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And from Salem, a letter on Knoxville

E-mail|Link|Comments (1) Posted by Michael Paulson July 30, 2008 04:05 PM

The Rev. Marjorie Matty, minister of the First Universalist Society of Salem, sends along a copy of a letter she is planning to send tomorrow to her congregation. An excerpt:

"This week has been a very difficult one for Unitarian Universalists around the country and the world...When the news agencies reported this story, they spun it as a gunman (Jim D. Adkisson) targeting a liberal church because he was unemployed and frustrated. The details reveal that Jim D. Adkisson had a history of abuse, alcoholism and five failed marriages. His last ex-wife had been a member of the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church. He was angry and violent and wanted someone to expend his anger on. He chose the church as a place to do this. A letter he left in his car explained that Mr. Adkisson did not expect to survive the attack. The courage and quick response from the congregation was able to subdue him before the police and ambulances arrived.
This is an incredible tragedy in so many ways. Mr. Adkisson was unable to find the help that he clearly needed when he was in dire emotional distress. Secondly, he acted out in a manner that hurt many people physically as well as emotionally. Thirdly, this story is being reported by the media in a way that is fostering an environment of fear in liberal churches around the country.

The church in Knoxville has sustained an assault on their sanctuary, a place that should be sacred, peaceful and safe."

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1 comments so far...

The tragic event at the Knoxville UU church is chillig to me, a member of a UU church in Boston, and to many others.

I thank Rev. Matty for pointing out that the press has chosen to spin this as an attack on a "liberal church". The shooter was not only disturbed in many ways, he was divorced from a member of the TVUUA church. This was not really a random attack on a "liberal church". It was a hateful act perpetrated on a church on a Sunday morning, during its weekly time of holy worship.

Perhaps it sells papers or gains TV ratings to speculate that this event took place because TVUUA is known as a Welcoming Church, or one that helps the homeless or works for social justice. While it is absolutely true that this is a tragic and evil event, let us not get caught up in "spin" and recognize this event, as far as we are able, for what it is.

Posted by Carolyn Russ July 31, 08 01:12 AM

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Michael Paulson covers religion for The Boston Globe. He shared in the Pulitzer Prize in 2003, won the Mike Berger, Templeton and Supple awards in 2008, and is a four-time winner of the Wilbur Award.
E-mail mpaulson@globe.com.

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