How do these things happen?

The news of the murders at the UU church in Tennessee was particularly disheartening for this blogger. One of the most wonderful things that has happened in my spiritual life is to be part of the newly formed Oil City branch of the Universalist Unitarian Congregation of Erie. Both in Oil City and at our parent church, I find peace and motivation to become a better citizen. It is an amazing group. "There are seven principles which Unitarian Universalist congregations affirm and promote: The inherent worth and dignity of every person; Justice, equity and compassion in human relations; Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations; A free and responsible search for truth and meaning; The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large; The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all; Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part." You can visit http://www.uua.org/ to learn more and to hear the response of the UU to the recent murders. I am certain, that if Jim Adkisson, the unemployed murder, had asked for assistance from the UU instead of hating them, they would have helped him. Instead he blamed them for the ills he suffered. These people were no more to blame than gays are to blame for perceived deteriorating "family values" that other anti-gay proponents spout about. We all need to be very careful not to wrongfully blame others for what may be our own failings. As a UU, I have felt challenged in recent weeks to seek a more positive path. Anti-gay messages are very loud in Venango County. Loud does not equal pervasive or dominent. It's just loud and I believe now, just a very few. My fear is that they do have a public platform that may reach that one very unstable person like Jim Adkisson. My fear is that they do deliver a message of hate and misinformation that implies that the GLBT community is a great danger. My fear is that they could be creating a Jim Adkisson here. There's much evidence to support the belief that repeated messages of any kind, do have an impact. Family protection organizations speak of it all the time - violence, sexuality, pornography... If this is true, they also know that their own messages of hate and danger, can have an impact as well. Do they not then feel responsible for the potential outcome? http://www.waynebesen.com/2008/07/messages-that-lead-to-murder.html