Posted on 07/27/2008 8:43:01 AM PDT by 2nd amendment mama
11:29 am
Steve Drevik says the suspect isn't believed to have any connection to the church.
11:19 am
Steve Drevik, a member of the TVUU Church spoke to media outside the church building, where media are assembled.
He says the suspect is now in custody.
Drevik says the shooting happened during a regular service, as children of the church were performing music from Annie for parishioners.
A man with long blond hair, who appeared to be in his 40s, walked into the sanctuary and opened fiire with a shotgun, shooting indiscriminately.
At least six or seven people were hit by the gunfire. They have been transported to UT Medical Center. Two are believed to be in serious condition.
No children are believed to have been hit by the gunfire.
Some of the children were taken next door to Second Presbyterian Church for shelter.
Numerous KPD officers are on the scene.
11:00 am
Multiple people have suffered gunshot wounds in what witnesses describe as a mass shooting inside a church in West Knoxville Sunday morning.
The shootings happened at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church on Kingston Pike.
A witness who spoke to 10 News said police had arrived and one person was being detained at the scene.
A children's production of "Annie" was taking place as part of the normal Sunday service at the time of the shooting, the witness, who is a member of the church, said. The gunman walked into a packed sanctuary and opened fire.
The number of people shot and the extent of their injuries has not been confirmed, but the witness said he saw at least five people shot.
Church members heard a loud boom during the church service, which began around 10:15 a.m., the witness said. Several other loud booms followed, and the witness said the gunman seemed to be shooting randomly across a row of people. Two congregants tackled the gunman, he said.
Many people fled to the Second Presbyterian Church after the shooting, and that church was placed on lockdown, according to a 10 News crew at the scene. People have since been allowed to return to the Unitarian church building, where police are questioning witnesses.
Stay with WBIR for the very latest on this rapidly developing story.
From this source:
Unitarian Universalism (UU), known officially as the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations in North America (with headquarters in Boston, Mass.), was officially formed in 1961 with the merger of two separate religious groups whose roots date back to the early 1500s -- the American Unitarian Association (1825) and the Universalist Church of America (1793). Unitarian Universalism is one of the most liberal of the denominations, being more akin to a society of free thinkers than a traditional "Christian" denomination.
In America, the religious liberalism that came to be known as Unitarianism appeared within the congregational churches in Massachusetts as a reaction against the revivalism of the Great Awakening (1740-43). Unitarianism prospered in the late-18th century among the Harvard elite, and emerged full bloom in the early-19th century as a rational, mystical, liberal religion that rejected the divinity of Christ as well as the Calvinist view of man as totally depraved. The Unitarians believed that man was not only morally perfectible, but that education was the only true way to salvation. Since they believed that evil was caused by ignorance, poverty, and social injustice, they were convinced that only a good liberal education, provided by the government at no charge, would solve society's problems (1/96, The Blumenfeld Education Letter, p. 2).
Universalism is the theological doctrine that all souls will ultimately be saved and that there are no torments of hell. Universalism has been asserted at various times in different contexts throughout the history of the "Christian church" -- e.g., Origen in the 3rd century. The Universalists also denied the miraculous element in Scripture, and rejected such important Bible doctrines as the total depravity of man and the Trinity.
There are currently about 205,000 Unitarian Universalist members in 1,040 congregations in North America. The beliefs of Unitarian Universalism appeal greatly to the "yuppie" generation of today -- no penalty for sin, no hell, salvation for all, ecumenism with all other religions, and extreme theological liberalism with no official creeds. Many in this "church" do not believe in Biblical Christianity, and some do not even want to be known as Christians. According to the Unitarian-Universalist 1985 revised statement, no minister, member, or congregation "shall be required to subscribe to any particular interpretation of religion, or to any particular religious belief or creed." Four of their seven Principles and Purposes are these: The inherent worth and dignity of every person; a free and responsible search for truth; the goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all; respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
In their attempt to be "free thinking" and "non-creedal," the UUs have become so liberal that they deny almost every doctrine of the Christian faith, replacing the worship of God with a worship of self, teaching that human reason and experience take precedence over the Word of God. Below are the highlights of what the Unitarian Universalists "believe" concerning their source of authority, the Trinity, God, Christ, salvation, and heaven and hell:
Agree. Unbelievers don't see the difference between Bible-based churches and non-Bible-based churches. They hate them all. I think it was yesterday that police shot an armed man who was preparing to attack a Christian radio station.
