Which congregation would Jesus shoot?

[LiberalEsto]

If Jesus came back, and had a gun, do you think He would shoot and kill people inside a right-wing, gun-loving, gay-hating fundie church?

Or would He go to a liberal Unitarian Universalist congregation and shoot its members for being gay-loving, anti-gun liberals, some of whom question whether He existed or whether he was the son of God?

If Jesus is the person I like to think He was, He would be working to comfort and heal the victims of the shootings at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville. He would also forgive the shooter.

He might be blaming the money changers running the U.S. government, who are handing everything to their corporate cronies and impoverishing millions of Americans, leaving some of the the more mentally fragile among us angry and broken, ready to snap and harm others.

Jesus, as I perceive Him, might travel to the centers of power in this country and rail at those money changers and try to throw them out of their corporate temples. But He'd get arrested for trespassing or creating a disturbance.

He might try to teach the angry, hating people in this country to turn the other cheek and forgive, and to love one another. But the media would ignore Him.

And the results, I fear, would be nearly same as they were 2000 or so years ago. They'd lock him up in a megaprison and never let Him see the light of day again.

***

I suspect this guy Adkisson hated himself, hated churches, hated liberals, hated gays, hated Christianity .... basically a person filled to the brim and overflowing with hate, and looking for an easy target to take out his hate on. UUs generally don't carry guns to church -- at least I've never seen such a thing in 20 years of attending UU churches -- so it was a risk-free target.

As a UU, I believe that every person has inherent worth. Even this mentally ill person -- who got hold of a gun (which he shouldn't have had access to) and killed innocent people who never hurt him. I wonder what kind of terrible damage he went through in his life that led him to act like this. He deserves my compassion too, but he needs to be kept out of society, and hopefully, treated.

How did a mentally ill person like this get access to a deadly weapon? He couldn't have done that much damage with a knife.

Why don't we have health care and social services networks designed to help people, instead of using our tax dollars for propping up crooked corporations? He should have been able to get help.

Why don't we provide jobs for Americans instead of shipping them overseas so corporations can grab bigger profits? He should have been able to find a job.

The message on the home page of the Tennessee Valley UU Church says:

"Love is the spirit of this church, and service is its law. This is our great covenant: to live together in peace, seek the truth in love, and help one another."

Ironic that this is the place Adkisson chose to attack, isn't it?