All three of us grew up attending
church regularly and we still do. In our early lives, we never, ever worried
about our personal
safety while in church. How things have changed. Attacks on worshippers at a Church of Christ
in White Settlement, Texas near Ft. Worth and at a Hanukkah celebration at a rabbi’s
home in Monsey, New York just before the end of 2019 illustrated
the vulnerability of all kinds of faith communities. The situation has gotten bad
enough that last summer the Federal Bureau of Investigation invited religious leaders from across
the country to a meeting in Washington on how houses of worship can protect
congregants from violent attack.
A Brutal, Hateful History
Overwhelmingly, church shootings appear motivated by hate of
members of the religious group attacked:
*In 2015, acknowledged white supremacist Dylan Roof killed nine black congregants
engaged in bible study at the “Mother” Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal
Church in
Charleston, South Carolina. Roof, who’s been sentenced to death, posted racist
statements on line before he acted.
*In May 2019, a Nashville, Tennessee jury convicted and
sentenced to life imprisonment 27-year old Emanuel Samson after he shot and killed one person
and wounded seven others at a Church of Christ in Antioch,
Tennessee. Prosecutors
asserted Samson acted in retaliation for the Charleston massacre.
*On October 27, 2018, a gunman who had posted anti - Jewish
rantings on line, killed 11 and wounded six at the Tree of Life Synagogue in
Pittsburgh.
*Six people died in an attack on a Sikh temple in Oak Creek,
Wisconsin on August
5, 2012, by a U.S. Army veteran who’d immersed himself in the white power music scene in North Carolina.
*As early as July 2008, an unemployed truck driver named Jim
David Adkisson shot and killed two people and
wounded six others
at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville. Authorities found a
manifesto in Adkisson’s car expressing his hatred for liberals, Democrats,
blacks, and gays.
Motives for some church shootings have remained murky, such
as in the killing of 26 people at a Baptist
church in Sulphur Springs, Texas in November 2017. The investigation into the White
Settlement, Texas incident remains open and the motive, if known to
authorities, hasn’t been disclosed.
How Much Security?
Religious leaders, in light of this
ghastly
history, now face questions about how they secure their places of
worship without turning them into fortresses. The White Settlement Church, ten
years ago, formed a security team made up of trained, armed volunteers. Church
leaders there credited the security team with saving “a lot of lives” when they
noticed the gunman “acting suspiciously” and shot him during a gun battle that
erupted just before communion. Two members of that security team died in the
attack.
Some congregations employ uniformed security officers who
patrol the premises during services, looking for people who seem out of place
or are, as in the case of the White Settlement attack, “acting suspiciously.” Some houses of worship, though not all, arm
these officers. The presence of uniformed officers certainly could deter
potential attacks. If a shooter opens fire and the officers are not armed,
however, an outcome like that in White Settlement with a limited loss of life, might
not materialize.
Some religious organizations aren’t comfortable with weapons
on their premises while they conduct services, whether in the possession of
security personnel or potential attackers. The prospect of gun battles,
especially involving untrained volunteers, creates almost as much fear among
some religious leaders and congregants as having no security at all. Not all
churches, especially small ones, can afford a uniformed security force.
Recent events, noted one leader of a Jewish organization
formed in response to security threats, have accentuated the reality that
attacks on places of worship “can happen
anywhere.” Our own review of the
history of church attacks shows that no religion, denomination, area, or ideology is
safe. Conservative evangelicals in rural churches, Jews
in urban synagogues, African Americans in small city churches, and liberals in
progressive havens have all suffered violent attacks in the last 12 years. It’s become a universal, non-discriminatory
problem.
Our Take
We are not security experts. None of us have been trained in
the methodology of law enforcement, police work, or prevention of criminal conduct. We will not, therefore, suggest
how places of worship should best protect themselves from violent attack. Doing
so would involve us in speculation, and conjecture, a venture we decline.
We have different faith histories and practices. Religion
plays varying roles in our lives and religion’s impact may change from time to
time within our lives. We do find the attacks of recent years troubling because they threaten a basic freedom we cherish about our American
citizenship – the right of worshiping in the way we see fit, without governmental or other interference. Exercising that right necessarily requires
a measure of personal safety and security.
That’s why we see this issue as so
important and why local, state, and national leader in religion and law
enforcement must address it.
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