Blogs respond to the Knoxville tragedy

Discussion of the tragic shootings at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville spread throughout the Internet this week. Responses included condolences and prayers for the congregations impacted, analysis of the shooter's motivation, anger at the right-wing media for its perceived encouragement of anti-liberal violence, and pride in Unitarian Universalism's history of commitment to social justice.

Hundreds of messages offering condolences, well wishes, or prayers for Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church and Westside Unitarian Universalist Church were left at the Unitarian Universalist Association blog "Supporting Our Friends in Knoxville" and at the Facebook group "Thoughts&Prayers - KnoxvilleUU."

Updates on the Unitarian Universalist Association's response to the tragedy are being posted on UUA.org and uuworld.org; UU World editor Chris Walton has been tracking the news coverage of the Knoxville shootings and posting daily updates on the "Unitarian Universalists in the Media" blog. (Click here for Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, and Day 4.) The UUA is also posting updates on Facebook at the "Unitarian Universalist Association" page.

At his blog, "The Wild Hunt," UU Pagan blogger Jason Pitzl-Waters published a short roundup of major blog posts related to the tragedy.

Accounts from TVUUC congregants

Several members of TVUUC wrote about their experiences. LiveJournal user bekitty attended the service and describes what happened. "I'm never going to be able to hear balloons popping or cars backfiring without ducking under a table. Ever again." Another LiveJournal user, writingjen, also attended the service with her family, including her father John Worth, who was injured in the shooting. She writes that her 8-year-old daughter observed, "All those times, when I was having a bad day and said it was the worst? Well, this was worser."

TVUUC congregant Elrod, writing at "The Moderate Voice," described UUA President Rev. William Sinkford's participation in the vigil at Second Presbyterian Church in Knoxville on Monday evening:

[Sinkford] asked those not affiliated with one of our neighboring congregations to raise their hands if they had come here just to support us. And nearly half the sanctuary raised their hands. It was so moving. We all started to applaud them. This community will not be intimidated. We will not be terrorized. (July 29, 2008)

Unitarian Universalists proud of social justice stands

As the hateful sentiments of the shooter were disclosed by the Knoxville Police Department, Unitarian Universalist bloggers vowed continued commitment to our progressive stands on social issues.

Sara Robinson at "Orcinus" celebrated Unitarian Universalism's history of liberal social stands:

When you sign up to become a UU, this is the legacy you take on, and from then on attempt to live up to. It's not God's job to make the world a better place. It's yours. This has never been work for the faint of heart, mind, or spirit -- and in this era of conservatism gone crazy, it still isn't. (July 28, 2008)

The Rev. Matt Tittle at "Keep the Faith" urged readers to "stand resolute with our arms and hearts open even wider."

We don't have the luxury to allow each other to be isolated. We don't have the right to isolate ourselves. We can't afford to go it alone. It would be a sin to forget, to ignore, to refuse to care. (July 30, 2008)

The anonymous author of "Herban Sprawl" chimes in, "Religious liberals have the uncanny ability to rise from the ashes and keep making history."

But Jeff at "Transient and Permanent" strikes a note of fear:

If you believe in love on a wide scale, your life is in danger. Maybe not extreme danger–most UUs thankfully will never face the horror the parishioners in Knoxville did–but a real, underlying level of never-quite-escapable danger nonetheless . . . If you are a Unitarian Universalist, your life is in danger every day. (July 29, 2008)

Role of the right-wing media

Some current and former Unitarian Universalists took the discussion a step further, arguing that the right-wing media is at least partially to blame for the shootings.

RJ Eskow, a "Huffington Post" writer with Unitarian Universalist roots, asks, "Who really killed those Unitarians?":

Was it the preachers who spread hatred and intolerance? The politicians who court and flatter them instead of condemning their hate speech? The media machine that attacks liberals, calls them "traitors" and suggests you speak to them "with a baseball bat"? The economic system that batters people like Jim Adkisson until they snap, then tells them their real enemies are gays and liberals and secular humanists?

