Knoxville shootings rattle UU faithful

Rattled doesn't even begin to cover it. We are reeling.

Thank you for the article.

The ironic thing is that, if this poor, disturbed man had expressed his despair in a way that was not violent, the congregation and its leadership would doubtless have reached out to him, invited him in, comforted him, and tried to help him find work and peace of mind. I ache for us UU folks all over the UU universe, for all liberal thinkers who also feel attacked, and for the angry David Adkisson and his family, for we all share the pain of this horrific event.

Nowadays, I have just as much disdain for liberals as I always had for conservatives. My heart goes out to the congregation for this tragedy, but nutcases like Jim Adkisson are always going to be waiting and looking for someone to pump. And there are plenty of people like this on the liberal end as well.

There AREN'T plenty of people on the liberal end ready to burst into a church or any other public place and indiscriminately pump bullets into innocent people including small children. There just aren't.

If Ms. Czerniak could provide one, just ONE example of a liberal shooting up or blowing up a building full of people, I'd be obliged. So far the only people I've seen doing such horrible things at churches, schools, daycare centers, fast food restaurants, or workplaces are either apolitical or reactionary.

There is a minority of UUs who get way too "in your face" with others about transforming their religious viewpoints into political actions, and they end up alienating a lot of more moderate people and in some cases, more extreme people like the one in Tennessee. Principle #1 in the UU faith is respecting the inherent worth and dignity of every human being, and while we wrestle with how do you respect those who do not respect others, it is essential that we respect those we do not agree with.

I am not suggesting in the least that the church in Tennessee brought the gunman's actions on themselves, only that it raises a problem I have had with the UU church for a long time. The same week that two people died in Tennessee, scores more were killed in religiously fueled violence in Istanbul, Iraq and India. Religious hatred is everywhere and we need to do whatever we can to promote tolerance of those whose ideas are different from our own.