Gunman opens fire in Tennessee Unitarian Universalist church, 2 killed

Kimbefly wrote:

For anyone to defend a killer barging in to a service is abhorrent. When Jesus said "Love thy neighbor" he didn't mean to kill them.

AGREED

Kimbefly wrote:

Be nice, folks. Unitarians are united by the belief in the inherent worth and dignity of every person. After that, they break into many groups - Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, pagan, humanist, etc., all drawing wisdom from holy writings from all religions.
Sermons often center on biblical subjects, but sometimes do not. It is a good, intellectually satisfying, spiritually fulfilling faith.
For anyone to defend a killer barging in to a service is abhorrent. When Jesus said "Love thy neighbor" he didn't mean to kill them.

Good post Kimbefly. There are no churches like that around here where I live. I belong to a Baptist church, but I haven't attended in a few years. I get tired of hearing every Sunday how lost sinners are going to die and go to hell. Sometimes I will attend a non denominational church and I find I really enjoy the services, I get more out of the message because it's more ministering to than preaching at.

Doesn't matter what faith you are, this was a terrible crime. Prayers to the church and it's members.
Doesn't surprise me one bit the the "holier then thou" get on here and claim that God had a hand in it. Cow paddies on statements like that.
People who make statements like that are really no better then the shooter. What happened to not judging others? Folks need to wise up and stop making claims that this was the hand of God.
Unthinkable what runs through some people's mind. Thinking like that is going to be the ruin of this world.

flopears123 wrote:

<quoted text>
Good post Kimbefly. There are no churches like that around here where I live. I belong to a Baptist church, but I haven't attended in a few years. I get tired of hearing every Sunday how lost sinners are going to die and go to hell. Sometimes I will attend a non denominational church and I find I really enjoy the services, I get more out of the message because it's more ministering to than preaching at.

LOL, according to the Baptist, we are all going to burn. Use to be a Baptist myself, unhappy sermons.

Great. Now we're looking at china as a legal and moral leader.

what wrote:

Don't bother holding the piece of s**t on 1 million bail, just take him out back and be done with him. This is one thing the Chinese do properly.

Yes, there is, unless he pleads guilty. We aren't going to suspend the constitution because your knickers are in a twist.

Tina916 wrote:

That's terrible. He deserves to be put to death. No need for a trial. RIP.

Proud Member of the ACLU wrote:

What if the man was in fact Jesus Christ himself, and he came back and killed the sinners and put them to rest in hell.

There is nothing American nor civil in ACLU and they are destroying the liberty of Americans in favor of criminals. The man was another selfish wacko with no moral fiber remaining or he would have never done such a thing.Someone probably needs to question you about your motives for supporting a twisted organization like the ACLU hypocrite!

As religions try to take a more central position in society, they open themselves up to those who would prefer not to hear their form of "right" and "wrong".

This was a politically-active church and, although I agree with their ideology, they were sure to make enemies. And guns are everywhere.

Kerdy 1 wrote:

"Gunman opens fire in Tennessee Unitarian Universalist church, 1 killed"
2 have died now. What is wrong with people? There is a terrible wound in the fabric of this country that needs to be healed so this sort of horrible, despicable thing stops happening. Why are there so many sickos in the world?

No, it isn't. Historically, this is precisely how christians have solved their problems for well over a millennia.

Leslie wrote:

<quoted text>So this is how atheists solve their problems.

The ACLU defends the constitutional righ5ts of ALL people; they would even defend yours if they needed to.

Captain Jack wrote:

<quoted text>There is nothing American nor civil in ACLU and they are destroying the liberty of Americans in favor of criminals. The man was another selfish wacko with no moral fiber remaining or he would have never done such a thing.Someone probably needs to question you about your motives for supporting a twisted organization like the ACLU hypocrite!

Prayers are Pointless wrote:

Fanaticism. It takes on many faces. Part of me, certainly horrified, yes, but a much larger, and more cynical, part of me cheers when this happens. Any christians (or other terrorism-fostering-faithmonge rs out there) should recognize it when you get a dose of your own medicine.
Nobody knows what his motives were, but what he achieved was a powerful dose of cosmic irony! In your self-righteous faces, denialists.
Oh, and to all the idiots who will 'praying' for others? Try spending that time thinking for yourselves. If you did, events like this, commonplace around the world, could just go away.

