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defrogTo be honest, most of the rhetoric I’ve heard has been recycled from every other racially-motivated shooting and mass shooting. Which is why I doubt much will be done about it apart from prosecuting the shooter. Let’s face it, if an elementary school full of 20 dead kids doesn’t convince you that gun violence is a problem, the events in Charleston aren’t going to change that.
But there’s a few things probably worth commenting on.
1. I enjoyed the attempts by Fox News to try and spin it as an attack on Christians and not black people. Really, that was cute in a horrible atavistic kind of way. It took Geraldo Rivera (of all people) to pop a hole in that narrative bubble. Not that it matters – the usual MO at Fox is to assert something until it’s proven wrong, then carry on as though they never said anything like that.
Anyway, that’s given certain POTUS candidates a great opening to talk about the importance of religious liberty.
Leave it to Rick Perry to blow it.
2. Speaking of religious liberty, the response of the families of the victims is nothing short of remarkable. And I hope it gets broadcast repeatedly. It’s a textbook example of what Christianity is supposed to be, and what we’re supposed to do in these situations.
That doesn’t mean Roof gets out of jail, of course. That’s not the objective of grace. Put simply: you respond to hate with love, not more hate. At a time when everyone’s media image of Christianity is one of grim narrow-minded hate, hypocrisy and intolerance, it would be great if people could see the nice side of it for once – even if they may not understand how anyone could forgive a racist for killing nine people.
Yeah, well, great is the mystery of faith, etc.
3. It was also nice to see NRA members up their game when it comes to saying The Wrong Thing after a mass shooting.
The NRA has said Charles Cotton doesn’t speak for the NRA, but I suspect that disclaimer only applies to blaming the victims out loud in public, not the overall point Cotton was trying to make.
Still, it’s probably a logical step forward for them. Every time this happens, the NRA seems to inch closer and closer to becoming the Westboro Baptist Church of lobby groups. It’s not hard to imagine them picketing the funerals of shooting victims saying their deaths were God’s judgment on them for not supporting open-carry.
4. Regarding the whole Confederate flag thing, I know this may not go over well with some people who are reviving the argument that the flag represents racism, but hear me out:
I fully understand why people of color see the flag as a symbol of white pride and hatred. Certainly white supremacists do. But it’s also important to understand that most white people in the South are not white supremacists. Consequently, they don’t see the Confederate flag and think, “I wish we could still have slaves” or “I wanna kill me some niggers”. They certainly don’t think of the racist speeches the founding members of the CFA gave to justify their secession (although that does goes to show how ignorant they are of their own flag’s history).
They generally see the Confederate flag as a symbol of states rights. In their mind, it’s the equivalent of Sailor Ripley’s snakeskin jacket.
Now, none of that is an argument against taking the flag down. Personally, as someone who grew up in the South, the Confederate flag doesn’t mean a thing to me. It’s a separatist throwback that serves no practical purpose, so I see no real reason to keep it hoisted. Also, it’s not a free speech issue if the govt decides to take down its own flag. (And while I was writing that, the US Supreme Court agreed with me, kind of.)
So I have no problem with people calling for it to be taken down.
My point is this: it won’t solve the problem, because the flag itself is not the problem. I don’t really believe that Dylann Roof would never have learned to hate black people enough to kill them if only the Dixie flag wasn’t endorsed by the South Carolina state government. Lowering the flag won’t make it less of a white pride symbol to white supremacists. It'll probably make it even more precious a symbol for them.
Again, that’s no reason to leave it hoisted. I’m just saying, it should be treated as a symptom, not the cause, and the overall discussion of racism should acknowledge that.
The stars and bars of corruption,
This is dF
But there’s a few things probably worth commenting on.
1. I enjoyed the attempts by Fox News to try and spin it as an attack on Christians and not black people. Really, that was cute in a horrible atavistic kind of way. It took Geraldo Rivera (of all people) to pop a hole in that narrative bubble. Not that it matters – the usual MO at Fox is to assert something until it’s proven wrong, then carry on as though they never said anything like that.
Anyway, that’s given certain POTUS candidates a great opening to talk about the importance of religious liberty.
Leave it to Rick Perry to blow it.
2. Speaking of religious liberty, the response of the families of the victims is nothing short of remarkable. And I hope it gets broadcast repeatedly. It’s a textbook example of what Christianity is supposed to be, and what we’re supposed to do in these situations.
That doesn’t mean Roof gets out of jail, of course. That’s not the objective of grace. Put simply: you respond to hate with love, not more hate. At a time when everyone’s media image of Christianity is one of grim narrow-minded hate, hypocrisy and intolerance, it would be great if people could see the nice side of it for once – even if they may not understand how anyone could forgive a racist for killing nine people.
Yeah, well, great is the mystery of faith, etc.
3. It was also nice to see NRA members up their game when it comes to saying The Wrong Thing after a mass shooting.
The NRA has said Charles Cotton doesn’t speak for the NRA, but I suspect that disclaimer only applies to blaming the victims out loud in public, not the overall point Cotton was trying to make.
Still, it’s probably a logical step forward for them. Every time this happens, the NRA seems to inch closer and closer to becoming the Westboro Baptist Church of lobby groups. It’s not hard to imagine them picketing the funerals of shooting victims saying their deaths were God’s judgment on them for not supporting open-carry.
4. Regarding the whole Confederate flag thing, I know this may not go over well with some people who are reviving the argument that the flag represents racism, but hear me out:
I fully understand why people of color see the flag as a symbol of white pride and hatred. Certainly white supremacists do. But it’s also important to understand that most white people in the South are not white supremacists. Consequently, they don’t see the Confederate flag and think, “I wish we could still have slaves” or “I wanna kill me some niggers”. They certainly don’t think of the racist speeches the founding members of the CFA gave to justify their secession (although that does goes to show how ignorant they are of their own flag’s history).
They generally see the Confederate flag as a symbol of states rights. In their mind, it’s the equivalent of Sailor Ripley’s snakeskin jacket.
Now, none of that is an argument against taking the flag down. Personally, as someone who grew up in the South, the Confederate flag doesn’t mean a thing to me. It’s a separatist throwback that serves no practical purpose, so I see no real reason to keep it hoisted. Also, it’s not a free speech issue if the govt decides to take down its own flag. (And while I was writing that, the US Supreme Court agreed with me, kind of.)
So I have no problem with people calling for it to be taken down.
My point is this: it won’t solve the problem, because the flag itself is not the problem. I don’t really believe that Dylann Roof would never have learned to hate black people enough to kill them if only the Dixie flag wasn’t endorsed by the South Carolina state government. Lowering the flag won’t make it less of a white pride symbol to white supremacists. It'll probably make it even more precious a symbol for them.
Again, that’s no reason to leave it hoisted. I’m just saying, it should be treated as a symptom, not the cause, and the overall discussion of racism should acknowledge that.
The stars and bars of corruption,
This is dF
