Reacting to the Charleston Tragedy

Like all Americans, I was shocked by the shooting that took place at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina.  Nine people were murdered by twenty-one year old Dylan Roof.  There can be no doubt that this was a racially motivated hate crime. While I was appalled at the act, I was even more dismayed when I learned that Dylan had at least a casual connection to a faith community. His family are members of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Columbia, South Carolina.  While there is no indication as to how engaged life of the church Dylan was, we do know his sister was due to be married soon in the church; the wedding has since been cancelled.  The pastor of St. Paul, Rev. Herman Yoos, noted that after he visited with the family on Saturday, they decided to attend worship on the Sunday following the shooting.

I find any hate crime offensive.  The fact that it took place in a church context is an abomination. Churches are supposed to be sanctuaries.  If there is an irony in the killings in Charleston, it is that in the midst of the tragedy there is a message of peace and hope.  The congregation that is Emanuel AME Church gathered Sunday to mourn, but also to proclaim a message of hope.  Overcoming evil with faith in God was a theme throughout the service. The pastor called for justice but also declared that, "No evildoer, no demon in hell or on Earth can close the doors of God's church."

Emanuel AME church is not the first to suffer tragedy, and unfortunately it won't be the last.  In time of tragedy the community of believers needs to be united in a message of hope and forgiveness. A gun man broke into the Amish School in Pennsylvania a few years back and killed all the little girls. The victim's families responded by embracing the relatives of the shooter.  They shocked the world by announcing that they had forgiven the shooter.  That is scandalous in the eyes of the world, but makes total sense in the context of a Savior who from the cross proclaimed forgiveness toward those who put him there.

That is the message that must come through loud and clear each time the sanctity of the church collides with the brokenness of this world.   True peace and hope can only be found in the context of the Christian faith.  That is a message the world must hear.