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Prayers & good thoughts for Charleston (SC)...


Stacia
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We are praying hard. Friends of the family live a couple of blocks from the church. Police told them to stay inside, but they are also allowing J to get her husband from work in their car so that he doesn't have to walk down the sidewalks. I'm thankful they are letting him go home,  This young couple got married just six days ago. Beautiful wedding, great people.

 

ETA: She was able to pick him up from work and they drove home without a problem. They are now in their little apartment until they are told it's safe for them to move around again. 

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Prayers and  :grouphug: to Charleston, everyone affiliated with those who were shot, and to our overall community.

 

I wish we would never again have these types of threads (due to no need for them - not due to banning the type).

 

Let us all press on with teaching as many as we can to live and let live...

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I'm hosting a small prayer vigil at my house this afternoon, to weep with those who weep and to pray for protection for those whom the evil man hates. Praying for a swift arrest and justice.

 

If you haven't told your children about Pastor (and Senator) Clementa Pinckney, look him up. He was a great man and the nation needed him.

 

 

 

 

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I do not know if this is true/confirmed, but local people here are saying he has been found in the Shelby, NC (the next county over from us).

 

So sad...

 

 

Georgia

 

It has been confirmed.

 

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/06/18/3671202/facebook-photo-charleston-suspect-wears-flags-racist-african-states/

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-06-18/was-the-charleston-shooting-suspect-fomenting-racial-hate-on-facebook-

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What a terrible tragedy. I know people who lost friends in the shooting, as well as people who knew the accused and are struggling with that. I'm angry and absolutely disgusted with the violence we see on a daily basis. While I didn't know anyone involved, nor do I live in that city, my heart hurts and I hope that there won't be retaliation.

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It's to the point where I don't even know what to say anymore.  While my heart is breaking for those families, and I just want to shout out how sick and tired I am of senseless, ignorant killing.  Argh!  Times like this I wish I lived with no connection to the outside world.

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We saw this as breaking news last night and have been praying for the victims ever since. Last night, local news was still hoping that Rev. Pinckney had been at the Hillary Clinton event and was not present. Any loss of life is tragic, but to lose such a well-respected public leader is especially so.

 

 

Meanwhile, the Confederate flag still flies over their state house.

No, it doesn't.

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http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-33186078

 

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/06/18/1394227/-Will-South-Carolina-fly-its-Confederate-flag-at-half-mast

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Carolina_State_House

 

The building's grounds are home to several monuments. On the north side is a monument to South Carolina's Confederate dead, a monument that includes a flagpole flying a traditional version of the Confederate battle flag. The monument was established after a controversy during the U.S. presidential campaign of 2000 about the Confederate flag flying over the dome of the State House.[11] The flag, originally placed over the dome in 1962,[12] was moved to its present location on July 1, 2000.

 

I guess not on top, but on the grounds.  I can see how that is so much better.

 

http://www.salon.com/2014/10/15/nikki_haley_its_ok_to_have_the_confederate_flag_at_the_statehouse_because_not_a_single_ceo_has_complained/

 

But the Governor says no CEOs have complained so it's all good!

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According to wikipedia:

 

The building's grounds are home to several monuments. On the north side is a monument to South Carolina's Confederate dead, a monument that includes a flagpole flying a traditional version of the Confederate battle flag. The monument was established after a controversy during the U.S. presidential campaign of 2000 about the Confederate flag flying over the dome of the State House.[11] The flag, originally placed over the dome in 1962,[12] was moved to its present location on July 1, 2000.

 

The grounds are also home to a monument dedicated to the contributions and history of African-Americans, as well as one on the southwest of the South Portico that is dedicated to South Carolina law enforcement officers killed while on duty. The grounds also feature statues of Senators Strom Thurmond and Benjamin Tillman.

 

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I keep watching the news reports and it is just so horrible. :crying:

 

I was very relieved when they caught the killer, because I was afraid he would strike again.

 

I really hope this thread doesn't turn into a political discussion about the Confederate flag. Those poor people were just brutally murdered and I am hoping we can focus on that. Maybe someone should start a new thread about the flag issue.

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Everything I'm reading says it does.

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-33186078

 

plus many other articles.

 

Not saying this has any bearing on the shooting, just that I'm curious whether the Confederate flag does fly at the statehouse?

While I grant you that it would be much better for it to be in a museum, it does not fly over the state house and it is not as prominent on the grounds as creative photography makes it seem.

 

The first photo here shows what it looks like from the street (it's behind that monument; in other words, you can't see it): http://southcarolinaparks.com/historic-sites/state-house.aspx

 

The first photo here shows from the air (the Cofederate monument is in the lower left and the flag pole is behind it): http://www.sciway.net/sc-photos/richland-county/sc-state-house.html

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I don't want to argue. I just don't want people to have the impression that the majority of South Carolinians hold to Cofederate ideals. We don't. I expect that the flag in front of the monument will come down eventually and that many of us hope it's sooner rather than later.

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I'm so glad the shooter is in police custody. Prayers to the families who lost loved ones and those he needlessly and senselessly terrorized :(

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Buzzfeed has information on the victims: http://www.buzzfeed.com/jessicasimeone/these-are-the-victims-of-the-charleston-church-shooting?utm_term=.ci8pLMg6G#.mdaPqxQm8

 

Not that any murder makes sense, but I just don't understand. According to reports, he sat in the church with these people for an hour before killing them. And then said something about how he had to do it because "you rape our women." Did he look at these people? Did he listen to them? They're mostly women. I read that a 5yo survived by playing dead. It's just incomprehensible. I know there's no making sense of it. It's just so awful.

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I think this take is relevant

 

https://twitter.com/elonjames/status/611591580957343746

 

It's not incomprehensible. It's a direct, understandable attempt to act according to (horrible) principles of white supremacy which, not to put too fine a point on it, were the central sin of this country's creation.

 

I understand the urge to say it's not understandable. It's the same thing that makes people call Nazis "monsters", the implication being "not like us". It's an attempt to look away from the truth. But we can only fight racism by looking at it and confronting it head on, and that means recognizing that there are people we know and love who are capable of such evil.

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Buzzfeed has information on the victims: http://www.buzzfeed.com/jessicasimeone/these-are-the-victims-of-the-charleston-church-shooting?utm_term=.ci8pLMg6G#.mdaPqxQm8

 

Not that any murder makes sense, but I just don't understand. According to reports, he sat in the church with these people for an hour before killing them. And then said something about how he had to do it because "you rape our women." Did he look at these people? Did he listen to them? They're mostly women. I read that a 5yo survived by playing dead. It's just incomprehensible. I know there's no making sense of it. It's just so awful.

 

Declaring black men as a sexual threat to white women(and declaring white women needing protection from black men)  has a long history as an excuse for violence against the African American community. This guy is nothing new. That is not a manifestation of mental illness, just good old fashioned American racism.

 

And, no, he didn't look at them, because to him, African Americans are not people. To him they are dangerous thugs, they are not real people with hopes and struggles and dreams and flaws.

 

It is amazing to me to read interviews with his friends who say 'oh, he never came across as racist" and then they go on to describe his racist language and jokes but...I guess they see that as acceptable? Normal? Nothing to worry about? We stay friends with someone who makes racist jokes?

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