While I can certainly understand your point about Bourbonnais being treated in a less-than-Christian manner, it is also easy to see that this highly emotional event has supercharged the atmosphere for the leadership. Personally, I must admit I am biased and have a hard time being as gracious as I should when I read the less-than-literate perspective presented by Tobias. Add in Bourbonnais' imprudent actions (riding to the sound of guns when he didn't have one, breaking the First Rule of a Gunfight: bring a gun) and words (criticizing those who followed the rules) and the family begins to appear a few fries short of a Happy Meal, IMO. I have a suspicion that Bourbonnais has posed other challenges for church leadership and this put him over the line of their tolerance level.
One person may call that imprudent...another, when you take into account that people were being killed and the guy was intent on killing more, and this man apparently is a Vietnam combat vet, could also call it couragous to try and stop a mad killer who has an asault rifle and handgun and beaucuop ammo, by taking him on without one.
At the very least his distraction would allow time for others to escape...or, as it turned out, someone with a gun to get into position to take the killer down.
My jury is still out too...but I tend towards the latter category. When a guy with a gun is attacking women, children, and men who are crowded into a large sanctuary...and the killer is headed that way...IMHO, a couragous person tries to stop them with whatever he can muster.
I think that running to the sound of gun fire, when you’re unarmed isn’t necessarily the smartest thing to do, but, on the other hand it was heroic in and of itself.
I’ve run TO the sound of gunfire myself unarmed. Not a bright thing to do, but *I* did it to try to prevent whatever was happening from getting to my kids.
NOW I teach people to “Survive First”. Your personal survival is, for the most part, the number one thing you must think about in a dangerous situation. If you’ve got family members, children or loved ones close to you, your job is TO GET THEM TO SAFETY FIRST.
No matter what.
So, while Mr. B might have been doing something heroic, it was also kind of dumb, because apparently the congregation was aware there were armed guards in their midst.