In Theory: Was shooting also an attack on religion?

In a column published online by the Religion News Service, Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin addressed the murder of nine people on June 17, 2015 at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Church in Charleston, S.C.

Salkin considers two narratives that have been discussed in the wake of the attack: that this was an act of terrorism, rooted in racism, by a white man, Dylann Roof, against black people, and that it was an attack on religion itself.

“Many on the right believe that Christians are now an aggrieved minority, whose religious rights are under attack. They seem to want to back burner the racial element in this attack,” Salkin writes. “On the other hand, others see it as only an assault on blacks. They are in denial about the specifically religious element in this attack, as if it were only an interesting afterthought.”

The “specifically religious element,” according to Salkin, is that the attack occurred in a church.

“Dylann was also taking aim at God,” Salkin writes.

Q: Is Salkin correct in saying this was both an attack on African Americans and religion? Or was this purely an act of racism?

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Even though the attack did occur in a church, I believe the reason was mostly racism. For one thing, I don’t think Dylann Roof’s brain capacity has the insight to perceive what is an attack on religion and what is an attack on black people. I’ll guess that it never occurred to Roof that what he was doing was attacking religion per se. He went to that church because he knew, pure and simple, that black people would be there.

There may be a subtle bias against religion going on in this country, but I doubt if Dylann Roof was a part of that. He hated black people, and he went to a place where he knew they’d be sitting ducks.

The Rev. Skip Lindeman
La Cañada Congregational Church
La Cañada Flintridge

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They were black and they were Christian but, more importantly, they were human. That is the tragedy.

What we do know about the murderer is that he is a white supremacist, so yes, it was about killing black people. What we don’t know, from what I have read, is his religious affiliation. Many white supremacists themselves are Christians as far as I understand. I have not heard that his manifesto mentions religion and I don’t see any other information to determine whether he was specifically attacking religion or Christianity. If it turns out that he was targeting religion, certainly that is horrible.

However, let’s not use a tragic event like this to push political agendas. If this is being used to promote the false “religion is under attack” argument that is being propagated mainly by the religious right, that is a sad state of affairs. Neither Christianity nor religion is under attack in this country. All Rabbi Salkin seems to base his determination on is the fact that the killing was in a church. That is a weak argument because, as he mentioned, the African American community attends church in higher percentages. So, naturally, if this guy wanted to kill black people, it seems he would target a place like a church where many gather.

The bottom line is human beings were killed in cold blood and that tragedy, we must understand, is everyone’s issue.

Joshua Lewis Berg
Humanist Celebrant
Glendale

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Roof allegedly attacked people, period. Under our system of justice he is innocent until proven guilty, but if he is found guilty, he should receive the appropriate punishment for the murder of other human beings.

It’s dangerous to categorize fatal attacks against people farther than the distinction between manslaughter and murder. That’s as far as God goes in the Bible. Is murdering a person because he’s black any different than murdering him because he belongs to a particular religion or because he’s homosexual, or for any other distinct characteristic? Distinguishing between these motives for murder makes the murder of one person more egregious than the murder of another. It creates biased and unfair classes of people.

Any murder is a direct attack upon God, for we are all made in His image. In Genesis 9:6 God declared: “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He made man.” As a nation have already blurred the lines in this question by allowing the murder of unborn children in the womb. We have turned our backs on God’s way which values all human life. Perhaps this is why we’re even asking this particular question in the first place. In diminishing God’s place in our society we have devalued the worth of our own lives. Turning back to Him through faith in the blood of Christ which covers all of our sins is the first and necessary step toward restoring the dignity and value of every human life in our country.

Pastor Jon Barta
Burbank

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Rabbi Selkin raises an interesting point in his question, if the attack was not merely pure racist terrorism but also an attack on God as well. It is not only both of these, but perhaps a better term would be a counter attack against organized religion. Religious institutions are no longer safe, not only from without but also within. As Mark Juergenmeyer in his book “Terror in the Mind of God” puts it, “The (religious) cosmic struggle is understood to be occurring in this world. … Believers identify personally with the struggle… (and) individual action can make all the difference.”

The belief in a cosmic struggle where only “myself” and/or “my fellow believers” have found the true and correct path leads religious institutions to segregate and not integrate. While not knowing what was being studied in Bible class that night in Charleston, S.C., I would never want to accuse those people, studying scripture, of any form of prejudice or bigotry. But I do hear high-ranking public figures who consider themselves devout followers of their own creeds lashing out against religious beliefs and studies that do not agree with theirs. As we all know, people quote text to suit their own purposes.

The only text we must quote and study is: “Thou shalt Love thy neighbor as thyself” (Lev. 19). Then in our study groups we must amass ways to fulfill that divine charge. We will stop destroying ourselves from within and without and instead grow cosmic(ally).

Rabbi Mark Sobel
Temple Beth Emet
Burbank

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Oh yes, this was definitely both. I know of the angst currently afoam in this country, as white America recently observed the spate of mass lawlessness generated by black racists who took the opportunity to burn, pillage, and victimize innocents, with the justification that single incidents of alleged police misbehavior warranted such.

Our law-abiding black neighbors watched in mutual horror and disgust (and embarrassment, I imagine) but now the shoe is on the other foot, and I am sure that in the mind of this white racist, the lawless activity of his hated counterpart was too much to bear. His retaliatory behavior was reprehensibly magnified, in that he took out his anger and vengeance not on those guilty of exemplifying his image of their genetic disposition, but on those who could be easily targeted.

This shooter didn’t choose a Farrakhan rally with its armed, Nation of Islam security force, nor did he drive into a gang-infested ghetto; no, he chose the kindly gathering of gracious black Christians who left their door open for him to join them. They were about the business of being better citizens, moral agents, and representatives of the best of their kind. And his blind, murderous rampage only reemphasizes the need for their existence.

It’s his sort that churches aim to recover, and to some degree, every human being is of some sort needing redemption. But we have to think that for a kid raised in this One Nation Under God that he was making two statements. One, that black people were bad and all the same, and two, that there is no God, but if there is, He can just prepare a place for Dylann in Hell because this was the ultimate “in-your-face.”

It was laudable, the way family members of the victims tried to express forgiveness to this monster, but as I understand the situation, he doesn’t want it, didn’t ask for it, and remains unrepentant. Forgiveness is something granted by request, and even God requires we truly repent and ask for forgiveness before He grants it, and then He always does. Mankind is really only one kind. Trace our trees far enough back and we’re all one race, the human race. The human race is in need of redemption, and that comes only through Christ. Dylann Roof deserves the death penalty, but he can still be truly forgiven by God if he repents. His body will die, but his soul may live, and that’s God’s offer to every one of us.

Rev. Bryan Griem
Tujunga

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Dylann Roof’s online presence is still visible, expressing his hatred of African Americans and his hopes for race war in the U.S. I have not detected any hint of anti-religious views in his ignorant rants.

I believe that those imagining an attack on religion are having a rather delusional reaction to a very slight decrease in religion’s grip on our culture. There are countries in which believers, Christians among them, are being persecuted, but the U.S. is not one of those countries.

All over the world Islam is being wrongly conflated with extremist terrorism and Muslims are suffering as a result. This reality should also be included in any inventory of anti-religious sentiments.

Roberta Medford
Atheist
Montrose