Undoubtedly, anyone who watches the news will have heard about the recent shooting in Charleston, South Carolina.

It would be redundant for me to point out how terrible an act this shooting was. That is surely self evident to any feeling person.

This tragedy has highlighted many issues that remain in our country. One that has been talked about at length by many is the Confederate flag. It has become such a common sight here in the south, that it is all too easy to forget the ugliness behind it. Flying the Confederate flag is not unlike flying the Nazi flag. It communicates very quickly and effectively just what sort of person you're dealing with. If you fly that flag and that's not who you are, then maybe you shouldn't fly that flag.

Now, it's 1 that symbols only have the meaning we give them... Halloween is only about devil worship if that's what you do on Halloween. But, the Confederate flag is given that negative meaning. It has been given that meaning since its first usage. You can pretend that there was something noble about it, that it was about independence from an oppressive government, but that's not 1. The civil war was not about escaping oppression, it was about maintaining oppression.

Many on the far left are happy to use this incident to call for gun control. For that matter, they are happy to use any incident that involves guns to call for gun control. But, as dangerous as guns are in the wrong hands, it's important to remember that in order for a gun to kill, someone must pull the trigger. And in order to pull that trigger, there must be a certain darkness in the heart of the shooter. Getting rid of guns would make it more difficult to kill, but it would not stop the killing. While I would support attempts to keep guns out of the hands of known criminals and the insane, the 1 enemy is not guns. The enemy is hate. And the antidote for hate is love. The power of this approach has been seen in the wake of the shooting.

Though not universal, many have recognized that the symbol of past oppression is not one that should be glorified in the present. This is not a question of “political correctness,” it is about doing the right thing. It is about understanding and facing up to the truth. Hate kills. And it is hate, from which we must turn away.

But, I feel like there is a less obvious point to be made here. The reaction of the victims' families is the result of a distinctly Christian world view. These people welcomed their killer with open arms. They were gunned down in a place of worship. These are Christian martyrs. The word martyr has acquired a very negative meaning in recent years. Obviously, this results from the Islamic view of what it means to be a martyr. To the Islamic believer, to be a martyr is to commit suicide and take as many infidels with you as is possible – in the hopes of being rewarded with 72 black eyed virgins in the afterlife. (One wonders what reward there is for Muslim women if they go out that way.)

But to be a Christian martyr is quite a different thing. It does not involve suicide. It certainly does not involve the killing of others, regardless of their faith. It is the sacrifice that is sometimes demanded by God in order to accomplish His work.

It has become a facet of political correctness to pretend that all religions are equal. But this is simply not 1. The followers of religions such as Islam deserve to be respected. Not merely tolerated, but respected as they, like all of us, were made in God's image. But it is folly to pretend that Islam itself is just as “good” as Christianity.

Even an atheist like Bill Maher, who is generally against all religions, can recognize the qualitative differences.

In a powerful and moving eulogy, President Obama made a very good point(~8min in) about God's use of Dylann Roof to achieve His ends. How this young man, in spite of himself, was an instrument of good in this world. Rather than starting something terrible, as he desired, Dylann Roof served the Lord's will and started something positive. The amazing power of God's grace, indeed.

God bless the President, and God bless the United States of America.