dagblog - Comments for "Goodness and Mercy and The Charleston Massacre"

Thank you, Danny. Share away

Ramona — Sun, 28 Jun 2015 22:33:47 +0000

In reply to Very well written! I'm

Thank you, Danny. Share away!

Very well written! I'm

Danny Cardwell — Sun, 28 Jun 2015 20:52:50 +0000

In reply to Goodness and Mercy and The Charleston Massacre

Very well written! I'm sharing a quote from your piece!

Yeah. The first react for

Elusive Trope — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 14:52:08 +0000

In reply to It looks like a few simple

Yeah. The first react for most of us was outrage and the desire to inflict some kind of bodily pain to him. Yet anger & hate directed at anger & hate only creates more anger & hate. Because we are only humans, this is a difficult principle to live by.

It looks like a few simple

Ramona — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 00:27:06 +0000

In reply to There is one positive

It looks like a few simple acts of forgiveness are all it's going to take. Who could have imagined?

There is one positive

Elusive Trope — Thu, 25 Jun 2015 12:39:16 +0000

In reply to Goodness and Mercy and The Charleston Massacre

There is one positive development here:

One by one, the mourners, still in shock at what he had done, described to him how they felt, and then, one by one, they offered their forgiveness. Their goodness and mercy finally broke through. This morning Roof is on suicide watch. There are reports that he is remorseful.

He could have used the trial, which will be media circus, to incite others to follow him by committing similar acts, to push the white supremacy agenda, and to turn himself as a martyr of the federal government who are trying to take their guns, attack Christianity, etc. Instead the racists and white supremacists will listen to one of their own undermine their legitimacy and righteousness.

Alabama removed the

rmrd0000 — Wed, 24 Jun 2015 15:24:44 +0000

In reply to Goodness and Mercy and The Charleston Massacre

Alabama removed the Confederate flag from its state grounds today.

Lulu, please stick to the

Ramona — Wed, 24 Jun 2015 12:36:51 +0000

In reply to The various bloggs and

Lulu, please stick to the issues and leave the analysis of someone's inner thoughts or beliefs out of it. Thanks.

Here is a comment about

rmrd0000 — Wed, 24 Jun 2015 12:08:09 +0000

In reply to The various bloggs and

Here is a comment about forgiveness and Dylann Roof from an African-American writer that appeared in the NYT. It is not hubris, it is a shared experience and a call to the black church. The sense I am getting is that African-Americans were touched by the forgiving nature of the families. We have the sense that that shows the true message of the church. I was commenting on my need to forgive Roof as a personal healing. The NYT writer is unable to forgive Roof.

So you think that I'm showing

rmrd0000 — Wed, 24 Jun 2015 02:08:39 +0000

In reply to The various bloggs and

So you think that I'm showing hubris. I think that I am releasing anger. Your objection on this point seems ridiculous. Your are free to your somewhat limited opinion. I said that you would not understand. You met my expectation.

If you look at response to your post, I'm not the only one who considered it a personal attack. I'm not playing any card.

Can you name the massacres where you think my response has not met your expectations? How would you rate your dagblog response to the massacre in Charleston?

The various bloggs and

A Guy Called LULU — Wed, 24 Jun 2015 01:52:59 +0000

In reply to Soo much to unpack here.

The various bloggs and comments on this subject have been, for the most part, interesting and thought provoking. Your statement that you had reached the point where YOU could forgive Dylan Storm strikes me as misguided hubris. Despite your claim that you have a right to do so because you know some people in the same city, I still disagree. I think that you made that claim of forgiveness to place yourself in the same admirable light [probably though, not with that as a conscious motive] as that light shining on the those who actually do have, IMO, that right. But, maybe I am wrong because you mean something different than what I believe the word ‘forgiveness’ to mean. Do you actually mean that you have stopped feeling angry and resentful towards Storm for his offense? Have you pardoned him in your own mind? Have you excused him? Have you the further hubris to feel that you can exonerate him? Do you absolve him of his crime? Do you make allowance and feel no resentment, no malice? Do you harbor no ill will and feel no malice towards him for what he did? Are you ready to let bygones be bygones and bury the hatchet? Doing these things would be in accord with my understanding of forgiveness but I would still believe that it is not your place, in this case, to do so.

I did not say that the Confederacy and its faults should not be remarked upon, just that some of the criticisms, while being correct, come off as the pot calling the kettle black.

It is not my intention to attack you as a person but strongly disagreeing with something you have said that you believe and then expressing why I think that that ‘something’ is wrong cannot help but be a bit personal if you choose to see it that way and to defend your position by playing that card.

"Finally, you end on my focus on black issues is narrow. Is it too narrow because it focuses on black issues?"

Yes, if you can only see some crimes as crimes, or at least that is the only time you make a strong issue of them as an ongoing crime needing attention, is when they are committed against black Americans, I then conclude that your interest in what is right and what is wrong is too narrow. That is also why I said your focus is shallow.