Four people died, and Latter-day Saints as young as six were injured by the gunshots.
They were peacefully praying at the time of the attack.
“I believe very strongly that we can’t allow this to beat us.”
Just as they were peacefully praying on another autumn morning seven years ago at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue when an attacker massacred 11, injuring six more.
Just as they were peacefully praying six years ago at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, when gunfire slaughtered 51 and injured 89 more.
Just as they were peacefully praying a little over a month ago at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis when two children were killed and 28 others injured during mass.
And wire services reported that this Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, two worshippers were killed and three others seriously injured after a car and knife attack at a Manchester synagogue.
The Michigan attacker’s background is being investigated—his social media postings culled, his rants against Latter-day Saints uncovered. The obligatory official statements have been issued expressing outrage but urging calm, while law enforcement has interviewed over 100 people and are yet to determine a motive.
They are trying to make sense of the wholly senseless—hate, by its very nature, is senseless and insane.
There is nothing to “understand” about the hater. There is nothing to “come to terms” with. There is no “underlying reason” that justifies or explains hate and the acts it inspires.
That’s why we add more locks to our church doors and post guards with guns around our houses of worship.
“I saw evil. I saw hate,” said Rabbi Walker, describing the moment he saw an armed man shouting and attempting to storm his congregation’s Yom Kippur service.
But after praising the heroism of two congregants who gave their lives to protect their fellows, he said: “I believe very strongly that we can’t allow this to beat us.”
Indeed, in the face of hate, the most powerful act of defiance is to go on worshipping—and keep the doors open.
