Tragedy Strikes
Imagine
for a moment that you are in the safest place on earth. Not necessarily a
building with maximum security measures, but just somewhere where you feel
safe. Maybe its home on a Christmas morning where you’re opening presents or a
summer afternoon where the sun is shining and everything is peaceful. Then
imagine that something so crazy and unthinkable occurred that you never thought
could be possible completely destroyed every ounce of serenity left in your
safe place. For a group of citizens, that unthinkable was Dylann Roof. On
Wednesday 17, 2015, about a dozen African Americans congregated at the Emmanuel
African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, North Carolina for a prayer
session. A predominately black group, one of the new attendees was 21 year old
white man named Dylann Roof. For about an hour, he joined in conversation,
talked, and prayed with the group. Then everything changed. Roof suddenly stood
up and started shooting, killing nine of the twelve people in the group before
running off into the night. He was later apprehended by the police during his
getaway. For many, including me, the question is why. How could anyone hate
others so much that they would do such a thing? Roof was an individual who held
the belief of “white supremacy”. His hatred for African Americans was evident
to those who knew him growing up. Roof later confessed after being caught that
he hoped his actions would cause a “race war”. All of these reasons are totally
unacceptable. It is hard to believe that one individual was so selfish that he
felt the need to ruin the lives and families of 9 individuals just in order to
show his opinion. As Roof stands on trial for what he did, my prayers extend to
both Roof that God can reach him and the grieving families.
Joshua Liao
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