Obviously we don't have the details yet, but the anti-Christian fervor that's building in this country and being fanned daily by the MSM, could easily have played a role.
MM (in TX)
What a terrible thing. Prayers!
highly unlikely at a Unitarian church
Better that they should/could have shot him. But concealed carry is allowed in Churches in Tennessee. At the option of the church leadership. (pastor, elders, etc).
Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church.
Probably bans concealed carry, not that many of the members, if any, would be likely have a CHL/CCW anyway.
It was up in Sequoia Hills end of Kingston Pike I'm pretty certain. I looked up the address. Remember late last year the nut that opened fire at Hooters? He was killed a few blocks from the church down in upper Bearden. Could have been anything. Homeless, a recent release from Lakeshore {not to far away either}, there's no telling. Sequoia Hills for those who do not know Knoxville is an upper scale and older neighborhood. Residence include Victor Ashe. There was a very good chance someone nearby was armed too. The community is in between the University of Tennessee and downtown section and West Knoxville where all the retailers have moved to.
Christopher Hitchens would agree. He considers them dangerous areas of "learning".
As in Founding Father Thomas Jefferson ya mean? I don't follow their teachings but Jefferson wrote the Bible they use if I'm not mistaken.
Unitarians are basically Star Wars fans. They believe that there is a god force that all souls are part. Read Emerson’s “The Oversoul” if you want to understand more about Unitarians.
Another Theo-phobe on the loose.
One dead five critical per our local TV station WBIR website. I can’t link because it is a Gannett owned source.
Strange. The thread head is a link to wbir.com
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Unitarian Universalist Association, its member congregations, and individual Unitarian Universalists be encouraged to petition legislators to enact and support laws such as:
1. the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1991 (HR7) in the United States, which is intended to place nationally uniform, effective limitations on individual possession of
2. handguns, including waiting periods, licensing, and registration;
...
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the Unitarian Universalist Association, its member congregations, and individual Unitarian Universalists in the United States be urged to petition legislators to enact and support laws banning private ownership or use of machine guns and semi-automatic and automatic assault weapons.
Even their current Criminal Justic position page supports increased gun control.
However, as I understand it, not all congregations agree with the National organization, nor are they bound by it's "resolutions".
I know. But what I mean is I think it's against FR rules to link to Gannett. Gannett does own WBIR or at least the news part anyway.
Do we have to drag politics into this?
Regardless of what you think of the faith and its tenets, the fact that a gunman attacked a bunch of parishioners practicing for a children's play is a shocking tragedy.
Prayers for the wounded.
It sounds more like a political organization than a religious organization.
“A production of Annie” ??? is this a Christian Church?
But my prayers for the families and those wounded of course.
People who are licensed carry should be able to carry in Church.
This could have been stopped by a law abiding citizen.
True and Unitarians as far as I know support a persons right to worship when and where they please unlike Obama's United Church of Church the pusher of Seperation of Church and State. I'm Baptist but I know a Unitarian preacher who runs an outreach close to that church when this took place to help persons in mental distress. He is a very kind man. I may not agree with his beliefs but I respect his right to have them and I admire the work he does outside his church.
I don't think this was his church but I would hate to see the man attacked or injured for any reason.
Why are you sitting safely in front of your monitor? You (and all the keyboard Dirty Harry’s) should be out there, ready to draw down on the next shooter, who is getting ready, right now.
You can make fun of me but I can tell you, I would be carrying in Church if I were legally allowed to. Especially since it seems that the world gets more and more hostile to Christians.
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