You’ve probably heard by now about that church shooting in Knoxville, Tennessee.  You may have even heard that the church, a Unitarian congregation, has just put up a sign outside affirming of gay people.  The reflex, and I understand this perfectly as it was my first one too, is to connect the dots.  But it’s not so simple at this point…

The man accused of a mass church shooting this morning was described by his Powell neighbors as a helpful and kind man, but one who had issues with Christianity.

Jim D. Adkisson, 58, has been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, which killed one and injured eight others.

He is being held on $1 million bond.

"He had his own sense of belief about religion, that’s the impression I got of him," said neighbor Karen Massey. "We were talking one day when my daughter graduated from Bible college, and I told him I was a Christian, then he almost turned angry.

"He seemed to get angry at that."

According to Massey, Adkisson talked frequently about his parents who "made him go to church all his life … he was forced to do that."

Another story out there says the cops found a letter in Adkisson’s car…a "manifesto" according to the story.  The police are being tight lipped at the moment about what was in it.

So.  At this point all I know is that a man walked into a church full of people and started shooting.  He killed one person who confronted him at the door instantly with a shotgun blast.  He killed one more before he was tackled by other church members.  The usher who was killed first is being called a hero for acting as a human shield to protect the children’s choir that was singing when Adkisson walked in. 

A man walks into church and starts shooting.  Maybe it was the sign affirming gay people.  Maybe he had a grudge against Christianity and that church was just a random target.  Maybe it was something else entirely.  Hate has its own reasons. 

[Update…] 

The Knoxville police chief says Adkisson targeted the church because of its "liberal views".  The letter in his car apparently shows he was frustrated at being out of work, and that he had a hatred of "the liberal movement".  I just saw this in an AP article which I’m not linking to because of the blogger AP boycott.  But probably this will be showing up in other news outlets later.