Comments on: Mass Shooting at My Unitarian Church in Knoxville Today

By: mossyfern

mossyfern — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 03:37:54 +0000

This is such a shock. I'm a UU in northeast TN, and my heart goes out to your congregation, the victims and their families, and especially to the children whose lives will be, in part, shaped by what they've witnessed.

By: Knoxville Church Shooting: Liberal Hater « The Crone Speaks

Knoxville Church Shooting: Liberal Hater « The Crone Speaks — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 19:50:58 +0000

[...] focus his attack on the UU Church, because, as a whole, the UU church is the most inclusive and most progressive church in the [...]

By: DLS

DLS — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 18:24:53 +0000

More -- leave it to the Religious Left, which has been quiet and civil in this country for the past several years, to be a target of hatred. DO NOT CHANGE YOUR MISSION.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/28/usa

By: DLS

DLS — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 18:22:03 +0000

Ditto Runi's and A.R.s reaction.

About the shooter's motive(s):

http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2008/07/ch...

By: Gun Fire at The Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, TN … 2 Killed | Scared Monkeys

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 15:06:02 +0000

[...] out The Moderate Voice, one of their bloggers actually attends the church. Also Corrente has a personal connection to some [...]

By: AustinRoth

AustinRoth — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 04:48:48 +0000

It does show how small and interconnected the world today is.

Runi's reaction was the same as mine – it seems so much more real when someone you know, even via nothing more than a blog and comments, is involved.

My thoughts go out to the victims and their families.

By: grantime

grantime — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 01:11:06 +0000

Our prayers are with you and your church family

By: runasim

runasim — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 23:51:14 +0000

Elrod,
It's odd how much more real a tragedy becomes when someone you know, if only by comment name, is involved. I heard about this from news reports, thought how tragic this was, but reading your post brought it home like a punch in the stomach.

My thoughts are with you and your congregation.

By: Lynx

Lynx — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 23:32:36 +0000

I think the political second guessing can wait until we know more about the tragedy. Comforting the hurt and grieving is the absolute first priority. I'm terrible at that though, all the words seem so vastly inadequate and superficial given the event. My thoughts are with you though, as small as that is.

By: archangel

archangel — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 23:31:53 +0000

dear elrod: Post trauma protocol checklist is in your email box as of now. People at critical incident and disaster sites say it is immensely helpful.

hang in there, we've called in the linebacker angels
dr.e.

By: CitizenKang

CitizenKang — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 23:08:39 +0000

Terrible news elrod. Glad you and yours are well. Best thoughts heading your way.

By: JillyDybka

JillyDybka — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 21:53:58 +0000

I'm so sorry. I've been to your church when I was a grad student at UTK. Please post if your church needs anything.

By: pacatrue

pacatrue — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 20:43:51 +0000

Wishing you and the community well from a fellow Tennessean. Or at least I think of myself still as a Tennessean after 8 years there.

By: StockBoySF

StockBoySF — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 20:39:17 +0000

How horrible! How traumatized everyone in the community must be… My thoughts and prayers are with you and your community. Peace be with you.

By: Silhouette

Silhouette — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 20:22:30 +0000

This looks like homophobia at its worst. It exists in millions on a much lesser scale though.

This appears like the unfortunate marriage of irrational fear and vigilantism.

So sorry.

By: Ahmie

Ahmie — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 20:19:39 +0000

Your congregation is in the thoughts and prayers of community members of the West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church (western suburbs of Cleveland, OH). I am an active member there, if there is anything our congregation can do to show solidarity and support to yours, please let me know (I am subscribing to comments for this thread).

By: SteveK

SteveK — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 19:58:20 +0000

What a tragedy…

Good, decent, fair minded individuals are indisputably the majority of this world but still horrendous events like this happen. Keep the faith Elrod.

By: jplaughlin

jplaughlin — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 19:29:51 +0000

Know that you and yours are in the thoughts and prayers of some “Jimmy Carter Baptists” down here in South Mississippi. Let's hope the shooter wasn't trying to “make a statement.” If he was, the manner in which y'all respond will make a greater statement, I expect.

By: ChrisWWW

ChrisWWW — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 19:26:02 +0000

Wow. That's awful. You've got to just be in shock right now…

By: archangel

archangel — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 19:12:27 +0000

How terrible. My God. I am on the prayer wave as of this moment. I belong to a group of madwomen in black (nuns) who can pray the paint off walls. I have forwarded your cry for prayer to them, Elrod. Hang in there. In such an aftermath, people dont remember analysis, dont remember hypotheticals. Kindness does register. Every bit of that is pouring toward you all. If you want to talk about this with someone who's been there, Elrod, contact me privately. Joe, our Ed in Chief always knows where I am. Holly too and Shaun also. I am so sorry this has happened to your community.

dr.e