After a Gunman's Rage, Grace

One of the liberals saved his mother and daughter from gunfire by pushing them under a pew.

Another liberal grabbed her baby to her chest and fell against the door so the shooter couldn't shove it open.

A liberal couple herded children out the back, and another liberal ushered other children to a church next door. Two more liberals jumped the gunman and restrained him until the police came.

In all, nine liberals were shot. As of Tuesday, two of them were dead. One of the victims was an usher and church board member, who stood in front of the gunman and took the blast to protect his fellow parishioners. The other was a retired professor, who had been helping a couple of beloved friends raise their grandchildren.

It shouldn't matter to any of us whether these people are liberal. In fact, it's not certain that all of them would identify themselves that way.

As these individual stories of heroism unfolded, I couldn't help but think their politics have nothing to do with their courage. In a moment of unfathomable tragedy, they were decent human beings in the most indecent of circumstances.

"Everybody did exactly what they needed to do," church member Amy Broyles told the "Today" show. "There was very little panic, very little screaming or hysteria. It's a remarkable congregation of people. I've never seen such a loving response to an overwhelming tragedy."

They were attending Sunday morning's service at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, when a demented, angry man named Jim David Adkisson walked through the doors with a 12-gauge shotgun and opened fire.

Minutes after he was subdued, headlines around the world started identifying the church members as specific targets for his hatred — because of their beliefs.

"All liberals should be killed," Adkisson told police after he was arrested.

Adkisson apparently couldn't find a job and blamed "the liberal movement." He especially hated gays and lesbians.

As one boy in a video on the church's Web site explained, "We're not the kind of church that says, 'If you don't believe in our God, you're going to go to hell.'"

Certainly, many liberals heard the news of this shooting, and their hearts sank. I know mine did. Just as surely, though, most conservatives were sickened, too, as were most people whose beliefs fall somewhere in between.

This is one of those times when we're hit with the jarring truth of our similarities. We aren't nearly as different from one another as we sometimes like to think. The current political climate churns and roils the best of us, but it is the rare American who thinks people should die for their beliefs.

No one worthy of citizenship in this country ever wants this kind of thing to happen in a house of worship. Adkisson started shooting during the performance of a children's play. It's enough to challenge the faith in all of us. How do we explain such hatred? How does a congregation carry on?

One open heart at a time, that's how.

The Rev. William Sinkford, who is president of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, insisted Tuesday that their churches across the country will "be open for business" Sunday.

"It will take time for Unitarian Universalists to mourn and to heal," he said in a written statement. "But let me assure you that we will not change our beliefs or compromise our demands for social justice. Fear will not prevent us from standing on the side of love, and we will continue to open our doors and our hearts to all people."

"Our business," he said, "is to welcome the stranger, to love our neighbor, to nurture the spirits of our people, and to help heal our wounded world."

Amen.

Amen.

Connie Schultz is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The Plain Dealer in Cleveland and the author of two books from Random House: "Life Happens" and "… and His Lovely Wife." To find out more about Connie Schultz (cschultz@plaind.com) and read her past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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