Tennessee Church Shooter Hated Gays and Liberals

Yesterday's tragic church shooting in Tennessee claimed 2 lives and at one point it was reported that the shooter's motivation was as follows:

"The man accused of a mass church shooting this morning was described by his Powell neighbors as a helpful and kind man, but one who had issues with Christianity."

My response was this:

Well, then he picked the wrong church. Unitarian Universalists hardly qualify as Christians. They're one of those new age "we believe God is in everything" denominations. I used to insure quite a few of them in San Diego County.

More information has come out today that he not only had problems with Christianity, but had problems with gays and liberals, both of whom are supported and encouraged by the Unitarian Universalist denomination:

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Authorities on Monday said the man charged with murder in a Tennessee church shooting left a four-page letter that detailed his frustration at being unemployed, his hatred of gays and liberals, and his expectation that he would be killed by responding police....

The church, like many other Unitarian Universalist churches, promotes progressive social work, such as desegregation and fighting for the rights of women and gays. The Knoxville congregation has provided sanctuary for political refugees, fed the homeless and founded a chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, according to its Web site.

Karen Massey, who lived two houses from Adkisson's home, told the Knoxville News Sentinel of a lengthy conversation she had with Adkisson a couple years ago after she told him her daughter had just graduated from Johnson Bible College. She said she ended up having to explain to him that she was a Christian.

"He almost turned angry," she told the newspaper. "He seemed to get angry at that. He said that everything in the Bible contradicts itself if you read it."

Massey said Adkisson talked frequently about his parents, who "made him go to church all his life. ... He acted like he was forced to do that."

Because of a group program that our company had with that denomination I had a great number of Unitarian Universalist church clients (which means they'll be paying out big bucks on this case). They were nice people, generally older congregations and often were in decline because of aging members, and it was clear from the fliers and information in their church offices that gay rights and various liberal causes were a big deal to them. It was common to see anti-war literature in their brochure racks.

Violence clearly isn't the way to deal with political or religious frustrations. If you don't like the liberal church in your neighborhood, just wait a few years. They'll die out on their own.

Just as a sidenote I always found it amusing (and frustrating) that the church insurance company I worked for had group programs with great discounts for every cult and wacky liberal denomination you could name, but nothing for the mainstream Baptists, Presbyterians, Nazarenes, Methodists, or Lutherans whose churches weren't engaged in such nonsense. I'm not sure what they were thinking back there in the headquarters.