Roof’s Christianity was integral to, not incidental to, his violence.

Evidence

It’s vital, if we are to properly understand the problem, that we not flinch from the clear evidence that Roof’s Christianity wasn’t incidental to his motivations and his racist views. It was integral to his identity and helped fuel this horrific violence. He understood himself as a white Christian warrior who consciously launched this attack on sacred ground, targeting a historic black church in the hopes of encouraging his fellow white Christians to rise up and “become completely ruthless to the blacks.” Roof summarized his actions in the journal as follows: “I did what I thought would make the biggest wave. And now the fate of our race sits with my white brothers who continue to live freely.” — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 408

Categorization

• QUESTION: Exhibits the hardest version of the question of how sincere religious identity and ideology intertwine in an actor’s self-understanding.
• XREF: connects to: Roof fused Orthodox Christian iconography into a white supremacist logo. — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 404; Media described Roof as a shooter, not a white Christian terrorist. — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 407; A religion’s violence depends on context, not inherent character (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Reading violent commandments does not incite believers to violence #contradicts (0.82) — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 53
• A religion’s violence depends on context, not inherent character #corroborates (0.80)