Gunman Kills 3 at Kansas City Jewish Facilities

© 2013 The Wired Word

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Last Sunday, Frazier Glenn Miller, Jr. (who also uses the name "Frazier Glenn Cross, Jr"; we will use "Miller"), 73, a man with a long history of white-supremacist and anti-Semitic activities, was apprehended as the alleged shooter at two Jewish-affiliated facilities near Kansas City, Kansas, that day that left three people dead.
Miller has since been charged by Kansas with premeditated first-degree murder and will likely be federally charged with committing a hate crime. That charge applies if it is determined that Miller was motivated by the victims' "race, color, religion or national origin." Although all three victims were Christians, Miller may have assumed they were Jewish because they were on the grounds of Jewish facilities.
Miller founded and formerly led the North Carolina Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and the White Patriot Party. He had run for state office, once as a Democrat and once as a Republican; both times he was rejected by the respective party's voters. In 2010, he ran for U.S. Senator in Missouri, receiving seven votes out of approximately two million cast.
In 1988, he testified in a sedition trial against other white supremacists who were accused of conspiring to kill a federal judge and an FBI agent. Evidence indicates that he entered into the Federal Witness Protection Program, where he was retrained, given a new identity ("Cross"), and relocated.
When arrested Sunday, Miller shouted, "Heil Hitler!"
It does not appear that Miller knew his victims. Rather, he apparently targeted his victims simply because they were present at Jewish-affiliated facilities.
Two of the dead, William Lewis Corporon, 69, and Reat Griffin Underwood, 14, were grandfather and grandson. They had come to the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City for Underwood to audition for a singing competition, in hopes of winning a scholarship. Corporon, a retired physician, had driven his grandson to the audition. They were shot while still in their truck. Both were active members of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas.
Mindy Losen, who is Corporon's daughter and the mother of Underwood, arrived on the scene to find her father and son dead on the ground near their vehicle. She later said, "I was there before the police and I was there before the ambulance. And I knew immediately that they were in heaven, and I know that they're in heaven together."
Corporon "cherished his family, and more than anything had a passion for caring for others," the family said in a statement.
The third victim was Terri LaManno, 53, an occupational therapist. She was shot and killed at Village Shalom Retirement Community, where she had gone to visit her mother who was in residence there. LaManno was a Roman Catholic.
A statement released by her family said, "My mom was a beautiful soul; she always thought of everyone before herself. The world needs more people like her. She was a warm, loving and beautiful person. She was the best mother, wife, sister and friend that anyone could ask for. She lived for God and the people she loved."
The gunman fired at five people altogether, but did not hit the other two. Because of a prior prison record, Miller should have been unable to obtain firearms legally. Whether he obtained his weapons using a middleman or whether his new name and new social security number hadn't been entered into the FBI's background check system has not been fully determined.
More on this story can be found at these links:
Alleged Kansas Jewish Center Gunman Charged With Murder. CNN
Kansas City Shooting: 3 Lives Defined by Love, Taken by Gunman's Rage. CNN
I Interviewed the Accused Kansas Gunman 33 Years Ago. He Was Hateful Then, Too. Washington Post
Records Suggest That F. Glenn Miller Jr. Was Once in Witness Protection Program. Kansas City Star
The KKK Tries to Make a Comeback. TIME
The Big Questions
1. What are some reasons Jews have been singled out for repeated persecution and scapegoating? How does the suffering of the Jews over the centuries square with their biblical presentation as the chosen people?
2. What's the problem with hate? What is the difference between hating an individual and hating an entire group of people? Are there ever times when hate is appropriate? When have you felt unreasoning hate for an entire group of people? Did that feeling last? If not, what changed it?
3. What function does hate perform in the hater's psyche? Some people have a hatred of sorts for rival athletic teams. Is this a "safe" sort of hatred, or is it something different? Why or why not? Do you think acceptable forms of hatred can lead to acceptance of more dangerous hatreds? When do you feel that civic authorities, including your government, seem to have encouraged hatred against certain people? Have you shared such a hatred? Did the hatred last?
