The Patriot Post® · Slain SC Pastor Teaches One Last Lesson

The murderer in Charleston almost didn’t commit his crime because the people of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church were so kind to him when he entered the building. And even after his grisly act, family members of the slain extended grace to him. Unfortunately, that’s not true of out-of-town rabble rousers who came Tuesday night to disturb the memorial. Protesters with bullhorns shouted, “Arm yourself or harm yourself,” and “Never forget, never forgive.” That, of course, is the antithesis of the Christian message. Church members and other locals discouraged the protesters, who eventually left. Meanwhile, the Left exploited the tragedy to take on the Confederate flag, demanding the one flying on the state capitol grounds be removed (never mind it was put there by Democrat Gov. Ernest “Fritz” Hollings in defiance of federal civil rights legislation). Many Republicans even joined in calling for the flag’s removal. But here’s an interesting fact you won’t see on the nightly news: Pastor Clementa Pinckney, who was killed in the attack, voted in 2000 as a South Carolina state senator in favor of the compromise that kept the flag on capitol grounds. That sends a pretty powerful message that he didn’t seem to think the Confederate flag was a symbol worth censoring.