Might Randy Pausch Have Triggered the TVUUC Madman?
I certainly hope not, but Pausch was a Unitarian Universalist, his notoriety was precisely for his courage and spirituality (his non-Christian spirituality) in confronting his unfortunate circumstance, and he died on Friday — meaning the news coverage about it lasted all through the weekend. The shooting took place early Sunday morning.
To review:
UUA.org: What is your religious background, and what is it about being a Unitarian Universalist that attracted you to this faith?
Pausch: I was raised Presbyterian and attended church regularly until I was about 17. I like the fact that [Unitarian Universalism] appeals to reason and thought more than dogma.
UUA.org: How important has faith been in your life? And what role did your congregation in Pittsburgh play as you have moved through your illness?
Pausch: That’s a hard question to answer; [but] I would say that the community of people who share our faith has been extremely important recently. The [Pittsburgh] congregation was very supportive; people brought meals, helped with our kids, and helped keep our spirits up.
A man who the police say entered a Unitarian Universalist church in Knoxville, Tenn., on Sunday and shot eight people, killing two, was motivated by a hatred for liberals and gay people, Chief Sterling P. Owen IV of the Knoxville Police Department said Monday.
“It appears that what brought him to this horrible event was his lack of being able to obtain a job, his frustration over that, and his stated hatred for the liberal movement,” Chief Owen said of the suspect, Jim D. Adkisson, 58. “We have recovered a four-page letter in which he describes his feelings and the reason that he claims he committed these offenses.”
Another report:
“He always had the attitude the government was trying to get him,” Smallwood said. “He disliked blacks, gays, anyone who was a different color or just different from him.
Finally, Box Turtle Bulletin notes that the anti-gay American Family Association’s news-scrubbing site, OneNewsNow — where all comments are pre-screened by AFA bigots for “propriety” — allowed this comment to be posted:
While this is a tragedy, the article may mislead those who are not familiar with the Unitatian [sic] “non-religion”. Unitarians are not Christians, and like all non-Christians they are doing Satan’s work.”
Offering a place of sanctuary for all (when they’re not busy putting on performances of Annie) is “Satan’s work.” That is the radical Evangelical view of “Christ’s love.”
What a sad, pitiful group of people.
Filed under: Gay Rights and Issues, Society, Religion, Culture Wars
At least in my experience, THAT is the core of fundamentalist "christianity" – the notion that your group has found the Truth, and that the Devil is bound and determined to lead you from that Truth. All others are misled *at best* – at worst, they are knowingly doing the Devil's work.
The Devil, meanwhile, mixes 99.9% Truth with that .1% of lie that will lead you onto that downward path.
The harder you try to tell these people that they're wrong, the firmer they are in their belief that they are right. After all, the Devil wouldn't need to lead them away from their belief if they weren't currently on the Path of Righteousness . . . .
So yeah, they firmly beleive that if you are not *just* like them, then you are an agent of the Devil – the only question is whether or not you know it.