Sad

I am very sad that two Unitarian Universalist church members have lost their lives, just because they belong to a liberal church. I am very sad that the kind of hatred that drives a man to shoot innocent people whose political views differ from his exists. And I am worried that the way things are going in the US more of this sort of thing will happen. I've just spent a couple of years having trouble finding work--I know how frustrating it is, and how tempting it is to blame others. But, you're not going to improve things by hurting others, attacking institutions or bad-mouthing huge corporations (and again, I know it's tempting!).

I'll be at a candlelight vigil at MY UU church tonight, thinking of the members of the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville who lost their lives, lost beloved friends or family members and lost their sense of safety in a place that should be a sanctuary from all the violence in the world. I hope you will light a candle, or send thoughts of peace to these people.

Update: Here is the UU World article on the shooting. The candlelight service was very good, and we had some helpful conversations there, plus good singing. Rev. Ellis did a great job planning the service. The most helpful conclusion we arrived at was that this news does give us an opening to talk to others about what a liberal religious tradition is all about, and to show that we are people, just like anyone else...people who value peace, reconciliation and forgiveness. Those are hard concepts to get across sometimes.

Later: Here is the collection of articles from July 29. It's updates on the families, the crazed right-wing stuff the shooter reads (and they say the LIBERAL media is scary, sheesh), and information on support for churches and UUism. I am saving this stuff mainly for my own reference, I guess.