The type of person that I am, I tend to have to process events for a few days before responding. I thought it might be appropriate to put down my thoughts about Charleston in a blog because there are many angles that one can talk about.
When I first heard about the deaths of the members of Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, my immediate thought was honestly, "What, another crazy lunatic?" And sure enough, Dylann Roof was another crazy lunatic. I did felt a great sense of hurt but I didn't feel any "shock" to it. Why?
I come from a different perspective. Sure, it was a horrible act of a person who is White to shoot nine innocent African-American church members. But from an early part of my Christianity, I was exposed to Christians being persecuted in other parts of the world, in countries that do not welcome those who believe in Christ. The persecution is real. You might have heard about terrorist in the Middle East beheading Christians. I've heard of Christians in Far East Asia being executed for their faith.
So, I didn't have quite the shock factor that most Americans felt. It's just another day for Christians to be persecuted whether in U.S. soil or overseas.
What I really felt was shame for our country. "We are better than this. We should know better. How could you do this? Did you not remember 911?" Racism is still real in the U.S. no matter where you come from in America. It saddens me as a person for this nation that we always want to fight the good fight of terrorism but the real enemy is sometimes ourselves. If we cannot help ourselves, how are we expected to help others overseas?
But through this shame and grieving, there is hope. A hope only found in Jesus Christ. I think when I heard about the initial trial and the responses from the families of the victims, I thought, "I am so at peace with my Lord that our brothers and sisters can respond in forgiveness." Forgiveness should be a natural response if we are growing in faith in Christ. I greatly praise God that we have the power to forgive others and continually love those who wrong us.
It doesn't matter how we all feel; it doesn't matter what political message we get from this. The responses of Christians is to pray for those who have been hurt: the families and the universal church of Christ. To love those who are our enemies. To hope that we come to an understanding on how to help someone like Dylann Roof.
