More gun craziness

Like many of you, I'm disturbed by the whackjob who decided to shoot people in the UU church in Knoxville on Sunday. Nobody is yet revealing what they think his reasons are. According to this HuffPo story, based on a neighbor's testimony, the guy was ticked off at Christians. I can understand that much of it, but if that's his motive this is ironic because Unitarian Universalism is NOT Christian. It is creedless and openly welcomes Christians, Jews, Muslims, Pagans, Buddhists, Hindus, Agnostics, Atheists... and doesn't require conversion of any kind. That's one big reason that I am a UU and attend nearly every week. Atheists are a small percentage of the membership, just as they are in the population in general, but they are included. If the guy wanted to target fundy Christians, he couldn't have been further off. The Christians who attend there are very liberal and open-minded in their beliefs. I am married to one of them. [note: see update at end of post]

From HuffPo: The church promotes progressive social work, including advocacy of women and gay rights. The Knoxville congregation also 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, a neighbor to Adkisson, told the Knoxville News Sentinel about a lengthy conversation she had with Adkisson a few years back in which she told him her daughter had just graduated from a bible college. She said she was surprised by his reaction when she told him 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." She also said Adkisson spoke frequently about his parents, who "made him go to church all his life. ... He acted like he was forced to do that."

They have found a multiple-page handwritten letter in the man's car that they are calling a "manifesto", but no details on its content have been revealed. The investigator has said that his intention was to kill everyone, and not just a particular person.

From the Knoxville News: A Knoxville Police Department investigator was observed Sunday briefing Knox County Criminal Court Judge Kenneth Irvine Jr. on the letter.

The investigator, who could not be identified, was seen in the lobby of the Knoxville Police Department Safety Building while in the process of securing a search warrant for Adkisson's white basement duplex at 1919 Levy Drive.

The investigator told Irvine that in a subsequent interview with Adkisson, the suspect had said he entered the church Sunday morning with the intent of killing everyone inside, although he denied having specifically targeted any children.

The kids in the church at the time of the shooting were performing scenes from Annie Junior.

Tennessee Valley UU

UPDATE: It's now being reported that the church was targeted because of its liberal views.