c. 2008 Religion News Service
Unitarians search for healing after deadly church shooting
(RNS) Unitarian Universalist leaders say they will not allow a fatal shooting at a Tennessee church to deter their proud progressive teachings, even as police say those beliefs appear to be what prompted the deadly rampage.
On Monday (July 28), one day after the shooting at a church musical that left two parishioners dead, church members began the process of healing with a candlelight vigil.
“We’re here tonight to make sense of the senseless,” said the Rev. William Sinkford, president of the Unitarian Universalist Association, according to the Associated Press.
A children’s choir ended the rain-soaked vigil by singing “The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow,” a popular song from the production of “Annie” that was interrupted by gunfire on Sunday morning.
According to Knoxville police, Jim D. Adkisson, 58, opened fire at a the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church. Police believe Adkisson, who is in police custody, acted alone.
In a four-page letter found in Adkisson’s car, the alleged shooter wrote that the attack was motivated in part by the church’s liberal beliefs.
“Basically it indicated that he was upset because of his unemployment situation. It also indicated that he was not happy with the liberalism of that movement, and also felt that that was partly the reason he was still unemployed,” said Officer Darrell DeBusk, a police spokesperson.
Adkisson’s ex-wife was a former member of the church, the Associated Press reported.
According to Janet Hayes, a spokesperson for UUA headquarters in Boston, the Knoxville church had been active in pushing for racial justice, and recently began holding an event for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender teens.
The attack, the first of its kind on a Unitarian church, has prompted an investigation by the FBI and local police. Under federal statutes, the attacks could be prosecuted as a hate crime if a religious motive can be proved.
The church, which has a membership of 460, will hold services next Sunday as scheduled. Although Hayes said some congregations nationally have become more alert in the wake of the shootings, Sinkford said Tuesday that they remain committed to their causes.
“Let me assure you that we will not change our beliefs or compromise our demands for social justice,” he said in a statement. “Fear will not prevent us from standing on the side of love, and we will continue to open our doors and our hearts to all people.“
_ Tom Murphy
British court rules for Sikh student’s bangles
LONDON (RNS) Britain’s High Court ruled Tuesday (July 29) in favor of a teenage Sikh student whose school who was banned from wearing a wrist bangle to school that she insisted was central to her faith.
Sarika Watkins-Singh, a 14-year-old of mixed Welsh and Punjabi origin, was reprimanded by Aberdare Girls’ School in Wales for breaking its “no jewelry” rule last year and finally barred her from classes.
The school argued before the court that its 600 female students were allowed only wristwatches and ear studs in the way of body adornments.
But High Court Justice Stephen Silber ruled that the steel bracelet, known as a kara, was a symbol of the girl’s Sikh religion rather than an item of jewelry _ and that the school was guilty of what he described as “indirect discrimination” under Britain’s race relations and equality laws.
“In this case,” Silber said, “there is clear evidence it was not a piece of jewelry but to Sarika was, and remains, one of the defining focal symbols of being a Sikh.”
The girl is now expected to return to the Aberdare school, still wearing the bangle, when classes resume in September.
A spokesman said the local government council that has authority over the school had been advised of the High Court’s decision and that it would “be working with the school’s governing body to ensure Sarika Singh’s continued education.”
_ Al Webb
Mahony says immigration must be top priority
WASHINGTON (RNS) Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony, who heads the nation’s largest Catholic archdiocese, on Monday (July 28) urged presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain to make immigration reform a top-level priority.
In a keynote address to the National Migration Conference here, Mahony, whose archdiocese has swelled from an influx of Hispanic immigrants, called the nation’s attitude toward immigrants “dangerous and unwelcoming.“
“A human being’s worth is defined by their God-given dignity, not by what papers they carry,” Mahony said.
The four-day conference, which ends Thursday, is sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and various Catholic aid organizations.
Mahony framed the issue as a moral imperative, while taking a more conciliatory approach than he has in the past. Last December, he sent a letter to every presidential candidate asking them to tone down their rhetoric against undocumented immigrants, and in 2006, Mahony instructed his priests to ignore a federal immigration bill if it passed into law.
“While we acknowledge the right and need for our government to enforce the law, we must remind our fellow Americans that man-made law does not permit the violation of God’s law,” Mahony said.
The cardinal argued that Catholics have an obligation to protect immigrant families from being separated, and urged Americans to embrace a population he said could “help evangelize” society.
Immigrants have taken on an increasingly important role in the growth of the U.S. church as American-born Catholics leave the faith in large numbers. According to a study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, 46 percent of immigrants identify themselves as Catholic, compared with 23 percent of the overall population.
In his visit to the United States last April, Pope Benedict XVI was critical of national immigration policy, which drew criticism from proponents for tighter border controls. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., a former Catholic, accused the pope of engaging in “faith-based marketing.”
_ Tim Murphy
Catholic church tallies cost of Katrina damage
NEW ORLEANS (RNS) The Archdiocese of New Orleans has released its first comprehensive report on the economic damage caused by Hurricane Katrina: $288 million in damage to its vast array of schools, churches, housing and nursing homes.
Its insurance coverage provided just 35 cents on each dollar of damage, the church said.
Yet a combination of nationwide generosity, continuing FEMA reimbursements, insurance and a radical downsizing of the archdiocese appears to have left the regional church in position to rebuild on a smaller footprint, said Sarah Comiskey, the archdiocese’s spokeswoman.
“We are working with what we have, and confident we can work with FEMA to continue to meet our capital needs,” she said.
On paper, the church faces a loss of about $105 million if it tried to restore all its property, said Jeffrey Entwisle, the archdiocese’s chief operating officer. Archbishop Alfred Hughes’ down-sizing plan foresees the closure of about 30 churches, significantly reducing the repair burden.
The day before the storm hit three years ago, the archdiocese counted about 491,000 Catholics; now about a fifth of those people are gone. About 8,000 fewer students now study in 21 fewer Catholic schools, the report said.
Among highlights of the archdiocese’s report:
_ An estimated 1,100 of the church’s 1,200 buildings were damaged in some way.
_ The church has collected about $102 million in insurance claims on total property damage of $288 million.
_ Catholics and others across the country sent the church $107 million for rebuilding and for distribution to Katrina victims, including $71 million from Catholic Charities USA.
_ The archdiocese has disbursed $77 million in hurricane relief, including $11 million in direct financial aid to people needing immediate help with groceries, utilities and other acute needs, the report said.
_ Bruce Nolan
Quote of the Day: Unitarian Universalist President Rev. William Sinkford
(RNS) “When I was asked if the shooter would go to hell, I replied that he must have been living in his own private hell for years.”
_ The Rev. William Sinkford, president of the Unitarian Universalist Association, in a statement Tuesday (July 29) after visiting the Unitarian church in Knoxville, Tenn., that was the site of a shooting rampage on Sunday that killed two and wounded eight others.
KRE/RB END RNS
