Yesterday a man entered a black church on the anniversary of this same church’s historic, thwarted slave revolt. He sat in the pew for an hour before opening fire and telling one of the survivors, “I have to do it. You rape our women and you’re taking over the country. You have to go.” 

Soon after his identity was known, photos of him wearing white supremacist paraphernalia, confederate flags and the like were uncovered, as were statements from his friends about his clear and obvious racism. This all happened, of course, in a state which flies a confederate flag over its state capitol. The Charleston police came right out and said that this was, without question, a hate crime.

Today, the most widely-viewed news channel in the country – the one which, no matter what it claims to be doing, honestly and truly does influence a shit-ton of people’s political and social views – put people on the screen arguing that this was not about race at all but, rather, was just the latest example of the so-called “war on Christianity.” This is a direct quote from the anchor:

“Extraordinarily, they called it a ‘hate crime,’ and some look at it as, ‘Well, because it was a white guy and a black church,’ but you made a great point earlier about the hostility towards Christians. And it was a church. So maybe that’s what they were talking about.”

The people on the screen than argued that the best course of action now is for pastors and churchgoers to get guns and bring them with them the next time they go to church.

What a world in which we live.