It’s nothing short of vile or disgusting how gleefully the Left has jumped on this Charleston tragedy as an opportunity to advance their agenda.
It’s also nothing short of vile or disgusting how the Right has responded to the death of nine people by rabidly and blindly shouting “2ND AMENDMENT” at the top of their lungs.
Is it absolutely necessary to view this event through the eyes of your chosen political overlord? Do we have to get our pre-created talking points from the news organization of our choice? Or can we just put all that aside and just be heartbroken for the families, the church, and the communities that were torn apart by this act of Evil? Because that’s what it was.
Dylann Roof is Evil. He’s a terrorist. I hate to even type his name, because he had a stated agenda of starting a Race War in America, an idea forged in his mind by the media coverage of George Zimmerman and Mike Brown, and we don’t need to be giving him an ounce more of celebrity. He isn’t a Republican. He isn’t a Democrat. He is a White Supremacist. It’s tempting to call him “mentally ill,” but he could be as sane as the next person—having bizarre, incomprehensible thoughts doesn’t make one ill. It just makes one Evil.
Don’t let yourself get caught up in these discussions. Nine people are dead, and they were murdered in a place of worship by a stranger whom they invited into their church with open arms for a bible study. They didn’t see race. They saw a young man who appeared lost, a potential new member of their flock. They showed him such kindness and love, he almost changed his mind. They were valued members of their communities, some of whom were in their eighth and ninth decades of life.
My church is also called Emmanuel Episcopal. I call it my church, but the reality is that I haven’t been since Easter. We also have a weekly bible study, one which I used to attend fairly regularly. I haven’t been in a long time. I make excuses for not going—I don’t like the church’s politics, I’m busy, I’m traveling—but, in honor of those good people in Charleston, I plan to attend the next one that I can, and to pray for our sister church in South Carolina. I’ll pray for those who died, but if anybody is going immediately into Heaven, it’s those who were murdered by Roof.
That’s how this should be remembered.