Dylann Roof thanks you very much.
Dammit! I don’t want to write this. But someone has to speak out against the madness.
You know the story. Dylann Roof killed nine African American parishioners at Emanuel AME Church
in Charleston, South Carolina.
Roof’s writings and those he spoke to said that he felt that African Americans were “taking over
the world” and that he wanted to start a “civil war.”
He’s getting his wish.
Go look at your Facebook news feed. Go check Google news.
Go ahead. I’ll wait.
Either you’ll find another group petitioning to take down Confederate statues, sandblast the
Confederate Generals off of Stone Mountain or frickin’ move Nathan Bedford Forrrest’s body.
Or, you’ll find news about the latest Confederate flag run, or the Sons of Confederate Veterans
rallying here in Richmond.
And, let’s not forget, the Confederates have guns.
Well, except for the guy on Hull Street this week that pulled a gun on a family waving the
Confederate flag in their own yard.
Their own yard.
A gun.
We. Have. Lost. Our. Minds.
We are so polarized on issues that all we can do is scream past each other.
This week (month?) it’s the Confederate flag. Or it’s gay marriage. Or it’s abortion.
Or Donald Trump.
Or whatever.
We have lost the ability to have a rational, respectful, conversation.
For the record, that also applies to both sides.
You have no Constitutional right to not be offended.
And, if you believe in diversity, then you have to accept that people will disagree with your
opinion about the flag, or marriage, or abortion, or whatever.
That’s why it’s called diversity.
If you are on either side of any issue and proclaim that people don’t have the right to feel and
believe differently than you, then you are the bigot.
If that makes you angry, it’s not my opinion you need to rebut.
And if you think this post is for the “other guy” (whoever that may be) then you need to read it again.
I can’t and won’t try to speak for everyone. But I have a hard time being silent.
Help me out people, I can’t be the only voice of reason out there.
Otherwise, Dylann Roof is getting exactly what he asked for.
Jesus said:
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.Matthew 5:9
Let’s try listening to Jesus and not Dylann.
Listen to what the families of the nine victims said at Dylan Roof’s bond hearing. Listen to the voices and look at the faces of the 10,000 people who rallied to support the nine families four days after the shootings. Listen to the sermon delivered in Mother Emanuel by Rev. Norville Goff that same Sunday. Listen to the voices of those of us who live here and lived through it. We are embracing forgiveness and acceptance. It is right that this new age should start here in Charleston, where 70% of the enslaved Africans entered the U.S. Listen …
Thank you, Camilla. I agree that Charleston has showed us how we should respond. But sadly I think other voices are drowning out that response and using this as an opportunity to promote their own pet cause. Keep speaking. Keep leading. Maybe one day we’ll hear you.