If you ask me, it was all of the above. (July 28, 2008)

David G. Markham at "Chalicefire" writes, "It is time for Unitarian Universalists and for all people of good will to stand up to the hate mongers. It is time for us to express our moral outrage and what the corporate media is doing to the people of our nation." (July 30, 2008)

Laurie Patton at "Religion Dispatches" took a similar approach, reflecting on her childhood as a Unitarian Universalist and writing, "Sunday’s horrifying episode reminded me that as a liberal I was, and am, part of the culture wars . . ."

Prominent political and religious writers who are not connected to Unitarian Universalism also blamed the right wing media. Dave Neiwert at "Orcinus" wrote:

This was a violent attack on liberals. It was inspired by years of wingnuts talking about how much they hate liberals and wish they could do something about them. This man did. (July 28, 2008).

Joshua Holland at "AlterNet" described Adkisson's worldview as "a picture-perfect summary of the back-lash conservative message."

Digby at "Hullabaloo" concurs, "The conservative movement has created an ideology of hate, and while the vast majority of its adherents are not inspired to actual violence, just one murder is too many."

The Rev. Candace Chellew-Hodge at "Religion Dispatches" writes in her "Open Letter to Sean Hannity," "By using your words to create a world of 'us' and 'them' you only perpetuate violence and discord in our society." (July 29, 2008) 

David Waters of "On Faith," a blog of The Washington Post and Newsweek, observes that "there's a whole lotta ugly out there, coming at us from a never-ending parade of stupid." (July 29, 2008)

But Donald Douglas at "Real Clear Politics" defends conservatives:

[M]edia reports and blogging analyses have zoomed in on Adkisson's professed hatred of liberals while ignoring his economic dislocation and his statements signaling a larger social-psychological alienation. Yet, I'd argue it's unwise to generalize from this one case, to impugn the entire conservative establishment as "out to kill" left-wingers. (July 29, 2008)

Call for tolerant speech

Other prominent bloggers called for people across the political spectrum to consider the impact of their speech. A United Church of Christ minister, the Rev. Dan Schultz, called for a "politics without demonization" at "Street Prophets":

Let us condemn violence seeded in hate, and the violent, separatist rhetoric that fuels it. Above all, let us hold fast to the support of the gathered community, the love of neighbor, and the courage of ordinary people willing to lay down their lives for one another. (July 28, 2008)

And at "One Day Isle," the Unitarian Universalist blogger Eclectic Cleric scolded, "Enough with the finger wagging already."

Other interpretations

Some Unitarian Universalist bloggers offered alternative understandings of the tragedy.

Sean Honea at "Stone Soup Unitarian Universalism" considered the psychological state of the shooter:

I've heard it said on other blogs that some blame the Conservative shock jocks and others for steering Adkisson's rage towards "liberals." Oh, I'm sure that played a part, but only in identifying something for him to latch on to. Honestly, I believe that a man this sick without help would have eventually vent his pain and rage on a target regardless of ideology or religion. (July 29, 2008)

Dubhlainn at "Druuid" added:

UUs, at our best, are a people of radical love and radical welcome. What was done at TVUUC was an apparent act of radical evil. The shooter was not standing up for some idealized political stance (not that if he was that would make what was done better) he was seeking revenge. His life sucked and so he wanted someone to pay for it, with their lives. His was an act of radical separation. His life had reduced itself to "I" and "them" there was nothing else for him to cling to. (July 29, 2008)

At "Peacebang," the Rev. Victoria Weinstein called for gun control:

[I]n the aftermath of an event like Knoxville, love for me is not a feeling but a calling: a call to keep guns out of more hands by whatever legal means we can manage, and keep at it until the news of some hateful wack job shooting into any assemblage of civilians is truly shocking, unheard of, a crime so rare as to actually stop us in our tracks. (July 29, 2008)

Explaining Unitarian Universalism

At the religious journalism blog "GetReligion," Mollie Ziegler Hemingway urged the press to focus not only on the shooter, but also on Unitarian Universalism:

As this story continues to unfold, reporters must not only explain the shooter’s deranged motives but seek to explain how religious motivations guide the UU tradition. There is a rich history and legacy to explore. (July 28, 2008)

And as she saw Unitarian Universalism receiving increased media coverage this week, Lizard Eater of "The Journey" decided to add her voice to the comments sections of relevant online news stories:

I explained our religion. I refuted some of the claims made by those who don't know us. And I kept running into other UU's, doing the same thing. (July 30, 2008)