Love cure for disease of fear

This past Sunday, as a congregation joyfully celebrated the talents and achievements of their children and youth, a down-on-his-luck and disturbed man violated their sacred space and opened fire with a shotgun. He wrote that he hated liberals and homosexuals, which stood in direct opposition to the values expressed in the outreach and programs offered by the members of Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church of Knoxville. Without knowing who the people in those pews were, what they held dear, what values they sought to instill in their children, or what vision they held for our nation and our world, Jim D. Adkisson claimed for himself the authority to take their lives. Furthermore, he so devalued his own life as to hope for his own death through “suicide by police.”
What Mr. Adkisson probably did not know is that those whom he viewed as his mortal enemies saw in him the same “inherent worth and dignity” that they strive to honor in every person. Out of the 200 people present, it would be surprising if two of them owned weapons. Each Sunday, early in their service, they quite likely recite a common affirmation: “Love is the spirit of this church, and service is its law. This is our great covenant: to dwell together in peace, to seek the truth in love, and to help one another.” Mr. Adkisson must surely have been surprised when the men who restrained him didn’t use their strength to harm him, choosing instead to try to calm him by telling him to “take a deep breath.”
As a Unitarian Universalist, I am deeply grieved by this shooting. The principles affirmed by member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association bind us together as we seek to embody respect for the inherent worth and dignity of every person; justice, equity, and compassion in human relations; acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations; a free and responsible search for truth and meaning. We work toward the goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all, and we strive to in all ways show respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. How tragic that there are people for whom these values are so dangerous that they feel they must hate those who hold them, even to the extent of murdering them.
Each week, I read letters and call-ins from people blaming “the liberals,” “the Democrats” “the conservatives” or “the Republicans” — or whatever target group is convenient — for any number of situations. All too often, these letters and calls belie deep seated anger and bitterness. Church shootings don’t happen in a vacuum. Angry or violent language begets angry or violent action. Sweeping assumptions about “those people” are seldom accurate and never just. Maybe we all need to “take a deep breath,” step back and try with all our hearts to see the inherent worth and dignity in one another.
In the words of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “Hatred and bitterness can never cure the disease of fear; only love can do that.”