Responding in Faith to the Tennessee Tragedy

As your Director of Religious Education, I am deeply saddened
and troubled by the recent tragedy at the Knoxville UU congregation,
particularly since it happened during a children's musical
performance. The specifics of that worship service make it hit even
closer to home for me. While I understand intellectually that these
events are very rare, and that church attendance is still a safe
activity on a Sunday morning, I'm alarmed that this could happen in
a UU congregation. How can I respond to these events?

What I would say to our UUP children is that they are safe at
church- that this type of incident is very rare. I might also talk
about the courage of the UU's who tackled the gunman and kept the
Tennessee children free from harm. The adults at UUP feel strongly
about keeping our children safe and protected, and we will do
everything possible to keep them out of danger.

I would also tell the kids that prejudice is wrong and
hurtful. The gunman apparently targeted a UU congregation for its
beliefs and for its support of gay and transgender people. One way
to demonstrate support for the folks in Tennessee would be for us at
UUP to continue our efforts towards fighting for equal civil rights
for all people and for fighting against religious intolerance. There
are many ways to show this support locally: we could join efforts to
keep anti-gay marriage initiative out of California's constitution;
we can speak up against hateful speech directed at any group of
people; and we can speak out against the politics of fear and
scapegoating in the upcoming election campaigns.

I feel blessed to live in Sonoma County, a progressive area
which celebrates diversity much more than other places. Yet, even
here, there is much to be done to fight for the rights of many
groups. I would want our children to know that hateful acts committed
against UU's just strengthens our resolve to work towards a better
world.

In Faith,
Marlene Abel
Director of Religious Education
Unitarian Universalists of Petaluma