Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

barrier breaker

Home
Nonreligious
Why It Might Be Time To Accept That White Lives Matter More: A Black Atheist Reacts To Dylann Roof’s Bond Hearing

Why It Might Be Time To Accept That White Lives Matter More: A Black Atheist Reacts To Dylann Roof’s Bond Hearing

Last updated on: June 20, 2015 at 9:23 pm by Martin Hughes

Why It Might Be Time To Accept That White Lives Matter More: A Black Atheist Reacts To Dylann Roof’s Bond Hearing 2015-06-20T21:23:18-06:00 Martin Hughes

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

First, Nadine Collier, daughter of victim Ethel Lance, through tears, talked about this obligation to forgive because Someone Higher forgave:

You took something very precious away from me. I will never talk to her ever again. I will never hold her again. But I forgive you. Have mercy on your soul. You hurt me. You hurt a lot of people. But God forgives you. And I forgive you.

And the judge, who talks a bit to someone by his side for this short speech, responds, “Thank you ma’am, and I appreciate your being here.”

It just seems so diminished, so accepted.

The next victim representative, Anthony Thompson, representing the family of victim Myra Thompson, said:

I forgive you, and my family forgives you. But we would like to take this opportunity to ask you to repent. Repent. Confess. Give your life to the one who matters the most. Christ. So that he can change it, and change your ways no matter what happens to you, and you’ll be OK. Do that, and you’ll be better off than what you are right now.

While I’m an atheist, I can understand the sentiment. When no one in this world cares about your pain, or seems to understand that it means something, and nothing will change their hearts and to convince them that your pain matters — in desperation, you may plead for a mechanism, for a miracle, that will cause the person to understand who you are and turn them around. I see it, personally, as a kind of giving up, as thinking that there is nothing that is going to force the racist views and actions of white America to turn around, and a resulting plea for a miracle. The problem, of course, is that a plea for a miracle is an admittance that, rationally speaking, there is no way to expect things to get better.

Then another of just…raw pain, and yet a resignation to the pressure to appreciate Dylann Roof, from Felecia Sanders, mother of victim Tywanza Sanders:

We welcomed you Wednesday night in our Bible Study with open arms. You have killed some of the most beautiful people that I know. Every fiber in my body hurts, and I’ll never be the same. Tywanza Sanders was my son, but Tywanza was my hero. Tywanza was my hero. But, as we said in Bible Study, we enjoy you, but may God have mercy on you.

And then another sad resignation — not anger anymore, just pain, from Wanda Simmons, granddaughter of victim Daniel Simmons:

Although my grandfather and the other victims died at the hands of hate, this is proof – everyone’s plea for your soul is proof they lived in love and their legacies will live in love, so hate won’t win, and I just want to thank the courts for making sure that hate doesn’t win.

And then, finally, the last statement, from Bethane Middleton-Brown, representing the family of victim Rev. DePayne Middleton-Doctor:

DePayne Doctor was my sister. And I just thank you on the behalf of my family for not allowing hate to win. For me, I’m a work in progress and I acknowledge that I’m very angry.But one thing DePayne always joined in my family with is that she taught me we are the family that love built.We have no room for hate. We have to forgive. I pray God on your soul. And I also thank God I won’t be around when your judgment day comes with him.

That’s probably the most disturbing thing — she feels forced to move through the stages of grief. You’re angry? Oh, you’re a “work in progress,” don’t worry. We’ll make you give up and accept the reality in no time.

It’s sad. It’s why I distrust words like “love” — I just have a tendency to think that they mean “be quiet and be OK with what we’re doing.”

But what are you gonna do? Try to fight all your life against something that’s not going to change? Or accept it?

I’m about as hopeless as Jon Stewart, when he said:

“I’m confident that by acknowledging it, by staring into that and seeing it for what it is, we still won’t do jackshit. Yeah, that’s us. That’s the part that blows my mind.”

Like him, I’ve got nothing. No pleas. No wagging finger, really. I don’t know what to do next. It’s just…yeah. That’s it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJl9iqnvkOE

Thanks for reading, I guess.

Go back

Uncategorized

Previous Post

June 19, 2015

Why I Need To Disrespect Christianity In Order To Respect Christians

Next Post

June 20, 2015 Dylann Roof: "Black People View Everything Through A Racial Lens"

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month November 2019 July 2019 June 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 December 2018 September 2018 May 2018 April 2018 February 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What British monarch is also Supreme Governor of the Church of England?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Archbishop of Canterbury Prime Minister The King/Queen of England Pope