She/he/murderer.
Like the rest of the nation, for the past few days, I have watched the news coming from Nashville, TN, with a heavy heart. On Monday morning, a 28-year-old woman went into Covenant School, a Christian elementary school, and murdered three innocent 9-year-old children and three adults.
Seeing the pictures of the aftermath would make a grown man cry. And as believers, I encourage you not to let the families of Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, William Kinney, Cynthia Peak, Katherine Koonce, and Mike Hill leave your prayer list anytime soon. Their world has changed in minutes, and it will only get harder.
As this past week progressed, the media continually broadcasted and discussed what happened. As with other school shootings, the media acted in the typical fashion and constantly posted pictures of the murderer. Yet, it seems they have only offered two minutes of sympathy for the victims, and then played Sherlock Holmes for the rest of the week, trying to figure out why the murderer did such a thing.
Why the long, drawn-out discussion? It’s “elementary, my dear Watson.” The entire, premeditated act was nothing more than evil.
But then on Wednesday, the rhetoric changed, and I sat in shock and watched news sites present a different angle for the Nashville coverage.
They apologized and sided with a murderer.
And that murderer was a woman shooter (I refuse to give her any more attention) who identified as a man. Her “chosen” pronouns were he/him. And as coverage of the event quickly spread across the nation Monday, official reports called the suspect a woman – because she was one. But when the dust settled a couple of days later, the transgender community realized the shooter was misgendered. So, they demanded justice for a child murderer. …And they got it.
The New York Times tweeted:
There was confusion later on Monday about the gender identity of the assailant in the Nashville shooting. Officials had used “she” and “her” to refer to the suspect, who, according to a social media post and a LinkedIn profile, appeared to identify as a man in recent months.
A Washington Post article said:
The attempts on the right to connect violence to transgender people come even though transgender people are rarely the perpetrators of mass shootings, which are overwhelmingly carried out by cisgender men, according to criminal justice experts. And trans people are more likely to be victims of violence than cisgender people, multiple studies have shown.
The Guardian also made sure readers knew the rarity of this case:
The number of shooters who are trans or gender nonconforming is even rarer, placing Hale in an almost unique class. The only other member of this category known in recent years is the 22-year-old shooter who killed five people in a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs last November who, according to defense lawyers, is non-binary.
Instead of focusing on these six families’ losses, the media quickly did damage control for a killer. Now, they are continually making sure we everyday folks know how rare it is. They want us to respect a murderer’s gender ideology but ignore that the world was robbed of three 9-year-old children and three educational personnel who served their school community.
But let us not be fooled by their ever-exhausting and misleading news cycle!
There is no excuse for the evil that prevailed at Covenant School that day. Now more than ever, may we be the hands and feet of Jesus. I urge you, church, to remember these families night and day. Pray Scripture, healing, and peace for them in this indescribable situation.
And to the families of Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, William Kinney, Cynthia Peak, Katherine Koonce, and Mike Hill, I am so sorry. There are no words to touch the level of hurt that you are feeling, and there won’t be. But I pray you’ll remember that the world and its darkness are not the end. Heaven awaits with the hope of seeing Evelyn, Hallie, William, Cynthia, Katherine, and Mike once again. In this season, I pray that the Lord will cover you. I pray He will hold you, catching every tear that falls. I pray His Spirit would descend on your homes and workplaces and shield you from the spreading lies. Your loved one’s life mattered. I also pray that He sends community members, family, friends, and church members a Word of hope when encouragement is needed. And when there isn’t anything that can be said, I pray He would provide welcoming shoulders and listening ears. I pray that He gives you strength.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me (Psalm 23:4).
