Why did he single out Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalists?    Evidently, the church has recently posted a sign welcoming gays to their congregation.    It set off a firestorm on conservative and Christian talk radio in East Tennessee.  I found this online:

The specific chain of events that brought Jim Adkisson to the TVUC sanctuary was a recent decision to erect a sign specifically welcoming LGBT people into the congregation. That choice evidently set off a firestorm in the local right-wing community with the specific church and its location named repeatedly on right-wing and evangelical radio. The gunman, already looking for someone to take out his rage on, evidently took the path of local least resistance.  At any rate, while I’m not sure it’s even worth assigning blame, it’s not likely that Jim Adkisson would have driven the ten miles from his exurban hovel to my family’s church if he hadn’t learned what he needed about where to go on the radio.

While ultimate responsibility resides with the shooters, we can also chalk these deaths up to too much toxic talk radio.  Both the left and the right play the blame game all day long.    On talk radio, my problems are always somebody else’s fault.

This is the kind of tragedy that occurs when we adopt the rhetoric of war and turn our fellow Americans into enemies.  Both sides have effectively demonized the opposition, laying blame for our problems at others’ feet.   Would it “kill” talk radio announcers to tone down their tenor for the sake of the common good?   Couldn't they sacrifice a few ratings point by refusing to serve the red meat that their most radicalized listeners relish?   Can't we as learn to change the channel as soon as the scapegoating begins?

I still recall my shock and horror when Paul Hill murdered Dr. John Britton in the name of ‘life’.   How could a graduate of Reformed Theological Seminary and an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church of America take up arms, killing in the name of God?   I recently saw the chilling documentary Lake of Fire, which illustrates all the tragedies surrounding the fight over abortion.  Director Tony Kaye captured early footage of Paul Hill, boldly proclaiming death sentences upon abortion providers.    Lake of Fire also presents the horrors of an abortion procedure, including the emotional trauma that also follows.  This even-handed movie leaves you with an enormous amount of sadness.  There are no winners in Tony Kaye’s bold documentary (or in our current culture war).

Our feature documentary, Purple State of Mind, is created as a defiant act of celebration.   It is rooted in profound hope that we can co-exist despite our differences.  But plenty of patient listening must precede that fragile peace.   We will not get there by burying our differences, but by bearing one another’s burdens enroute.

I entered into the Purple State of Mind project with a fair amount of trepidation.   To promote peace to a war mongering people can get you in trouble.  I don’t want to be placed on anybody’s hit list.   I do not want to put my children in the line of fine because I extended an olive branch towards atheists, homosexuals, or anyone else deemed ‘other’ by the conservative Christian community.   Churchgoers in Fort Worth, Colorado Springs and Knoxville simply want to worship in freedom rather than fear.   When something your pastor says or your congregation does can get you killed, we live in decidedly dangerous times.  Heaven help us all to cease fire.