by Damozel | The Moderate Voice's Elrod, a member of the church, has a beautiful post about how they are coping with this tragedy (discussed here in The Guardian). Elrod writes:
Last night we mourned.
We grieved....
It was a moment of solidarity.
It was a moment of hope....
In an iconic UU moment, the President told us that a reporter had asked him if he thought the shooter was going to Hell. Everybody started chuckling in the crowd and the President said, “I don’t know what will happen after he dies, but I do know that he has been living in his own Hell for years.” And that was the true compassion of the Unitarian Universalist Church - to show sympathy even for those who would harm us. To love our enemies. It was a powerful example for those of us who may not accept the divinity of Jesus that, at the very least, he was a powerful teacher. This moment was not just Unitarianism at its best. It was Christianity at its best. (More)
I note a dearth of the pointing fingers one sees on the left and the futile (and defensive rage) one sees on the right.
This is what liberal Christianity is about....trying to live according to our best understanding of Christ's recommendations, accepting that there is more than one view of what he asked, and refraining from judging those who fail or who choose otherwise.
These are the true liberal values. If only shooter Jim Adkisson had really understood this....
Elrod expounds further on the values of the targeted UUC, where eight people were shot for being too liberal.
My wife and I walked into the TVUUC sanctuary and stood exactly where the shooter was, saw where Greg McKendry stood, and sat where we normally sat in church - right behind Greg McKendry. We thought about all the wonderful moments we’ve had at TVUUC - the prayers, the songs, the sermons, the fellowship, the moments when my son embarrassed us by blurting out during the religious education director’s story, the plays, the spirit of the place. We saw the Welcome sign with the rainbow on it. On the back of the sign was a note remarking that a similar sign in 1950 that said “Welcome” had encouraged controversy back then. In 1950 Knoxville was segregated and Tennessee Valley Unitarian Church (later TVUUC) admitted African Americans and whites to worship together. For this, the church was punished by the city. The only thing that has changed on the sign is the rainbow and the word “Universalist” in the name. There is clearly a direct line between the civil rights movement in Knoxville in the 1950s and the gay rights movement today. TVUUC has proudly stood on the front lines both times, no matter the cost. (More)
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