Chuck Norris warns, ‘Faith is not an excuse to bypass self-defense’
My wife, Gena, and I extend our most sincere and heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the nine victims – including a pastor and senator – who were gunned down by that cold-blooded and cowardly murderer at the Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Our hearts break for them and our prayers go out to them all.
While we grieve and lay those loved ones to rest, we must also press forward courageously and learn the lessons glaring at us yet again through another American tragedy.
I concur that racism is still at the heart of far too many violent crimes, and we need to continue to address the issues revolving around it. At the same time, there is more to be addressed here beyond prejudice, like also preventing more church shootings, which have been on the rise over past years and haven’t been addressed yet by the mainstream media in the wake of this tragedy.
A decade ago, there were roughly only 10 church violent crimes across the U.S. In 2007, there were 41 incidents. In 2009, there were 108. In 2012, there were more than 135. In 2013, there were 132. In 2014, there were 176.
Despite those increases, there is nothing unique in these statistics among other fatal incidents. Violent crimes are increasing everywhere: in schools, on military bases, at government buildings and in other locations once considered relative safe zones.
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