Multiple people shot at White Settlement, Texas church

[lwt16]

Everybody recognized that this dude was off.
Everybody wanted to believe he was a lost soul looking for help. Because that's what Christians do.

I've told my wife they need a bunch of selfish heathens like me for security because I make a plan to kill people the first time I meet them and then work backwards from that baseline.
But I've been told that's pretty much incompatible with Christian doctrine (but luckily my wife agrees with my outlook to some extent).

I've seen some of that from my bunch.

I've already had texts and emails from several of them admitting that they weren't taking this ministry ANYWHERE near serious enough and have vowed to train harder.

Time will tell if they are true to their word. I will say that this event being caught on camera has been a good wake up call to most of them.

[TC215]

My take is they weren't oblivious to the threat but they were in denial, probably willful denial to some extent.

I've had this discussion with my wife and some of the other volunteers at her church and the daughter of one of the deceased highlighted it in one of her interviews.
Everybody recognized that this dude was off.
Everybody wanted to believe he was a lost soul looking for help. Because that's what Christians do.

I've told my wife they need a bunch of selfish heathens like me for security because I make a plan to kill people the first time I meet them and then work backwards from that baseline.
But I've been told that's pretty much incompatible with Christian doctrine (but luckily my wife agrees with my outlook to some extent).

The folks on the security team at my church are pretty observant and generally suspicious of people that look out of place (a little too suspicious sometimes, in my opinion).

I’ve done a good bit of training for them over the years, from range training to defensive tactics....It can be difficult to tell a group of people in a church-environment that they need to be prepared to shoot a mother fucker in the face. Most of them understand that, but not all of them.

[TAZ]

- If someone unknown to you shows up (unexplainably) wearing an obvious disguise and a trench coat, I would suggest that you not allow him access to any area you're responsible for securing.

This one will pose a problem for most churches as they are seen and more importantly see themselves as places where folks can turn to in their time of need. Maybe churches need to develop a plan to segregate those who set off spider senses so to speak and allow interactions to be in a more controlled environment. Not really sure how that can be done without seeming like a bunch of jerk or racists or whatever society deems to label folks who act upon their gut instincts.

Not sure if that would eliminate these events. They would just relocate the shooting from inside to the outside, as my gut tells me that as soon as these asshats are challenged they will start shooting. Somewhat better for the parishioners, but the same boat for the security/usher like folks. Not sure what % would simply just walk away to find another potential target of opportunity.

[Casual Friday]

My take is they weren't oblivious to the threat but they were in denial, probably willful denial to some extent.

I've had this discussion with my wife and some of the other volunteers at her church and the daughter of one of the deceased highlighted it in one of her interviews.
Everybody recognized that this dude was off.
Everybody wanted to believe he was a lost soul looking for help. Because that's what Christians do.

I've told my wife they need a bunch of selfish heathens like me for security because I make a plan to kill people the first time I meet them and then work backwards from that baseline.
But I've been told that's pretty much incompatible with Christian doctrine (but luckily my wife agrees with my outlook to some extent).

That is pretty much exactly what our approach is to our church security and I don't find it incompatible with Christian doctrine at all. We have people with defined purposes, the "greeters" such as myself, and we have a hospitality committee who go out of their way to make people feel welcome. It's setup to where the first people who have eyes on everyone walking through the door are the "greeters", and by the time they've cleared the foyer and entered the sanctuary they've been welcomed by several. We also have a person watching the outdoor and indoor cameras at all times during services. We've had many dopers and drunks come in over the years who were just looking for a place to get warm in the winter or get cool in the summer. The mission can still be to minister to the lost and keep the congregation safe at the same time.

When the story broke about the TX shooting on Sunday morning, I was sitting at the monitor watching cameras with a RDS equipped G17 concealed and a 11.5" AR with a Law Folder in a backpack. This has been a standard practice for us since the Sutherland Springs Baptist Church shooting a couple years back.

[GardoneVT]

https://www.instagram.com/p/B6t7U3XH...d=ha3d2npndxte

IG post from ColionNoirs profile showing the aftermath. Viewing not recommended for those with high blood pressure.

[Yung]

High blood pressure because you find his post to be in poor taste?

[GardoneVT]

High blood pressure because you find his post to be in poor taste?

The post-incident gun handling. Don’t care about the music.

[JAD]

But I've been told that's pretty much incompatible with Christian doctrine (but luckily my wife agrees with my outlook to some extent).

Not particularly, to my understanding.

[Yung]

The post-incident gun handling.

Thanks for clarifying, I really wasn't sure.

[HCM]

A quote from Nate Perry’s Bookface page:

A certain number of people who are already dismally skilled with a handgun are about to go snag a pistol in .357Sig and in application, be even worse off for it.