4. Anti-Semitism refers specifically to antagonism toward and persecution of Jewish people. What words refer to biases against other groups? How are the attitudes behind those words similar to those encompassed by the anti-Semitism label? Have you ever heard people use anti-Semitic language? What have you said in response? Have you ever found yourself passing along stereotypes, using expressions like "to Jew you down" as a metaphor for bargaining? Has anyone ever spoken to you when you have used generalizations for Jews or other groups? How did you feel after having received such a response?
5. Do you consider it important for the facts of the Holocaust to be taught today? Explain your answer. Describe what you know about the Holocaust. Have you ever encountered someone who did not believe in the Holocaust or minimized its effects? Have you ever been to a Holocaust museum? What was your reaction afterward?
Confronting the News With Scripture and Hope
Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:
Proverbs 23:7 (KJV)
For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he. (For context, read 23:6-8.)
Matthew 15:19
For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. (For context, read 15:1-20.)
2 Corinthians 10:5
... we take every thought captive to obey Christ. (For context, read 10:1-7.)
We have quoted the Proverbs verse from the King James Version because the Hebrew that underlies Proverbs 23:7a is difficult to translate, and various Bible versions render it in various ways. But the wording above from the KJV, which is supported by the New American Standard Bible and by a footnote in the New International Version, is the one we prefer. No matter how the various versions word it, the line seems to refer to the stingy or selfish person mentioned in verse 6.
The point is that stingy people are that way because of their mindset -- how they think in their "hearts," their inward being. But the point applies not just to stinginess but to one's whole character, which is driven by how we think about things and people and by what values we attach to them. Thus, the words above could just as easily apply to a person who dwells with hatred. As that person thinks in his heart, so is he -- or she -- in character. And, as Jesus points out in Matthew 15:19, it is in the heart where sin dwells and spurs actions.
The verse from 2 Corinthians supports that conclusion, but from the positive side. Since what we think about tends to define who we are, then it is important that we "take every thought captive to obey Christ."
Questions: When has harboring hatred narrowed who you are? When has prayer, worship or spiritual meditation caused you to think differently about someone you formerly hated?
Esther 3:8-9
There is a certain people scattered and separated among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of every other people, and they do not keep the king's laws, so that it is not appropriate for the king to tolerate them. If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued for their destruction ... (For context, read 3:1-15.)
These verses are a classic expression of anti-Semitism, animosity toward Jews. The story is set in the time when many Jews were living in the Persian Empire. One of the Persian king's appointees is a sneaky man named Haman. Motivated by personal hatred of an individual Jew named Mordecai, Haman persuades the king to issue a death edict against all the Jews living in the empire. The book of Esther tells the story of how this situation was reversed and the Jews were saved, but notice that initially, Haman had no difficulty persuading the Persian king to decree death against the Jews.
There's no record of the Jews doing anything to harm the empire. In fact, many were fruitful workers in the empire's economy. Haman accuses them of not keeping the king's laws, but they were violating no civil laws. The only law they did not obey was the one requiring worship of the king's gods, the false idols to which no observant Jew would bow. In addition, their dietary and devotional practices were enough different from those of their Gentile neighbors that some Persians considered them "odd" or "strange," though those differences caused no harm to the Persians. Thus the animosity and suspicion was already present, and it didn't take much for Haman to push it to the point of outright persecution and murder.
Question: What makes us translate the "differentness" of others into an excuse to value them less than those who are like us?
Acts 2:23
... this man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law. (For context, read 2:14-24, 37-38.)
Some anti-Semites call Jews "Christ-killers" -- that is, considering all Jews, even those alive today, as though they were complicit in the death of Jesus. Some use that as one justification for their anti-Semitism.
Unfortunately, the New Testament is sometimes read as supporting that Christ-killer claim. For example, the verse above, from Peter's Pentecost sermon, seems to lay blame for the crucifixion of Jesus in a broad way upon his Jewish audience. It allows for the complicity of "those outside the [Jewish] law," meaning the Roman governor Pilate and his soldiers, but does not excuse Jews. Yet Peter also asserted that when Jesus had been "handed over," it had been "according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God." This shows that Peter understood that Jesus' crucifixion was God's intention.
