Somewhere in Charleston, a deeply embittered 21-year-old is sitting in a dark cell replaying scenes from the courtroom over in his mind. For the killer who hoped to incite a nation with his bloody rampage, things didn’t exactly work out as planned. The nine lives he sacrificed in God’s house, offerings to a centuries-old race war, did more to quell the tension than spark it. In the end, violence was met by a force much stronger: forgiveness.

Sitting across from the shooter at his bond hearing, no one would have blamed the families for lashing out in anger. Instead, one by one, racked by grief, they offered an unexpected gift — grace. “I will never be able to hold her again, but I forgive you,” one daughter said through her tears. “We have no room for hating, so we have to forgive.”

What the gunman sowed in evil, the church repaid in love. Where other cities would have set cars on fire, Charleston set faith ablaze. Led by the families suffering most, the world no longer sees hate but a picture of the One who overcame it. “The killer set out to defile a sacred place and ended up showing why it is sacred,” wrote Michael Gerson. “These victims and their families have shown what it means to be followers of Christ.”

It was a powerful moment for a nation in distress. Even the New York Times was confounded by the compassion extended amidst so much cruelty. The sense of wonderment spread across newspapers — until forgiveness became the story. “It was as if the Bible study had never ended,” one reporter explained, “as one after another, victims’ family members offered lessons in forgiveness, testaments to a faith that is not compromised by violence or grief.”

As far as Governor Nikki Haley ® is concerned, that civility deserves an expression from South Carolina leaders too. In light of last week’s tragedy, she announced [Monday] that the legislature would convene to consider removing the Confederate Flag from the statehouse grounds. “South Carolinians view the flag as a symbol of respect, integrity and duty… At the same time, for many others in South Carolina, the flag is a deeply offensive symbol of a brutally oppressive past. As a state, we can survive, and indeed we can thrive, as we have done whilst still being home to both of those viewpoints. We do not need to declare a winner and a loser here. We respect freedom of expression. And that for those who wish to show their respect for the flag on their private property, no one will stand in your way. But the statehouse is different,” she said. “And the events of this past week call upon us to look at this in a different way.”

It was time to move beyond what divides and look to what unites. And not just where the flag is concerned. This is a teachable moment for Americans far beyond South Carolina. What happened in the basement of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal is a frightening picture of a society that’s lost its moral restraint. The same political class that is driving God out of the public square is systematically deconstructing the pillars of dignity, virtue, and respect. Charleston is a shining example of why we need a vibrant and public Christian faith in America — not just to restrain evil, but to conquer evil through the power of forgiveness. Grace, made perfect in weakness, is what we should be emulating — not the intolerant cynicism that rejects true and lasting hope.

It’s time for Americans to rediscover what these overcoming families already have: the only opportunity for true redemption is grace; and the only way to healing is through the cross.

The Gen X Factor

Over the next week, the only opinion people will care about on marriage is the Supreme Court’s. But as more surveys show, the backdrop for that ruling is a country still very much divided on the issue — with one exception: Millennials. America’s 18 to 29-year-olds, raised in an age of LGBT saturation in schools, Hollywood, and social media, are the most enthusiastic about redefining an institution that half of their parents aren’t even a part of. Lately, though, what’s newsworthy isn’t the younger generation’s support for same-sex “marriage,” but their older siblings’ growing opposition to it.

In a surprising new trend to pollsters, the gap is widening between Millennials and their Generation X counterparts. Now in their 30s and 40s, the children of Madonna and Ferris Bueller are noticeably more reluctant to redefine marriage than they used to be. “In 2005, five percent more Millennials support gay marriage than Generation Xers, according to Pew Research Center; today, the difference is 14 percent.”

More than double. The shift may have caught liberals off guard — but not us. FRC has argued for years that the older people get, the more socially conservative they become. Once young people shed their rebellious 20s, get married, and have a family, it dramatically alters their perspective on some of these issues. Suddenly, the anything-goes teenager turns into a father who can’t imagine their little girl sharing a bathroom with a grown man or hearing LGBT fairy tales in third grade.

These days, with more young people putting off marriage, the cultural awakening is taking a little longer. But it is happening, as Pew makes very clear. The Left desperately wants to lock young people into a box on issues like marriage — but they shouldn’t be surprised when their opinions “evolve” too.

Congress Gets a Faith Lift

You’ve heard of paying it forward, but what about “faithing” it forward? […] Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) and the entire Congressional Prayer Caucus are spreading the world about a brand-new initiative that both parties can get behind. Tired of the attacks on religious liberty, several members are fighting back with a positive message about what the church is doing to help communities where they need it most. Through “Faith It Forward,” the Caucus is inviting Americans from all across the country to share inspiring stories about how people of faith are making a difference in society.

On [Monday] night’s “Washington Watch,” Rep. Forbes explained that the new website “will be a clearinghouse for people all across the country for people to tell their stories of what is happening today and how faith is changing the world.” Using social media, the group hopes to reach young people, in particular, with the message of how vital faith is to serving the less fortunate. “You’ll see some of these anti-faith groups — they always love to tell the stories about particular individuals that they say were discriminating or something happened that was kind of extreme,” Rep. Forbes explained, “but they don’t tell the story about all of the wonderful people of faith who are just changing the world. There are people out there who are doing great things in adoption, helping the poor??? in our prisons, other faith ministries??? That’s the narrative we need to be telling in this country. And hopefully, if we do that, we can push back on this anti-faith narrative.”

Help the Prayer Caucus by sharing your own story. Click over to the special Facebook page at www.facebook.com/FaithitForward!

This is a publication of the Family Research Council. Mr. Perkins is president of FRC.