Church shooting some kind of trend?

Maybe kevlar cassocks will be the new trend for worried pastors.

Of course the one's with the most faith in their deity could wear a target.
 
JoeTheJuggler said:
Just east of St. Louis in Maryville, IL a man shot and killed the pastor of a Baptist church during the service.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/03/08/church.shooting/index.html

Have these sorts of incidents increased, or is that just a reporting bias (or a bias on my part)?
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Well I am afraid these types of events will continue to grow as the end draws near. We are warned in scripture many times that believers will suffer persecution.

If I was a preacher or pastor would some of you here on Jref do this to me?
 
Hokulele said:
I am an atheist, not a psychopath.


I will give you bonus points for the attempt at making the most offensive statement possible, but I think yrreg is still comfortably in the lead.
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Maybe if she asked if you'd kill her with a penis.
 
Does anyone know if the shooter had any firm religious beliefs? So far, almost every report of "church shooters" doesn't mention if they were believers or not. Common sense suggests they --were-- believers, because I'm sure we'd be seeing "Atheist Shoots Up Church Service" headlines if it were otherwise.

Beanbag
 
Well I am afraid these types of events will continue to grow as the end draws near. We are warned in scripture many times that believers will suffer persecution.
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While I agree shootings are serious events, is anyone else than me so sick and tired of Christians crying persecution in the face of every least provocation? It's disgusting.

Kathy, read up on the horrible crimes of the Lord's Resistance Army, and then come back here and tell me how us evil atheists are persecuting Christians.

Does anyone know if the shooter had any firm religious beliefs? So far, almost every report of "church shooters" doesn't mention if they were believers or not. Common sense suggests they --were-- believers, because I'm sure we'd be seeing "Atheist Shoots Up Church Service" headlines if it were otherwise.
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I'm wondering if there isn't a history of abuse in at least a couple of the cases. The shooter is treated poorly in some way by the church, snaps, and bang, up to several people dead. Recent school and mall shooting 'fads' probably don't help either.
 
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kurious_kathy said:
Well I am afraid these types of events will continue to grow as the end draws near. We are warned in scripture many times that believers will suffer persecution.

If I was a preacher or pastor would some of you here on Jref do this to me?
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Wow. Just... Wow.

Of all the slanderous statements you could have ever made, Kathy, that's truly in a class by itself. Tell me: Did you come up with that kind of bilious spew on your own, or did you have help? (Please, tell me Christian Dude had more sense than this.)

The raison d'etre of JREF is EDUCATION. Yes, you're going to be confronted when you make a statement that is not supported by FACT. But, the last thing anyone here has EVER advocated is violence, (and what has been suggested has been more in the vein of "I could just kill you for saying that.") That you would make such a vile smear against people who have done you no harm is one of the most insulting things I've ever heard you say, ever.

No one on this board takes any pleasure that an innocent man was shot. No one. Especially not me, not Hoke, not Tricky, no one. If there is anything going on, it's concern for the man's family, for his loved ones, for his congregation. It's hope that he'll pull through. And frankly, I would have thought that you would have read enough of what folks have said on this board to have gotten that.

How dare you. Damn you.
 
kurious_kathy said:
Well I am afraid these types of events will continue to grow as the end draws near. We are warned in scripture many times that believers will suffer persecution.
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Well, the funny thing is that most violence seems to be sectarian. Catholics and protestants in Ireland, Suni and Shia moslems all over the middle east (funnily extremist islamic terrorists kill more muslims than they kill christians and jews combined), etc.

So if the end draws near, well, cast your eyes at the nearest church of another denomination, that's who's the most likely to shoot at you for your faith.

kurious_kathy said:
If I was a preacher or pastor would some of you here on Jref do this to me?
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Well, as far as I can tell, we have a few religious fanboys around. Now probably most couldn't be bothered to actually kill anyone, though.
 
Safe-Keeper said:
I'm wondering if there isn't a history of abuse in at least a couple of the cases. The shooter is treated poorly in some way by the church, snaps, and bang, up to several people dead.
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I've wondered that myself. The mindset of the religious is always a puzzle to me. I have a cousin who is (or was -- not sure of the logistics of the situation) a devout deep-fried Southern Baptist preacher who got kicked out of his church when his shrew wife filed for divorce. This was a man who put up with decades of absolute hell for the sake of their child, then the religios make that arbitrary decision that a True Baptist Preacher(tm) can't be a divorcee. I admit that I go in sorta expecting the worst when dealing with anything religious (and have rarely been disappointed), but I wouldn't be surprised if there was some sort of similar two-faced theophilosophy being applied to the shooter.

It's sort of like the cranky old-fart Catholic priest who didn't want a car-full of teenagers killed in a traffic accident buried in the church cemetery "because he just knew they were on their way to do something sinful at the time."

Beanbag
 
It's not church-shootings that's the trend. It's conservative people shooting people that's a trend. Every domestic terrorist outside of peta and greenpeace is almost guaranteed to be conservative. Right wing religious conservative, to be specific.
 
On the topic of church shootings, don't forget about the shooting at a Unitarian Church last summer or fall. Many of those killed were atheists, and the killer was apparently some kind of really mentally unstable guy who blamed the loss of his job and crappy conditions of his life on "those liberals." So he decided to go out and kill a few :boggled:

Dare I ask what Kathy's thoughts are on that shooting?
 
kurious_kathy said:
Well I am afraid these types of events will continue to grow as the end draws near. We are warned in scripture many times that believers will suffer persecution.

If I was a preacher or pastor would some of you here on Jref do this to me?
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No, but someone from your own parish probably would. Which begs the question: What is one nut job killing another nut job to me?
 
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