shootings:
"In our bedroom community of Knoxville yesterday, one of our Borderer kin ran amok and decided to "kill all the liberals" by starting with the local Unitarian congregation ... So very, very sad ... This is what Coulter, Rush and O-Reilly promote and love to trade in ...
You know that this poor loon was at one time a good and decent person -- in fact, he was known for helping his neighbors -- but the hopelessness of his situation drove him over the edge ... Tragic. Unitarians for chrissakes! A more harmless group of souls would be difficult to find."
In Peace and Hope,
Robert
And, one more letter:
"... The meaninglessness of life in working class America takes it's painful toll in loneliness and alienation. That is bad enough in itself, but the worst kind of people among us, the very people and class that profit from misery and ignorance, are always right there to direct the anger that ultimately must arise from the frustrating emptiness and fear that has become our national atmosphere. Mr. Adkisson may have been religiously obsessed, but he was also an out-of-work truck driver nearing 60 and about to lose his food stamps. We can blame Mr Adkisson, we can blame the Rush Limbaughs and Anne Coulters for publicly advocating just this sort of action, and making millions in the process. But ultimately we must ask just what sort of society produces school shootings and the kind of violence we have just seen in my native Tennessee. When we honestly examine that question we will discover that we are active ingredients in that society, one which has allowed faceless millions to decline into ignorance, fear and despair. And tolerated the hate speech of those who incite these damaged souls to violence for their own political or financial gain.
We all have a moral choice to make. We can become more hateful, each of us in our own political camp, or we can forgive Mr. Adkisson and make open personal resistance, each in his or her own way, against those who manage our society to such desperate ends. Or we can continue to be divided by those in whose best interests it is to see us hate one another politically or religiously.
I think the Unitarians leadership and that of the local fundamentalist congregations should meet, pray and break bread together regularly, for all are believers in a peaceful and meaning filled life of purpose, regardless of creed or even lack of creed. The truth is that such a group sharing fellowship in the flesh cannot be falsely mislead by distant demagogues."
Namaste,
RandallP.S. In case you were wondering, I am a Southern Baptist.
