For the Martyred

Last week fifty innocents were killed and another fifty injured in the name of hate and fear. 100 shot as they gathered to worship with no refuge save their faith. 100 men, women and children. I’ve heard people say, we shouldn’t politicize their deaths and I agree – it feels disrespectful to the horror of what’s happened.

And yet, isn’t it also wrong to disregard the fact that fifty were killed by a terrorist who proclaimed our president as the symbol of white identity? How can we ignore the culpability of the man who proclaims Nazis are ‘very fine people’; who touts nationalism as an ideal; who on the very day of sending thoughts and prayers continues his assault on immigrants by declaring a fake invasion as justification for a fake emergency just days after threatening Americans with “his” army and “his” police force should he lose in 2020? How can we ignore the danger around us lead by his words? Isn’t it more disrespectful not only to the fifty martyrs but to all of those in recent years who have fallen in the name of fear and hate?