Featured song: Patience Waiting by Haberdashery
Some of you may know about the tragic shooting which occurred at my Unitarian church here in Knoxville, Tennessee, this past July. Well, it seems that the person responsible for ending the lives of two wonderful people and wounding six others has apparently pleaded guilty to this crime, and is apparently showing no remorse for what he has done.
Even more disturbing is the letter the shooter wrote before he went on his rampage, which has been released by the Knoxville News-Sentinel newspaper today. You can read the entire text of the letter here, but be warned ... this is really disturbing material. Especially disturbing to me, apart from the racial and anti-gay diatribes, is the fact that he is actively encouraging more violent and disgusting acts like this one.
Part of me is torn on this one, on the one hand, is the News-Sentinel's publishing of this letter just giving his hatred a free pulpit? On the other hand, I think it is important that we know exactly his motives and why this happened. What is really disturbing is that this person writes with such coherence, he knew precisely what it was he wanted to accomplish. In a way I find this more disturbing than if he had just been some ordinary mentally disturbed "wacko".
My friends at TVUUC are resilient as ever though. I went to this past Sunday's service, which marks the 60th anniversary of the existence of our congregation. We dedicated the library and the fellowship hall to Linda Kraeger and Greg McKendry respectively, the two people who lost their lives in the tragedy. I think they would have been very proud.
As a sidenote, I found out that Linda Kraeger and Joe Barnhardt (one of the others injured in the shooting) have written a book about Roger Williams, the founder of the Baptist faith in America, entitled "Trust and Treachery". Some of you may know that my Dad is an old-school Baptist ... when I say old-school, he's still traditional Christian, but he believes as the old Baptists used to believe, in the seperation of church and state. I would add that Roger Williams also established the colony of Rhode Island as a haven for people of other faiths who were at the time being persecuted by the Puritans of Massachusetts. Anyway, my Dad is a big history buff, so I may check out this book for him to read, I know he will find it interesting, even more so considering the people who wrote this.
One last note: My friend Dave Richards at Ninthwave Records (a label which has released my own Synthetik FM album digitally) will soon be releasing a synthpop compilation which I put together to honor the spirit of my fellow church friends who were affected by this. The compilation is entitled "United Synthpop Artists 2: Everyone Welcome - A Tribute to Peace" and will feature 17 songs from the electronic synthpop underground by artists from around the world, many of whom are personal friends who felt the need to help out when they heard what happened at TVUUC. Proceeds from this album, which will be released digitally, will go to the UUA Knoxville Relief Fund.
What you are hearing now (if you clicked on the music link at the top) is the song "Patience Waiting" by my good friend Stephen Pearlman (aka Haberdashery), which features on this compilation. Stephen does some really beautiful and emotional music, which draws heavily on influences by Erasure and other 80's synthpop bands. His "Aletheia" album is so mesmerizing, I often use it at night when I am having trouble getting to sleep on nights where I have to get up early the next morning. Needless to say, his music is much recommended, and I will be posting a link at the bottom of this post.
That's all for now. Until next time ... 
Link: Haberdashery website
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this is really sad, i'm sorry this happened at your church & our prayers are with you. i live in new zealand and was invited by the unitarian church in auckland to speak at one of their sunday services a couple of years ago. it was a special experience, and i really valued the fact that they could have someone from another faith speaking at their main service. i can't think of many religious groups that are open enough for that.
ReplyDeleteyou left a comment on my blog asking me to send you an email, but i don't have your email address. i'd appreciate it if you could contact me, my email is kiwistars at gmail dot com.