Wednesday, June 17, at approximately 2100 hrs, a boy (I will not consider that coward a man) walked into a church. He sat down and attended a prayer group for about an hour, after which he stood up and made hateful, racist, and inflammatory comments before unloading a .45 caliber pistol killing 9 innocent people. In most cases the survivors and families of the deceased would be enraged and out for vengeance, however not in this case.
In this case they were forgiving, they prayed for him and displayed what true Christianity is. This heinous act initially backfired as it actually united a community, it brought people together in a way we haven’t seen since September 11, 2001. Men, women, and children of ALL races stood together and held hands and prayed and sang hymns in front of the church. A movement was lead by Glenn Beck to do this, bringing people from all walks of life to pray for those whose lives were taken for no reason other than pure evil. We began to see a positive change in our society for a brief moment, we saw unity as Americans once again, but then it changed.
As we have seen in too many previous incidents recently, the focus was redirected toward something completely unrelated, a flag. You can argue that the Confederate flag is a symbol of Southern heritage, a symbol of an attempt at liberation from what at the time was deemed to be an oppressive government. You can also argue that the flag is a symbol of hatred, racism, oppression, and slavery. If you look from the right perspective, either argument is valid, however everyone seems to be missing the point, what took place on Wednesday, June 17th had nothing to do with a flag. It had to do with an evil person filled with unjustified hatred. Instead of remaining united, we quickly became divided again to debate whether or not we should allow a flag to fly, a flag that was completely unrelated to the incident. We had an opportunity to come together, yet instead we allowed others to come in and politicize this tragedy and divert the attention from the evil perpetrator to a piece of cloth.
Why is it that, when we are given the opportunity to be great, we take the low road and focus on the smoke and mirrors? Instead of blaming the killer, we blame guns and a flag. Instead of coming together to help heal a grieving community and create unity, we find something to fight about and perpetuate division. Whether the flag flies or not is of no consequence to me, even if it offended me, I do not have the right to not be offended. If South Carolina considers it to be a part of its heritage, then let them make that decision, don’t leave the decision to everyone else around the country. We are supposed to be a nation of the people, yet we are fixating on what politicians have to say about a flag in a state that most of them don’t even live in. We have protesters coming (yet again) from all over the country to protest a flag, and have allowed this issue to completely overshadow the lives of the 9 innocent people who were tragically killed by a coward. Then if that’s not enough, we have to fight over whether or not to label it as “terrorism”. Why can’t we be united like we were immediately after the incident? Why must we seek a reason to fight? Why must every incident now be overly politicized? Why can’t we come together and instead of fighting each other, fight the hatred with love? The only thing to cast out the darkness is light, so why are we instead adding more darkness?
We had a glimmer of hope, we had a moment where the true American spirit shined through, but it was short lived before the dividers came in and stole the show to make it about their agenda. That moment of light was enough to restore faith in humanity for many, but what the situation has devolved into is what has driven away the hope for so long. Is this the path we will continue down as a society? Or will we be the people that came together as a loving community? It’s time for us to stop letting evil overshadow good, it’s time for us to stop letting divisiveness overrule unity, it’s time for us to love one another again. It’s time for us to take it upon ourselves to go out and make a difference, one person at a time. Go out and perform a random act of kindness for a stranger, show someone love, because it may be the only love they get that day. As the old adage says, “be kinder than necessary, for everyone is facing a battle that you don’t know about.” If we want to see things change, we have to make that change happen. As Ghandi said, “be the change you want to see in the world”, that change is needed now more than ever. Let’s stop letting the negative distract us from the greatness we have the capability of achieving.
You don’t have to be a Christian to be a good person, you don’t have to know someone to love them as a brother or sister. We are all brothers and sisters in this life, no matter your race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or any other identifying characteristic. We need to step up as a people and fix what has been broken before it is beyond repair. Let’s look past our differences and start seeking the common ground we share. It doesn’t matter what your political affiliation you have, it doesn’t matter what your religion is, and it definitely doesn’t matter what the color of your skin is, we are all people. Despite what people will tell you, we are all equal, we are all human, and it’s time we started realizing that and treating each other as such. We may not all see eye to eye on everything, but to every one of you, I love you all like brothers and sisters. It’s time to stop fighting over petty things and have civil dialogue. No name calling, no hate, just compassion and love for each other. Peace starts with one person at a time waking up and not allowing the negativity of others to corrupt their way of thinking. Don’t allow yourself to become consumed with hate for something because you don’t agree with it or don’t understand it, step outside your comfort zone and try to see things from other perspectives. Have empathy, try to understand our differences rather than using it to fuel unnecessary hatred. I love you all, and God bless each and every one of you.
Note: At Liberty Cannon Media Group we believe in many voices and solutions, not less. Therefore from time to time we may publish columns and opinions that are not necessarily those belonging to Liberty Cannon Media Group.
