To hate crime, or not to hate crime

With the murderer now firmly in custody, Knoxville, TN prosecutors will get their mettle tested.

Is religion equal to sexual preference?

When the guy was suspected of killing people in the church because of their sexual orientation, talk of “Hate Crime” charges abounded.

Now that it appears the guy just hated Christians, will the same talk follow suit?

The man accused of a mass church shooting this morning was described by his Powell neighbors as a helpful and kind man, but one who had issues with Christianity.

Jim D. Adkisson, 58, has been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, which killed one and injured eight others.

He is being held on $1 million bond.

“He had his own sense of belief about religion, that’s the impression I got of him,” said neighbor Karen Massey. “We were talking one day when my daughter graduated from Bible college, and I told him I was a Christian, then he almost turned angry.

“He seemed to get angry at that.”

According to Massey, Adkisson talked frequently about his parents who “made him go to church all his life … he was forced to do that.”

While I believe that there are no such things as a “Hate Crimes”, and enjoy being a nihilist, I would like to see if those who cherish the object of their savior’s murder will get equal treatment.

My guess is that they won’t ask for it, and the prosecutors will forget that the topic was ever brought up.