Shooting Suspect Got it Wrong!

Sunday, I was riding with my youngest son on our way to Knoxville when my cell phone rang.  I saw that it was my son's friend who frequently calls my phone since Ryan historically refused to have a cell.

Since Ryan was driving, I answered.  And it was then that I heard the bad news:  The church where my son had just attended last Sunday, was the site of a horrible shooting just a few hours earlier.  My son's friend was noticeably upset, since he has had a very long history with this church, one of the few in East Tennessee that was a safe place for openly gay men.  As a matter of fact, Tennessee Valley Unitarian-Universalist Church was known for promoting progressive social work, such as desegregation and fighting for the rights of women, gays and the homeless.

I ought to know.  I attended TVUUC for a year.  It was a church whose members made it a habit of accepting visitors and members whether they believed in Yahweh, Jesus, Buddha, Confucius, Allah, the Goddess, or perhaps no divinity at all.

Ironically, if an early interview with a neighbor of the suspect sheds any light on a possible motive for the random shooting of congregants watching their children put on an updated version of Annie, we see that he certainly picked out the wrong victims for his sick payback.

According to the neighbor  Karen Massey, James David Adkisson had once expressed angrily to her his experience in a Christian Church.  He was allegedly forced to attend a Christian school as a child.  He voiced his opinions about the Bible to the neighbor, and complained about how often the Bible contradicted itself.

If he was out to get even with Bible-believing Evangelical Christians, he went to the wrong place at TVUUC.  Many there were people themselves who had felt alienated from the churches of their births.  They found repose and acceptance at Tennessee Valley.

Did Adkisson simply go on a rampage, and TVUUC was the first church on his list?  County officials immediately after the tragedy went on to provide security at other churches in the area that they considered to also be at risk of attack.

Adkisson was reportedly (knoxnews.com) wearing a red, white and blue t-shirt, walked into the church with his 12-gauge shotgun in a guitar case. From there he fired out angry words and at least 12 horrible shots.  As he stopped to reload his gun, he was subdued to the ground by a University of Tennessee history professor and others in the church.

At this writing, one of the dead victims is especially remembered.  He was Greg McKendry, 60, a foster father of a teen at the church. 

"Make sure everyone knows that Greg McKendry was a hero, a total hero," Taylor Bessette said of the man who has been his foster father just a few months.

The other victim was Linda Kraeger, age 61, who was visiting the church from another UU church nearby.

In this church that espouses an openness to people of all faiths, members put their lives on the line....nonviolently....to subdue the shooter.  How many times in recent years have we seen the alleged murderer come out of a shooting like this without a scratch?  Some members even lost their lives in the process.

In an e-mail John Bohstedt (the history professor) stated. "As far as we know, this has nothing to do with the church. the production, personal conflicts or anything else. Please, let's not speculate." He asked, "Let us all pray for the victims, including the children that were traumatized by this terrible event. Church leaders did a fine job of helping people come together. Blessings on us all- a very tragic day for our blessed community."

I vaguely remember how Rev. Chris Buice, pastor of TVUUC gave a sermon based on the great love and forgiveness that the Amish families showed to the world after their children were similarly gunned down in their country school a couple years ago.

May members once again forgive.  I know they'll never forget. 

What a shame!  Those churches who show the world the right way to live have to be gunned down by deranged characters like Adkisson.

May we keep all of those touched by this tragic event in our prayers and thoughts, just as Rev. Buice tearfully requested.

Rachael Bliss, after working for 10 years in creative services and community affairs at a local broadcasting station, moved into the nonprofit world with her first job with the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, AL. From there she advocated for the hungry, children and the environment as an organizer and director. Articles by Rachael Bliss at MWC News http://mwcnews.net/RachaelBliss

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