Shooting at Texas church a tragedy for us all
Published 12:00 am Saturday, September 18, 1999
There can be no more profound comment on the recent shootings in the United States than Gov. George W. Bushs statement that, There is a wave of evil flowing over the land. There is more fundamental truth in Gov. Bushs simple statement than in the silly and superficial 15-minute report on CNN about gun control laws. A safety lock on a gun would not have stopped Larry Gene Ashbrooks shooting spree in a Baptist church in Fort Worth. Ashbrooks killing spree left three adults and four teenagers dead when he stormed into Wedgwood Baptist Church. He spouted anti-Baptist rhetoric before he settled on a back pew, calmly put a gun to his head and killed himself. The information authorities have about Ashbrook indicates he was mentally ill. Shortly before the shooting spree, he had contacted several newspapers in the Fort Worth area to ramble about the CIA, assaults by co-workers, being drugged by police and being suspected of being a serial killer. In tragedies such as this one, there always are more questions than answers. The obvious one in this case is even if Ashbrook thought he was under suspicion by police as a serial killer, why would he focus his anger on adults and teenagers at a Baptist church? They had done nothing to him. Except, perhaps, they represented light, and darkness had captured him. Our hearts desire is that the king of darkness will not prevail over the kingdom of light, said the Rev. Al Meredith, Wedgwoods senior pastor. Two of those killed were students and another was a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth. In his desire not to yield to the darkness, the Rev. Meredith promised to hold regular services Sunday at the large, red brick church if the police investigation was finished. In a place that yielded blood and darkness earlier in the week as evil passed through it, the Rev. Meredith promised life and light Sunday. The only consolation in the Texas tragedy is that the book the Rev. Meredith will speak from Sunday and the book that knows the most about evil never promises that darkness will not win a few battles. It does promise that evil and darkness ultimately will lose and that good and light eventually will control the earth. Its one thought that likely will be remembered by the Rev. Meredith and his congregation as they pray for their departed friends and as Christians do pray for the sad, deluded stranger who brought blood and death to their midst.