In regard to Jesus' crucifiers, Peter did say "you," referring to his hearers, but that was a collective "you," the kind that can be spoken by someone who is himself a member of the group in question. (Remember that Peter and Jesus were both Jews.) It is much like a white American in the 18th or 19th century saying to other white Americans, "We brought blacks to this country as slaves." The speaker does not mean "all Americans" or even the specific Americans being addressed. It is a collective "we."
In Acts 13:27, Paul is somewhat more precise, saying it was "the residents of Jerusalem and their leaders" who condemned Jesus. Even that statement, however, is too broad, for it could not have been all residents of Jerusalem. Given the size of the city, it's likely that only a tiny fraction of Jerusalem's population might have been present to shout "Crucify him! Crucify him!" And some residents of Jerusalem were supporters of Jesus. (For a good explanation of who killed Jesus, see the article here.) And in any case, it makes no more sense to blame Jews today for actions of a few of their ancestors two millennia ago, than it does to blame white Americans today for some ancestors who enslaved black Africans two centuries ago.
Questions: Since Pilate -- a Roman governor -- gave the execution order, how come descendants of Romans aren't called "Christ-killers"? In what ways can the church combat anti-Semitism today? Remembering that Jews and Christians share the Old Testament scriptures, how should Christians view Jews? Is it fair to hold later generations accountable for what their ancestors may have participated in?
Proverbs 29:10
The bloodthirsty hate the blameless, and they seek the life of the upright. (No context needed.)
Galatians 5:19-21 (NIV)
The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. (For context, read 5:16-26.)
Here are two good Bible references for discussing the problems with hatred. The Proverbs verse says that it can lead to targeting the upright. (Judging from the families' statements about those Miller killed, that seems to be exactly what happened in Kansas City last Sunday.)
The Galatians passage includes hatred among the "acts of the sinful nature" and asserts "that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God," which seems like a really good reason not to dwell in hatred.
Questions: "Information cascade" is the term used for the process whereby the opinions of others close at hand directly affect the opinions or actions of people otherwise not inclined to hate or act violently. Individuals can act in a manner opposite to their moral or ethical norms when there is pressure from people they know or are near to. Information cascades are also fragile. One person standing up against the tide of opinion can change opinion. What would it take for you to act violently out of hatred? When have your words or actions or the words/actions of another changed a tide of hatred?
For Further Discussion
1. Respond to this, from the Dictionary of Pastoral Care and Counseling: "... the major function of rage, understood psychologically, is the defense of the vulnerable self from shame. Hostility, as compared to rage, extends that defense beyond the initial rageful impulses to a long-term, calculated aggression. It may become a major organizing principle of a person's life, replacing more constructive values such as care and purposive cooperation with others."
2. Comment on this, also from the Dictionary of Pastoral Care and Counseling: "In contrast to rage, which is too physically exhausting to last for long periods of time, hostility is 'colder' and more calculating and may be maintained indefinitely. Its significance lies in its having captured the person's overall view of the world and, therefore, his or her perception of particular situations so that rational and constructive actions, untainted by hostility, are precluded."
3. Comment on this April 11, 1944, entry from Anne Frank's diary (Anne Frank was a young Jewish victim of the Holocaust): "Who has made us Jews different from all other people? Who has allowed us to suffer so terribly up until now? It is God who has made us as we are, but it will be God, too, who will raise us up again. Who knows it might even be our religion from which the world and all peoples learn good, and for that reason and only that reason do we suffer. We can never become just Netherlanders, or just English or representatives of any country for that matter. We will always remain Jews."
4. Consider that Saul of Tarsus targeted a group of people before he himself joined them as a convert and became the apostle Paul. What role do you think hatred played in his decisions and actions? What changed his hatred into love and discipleship?
Responding to the News
When we recognize festering hatred in ourselves, it is wise to attempt through self-reflection, prayer and perhaps counseling to understand its sources and to develop enough security in significant relationships so that the hatred becomes unnecessary.
It's good to teach in our churches both the spiritual and psychological problems with hatred.
Closing Prayer

O God, we pray that this terrible incident will neither encourage copycats nor confirm others in their irrational hatred. Be a comfort to those now in grief because of Miller's actions. Let some good come from this, we pray, and may your Holy Spirit convict Miller of the sinfulness of his actions, that he might repudiate hatred even as he faces the consequences of his wrongdoing. In the name of Jesus. Amen.