Your remarks are made out of ignorance. If you take the time to learn anything about the Unitarian Universalist belief system you would know that the UU is the most tolerant , accepting denomination on the planet. The people at this church are definitely not war mongers or faith mongers. Become educated before you spout your nonsense. It would make you at least seem intelligent.

The devil is raging. Gods house is faced with a war, with sick individuals who have lost their way. Have mercy for those who have lost their lives or have been injured. To think the youth were performing at this time. It hard enough to keep youth in Church. God Bless all that were spared.

and this was all over a sign stating "gays welcome"? KKKarl must be proud about now!

I absolutly DO NOT SUPPORT THE ACLU, and I don't agree with the Uniterian Church docterine but my heart goes out to all invovled, I'm as right wing as you can get and a born again Christian, my prayers are with all of those invovled and those who post such garbage and hate, Christianity is about love, love the sinner hate the sin, even this whack job that did the shooting has the chance to walk in Heaven, not because of his killing rampage but because God will forgive us of our sins, if he accepts him.
Man's Law and God's law are diffrent, he'll have to pay for what he did in man's law, he may get the chair, if so it's deserved but he still has the chance to be forgiven in God's eye's as we all do. I'll pray for everyone involved be it ACLU members, liberals, athiests, or Uniterian Church members. God Bless.

Hector wrote:

<quoted text>How do you know that jesus didn't send this man over from the correct church to rectify the incorrect church?

Because if GOD had wanted him them to be killed he would have done it himself.

Also remember the Commandments"Thous shalt not Kill!

SouthernBaptist wrote:

I absolutly DO NOT SUPPORT THE ACLU, and I don't agree with the Uniterian Church docterine but my heart goes out to all invovled, I'm as right wing as you can get and a born again Christian, my prayers are with all of those invovled and those who post such garbage and hate, Christianity is about love, love the sinner hate the sin, even this whack job that did the shooting has the chance to walk in Heaven, not because of his killing rampage but because God will forgive us of our sins, if he accepts him.
Man's Law and God's law are diffrent, he'll have to pay for what he did in man's law, he may get the chair, if so it's deserved but he still has the chance to be forgiven in God's eye's as we all do. I'll pray for everyone involved be it ACLU members, liberals, athiests, or Uniterian Church members. God Bless.

I bet the members of the Unitarian church wouldn't say he deserved the death penalty.

This man was a free man because

ONLY FREE MEN OWN GUNS !!!!!

This was not a real church. "Real" churches don't teach that's it's OK to be gay. They should recognize this message from an angry God and open the Bible to read God's words. They have obviously decided which parts of the Bible they want to read and which they wish to ignore. I have no sympathy for them.“If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that you have received, let him be accursed”(Galatians 1:9).

2 die in shooting at Tennessee church
As children started show, shots rang out

By Shaila Dewan | New York Times News Service
July 28, 2008

A man with a shotgun entered a church Sunday in Knoxville, Tenn., and opened fire as congregants were watching a youth performance, killing two people and wounding at least eight others before he was subdued by church members, witnesses and police said.

Police officials said they had charged Jim Adkisson, 58, of Powell, Tenn., with first-degree murder.

Amira Parkey, 16, had just uttered her first lines when the performance at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church was interrupted by a loud pop, witnesses said.

"We were just,'Oh my God, that's not part of the play,' " Parkey said, adding that she saw a man standing near the door of the sanctuary and firing into the room.

Parents dove under the pews with their children, and the cast of actors, some of them as young as 6, was quickly herded out of the sanctuary. No children were hurt or killed.

Members of the church tackled the gunman and wrested a 12-gauge shotgun from him. The police dispatcher received a call at 10:18 a.m.

At a news conference, Chief Sterling Owen of the Knoxville Police Department said investigators had not yet determined the motive but that they believed the gunman had acted alone.

Two of the wounded were treated at the hospital and discharged, Owen said, and the other six were in conditions ranging from serious to critical. The FBI is assisting in the investigation, and Owen said all videotapes of the service had been collected and were under review.

There were about 200 people in the church when the gunman opened fire, according to church members.

Witnesses said the gunman, carrying a guitar case, had first tried to enter the area where the children were preparing for the play, saying he was there to play music. But he was told to use the public entrance instead.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworl...

If our society would agree on executing people like this the following day, a lot of these gun crimes would drop dramatically. While I am not a Universalist there is much grief today because of a nut like this.