Will We Stop Copycat Killers?
On March 16, 2021 at approximately 5:00 p.m., Robert Aaron Long shot and killed four people at an Atlanta-area spa. Less than an hour later, Long killed four more women at two other spas. Authorities confirmed that six of the victims were Asian women.
After Long was arrested, details began to emerge about his background. Long is an active member of Crabapple First Baptist Church. Up until the day of the shootings, the church’s Facebook page had a video of his testimony and baptism from 2018. He speaks in the video about how he had been baptized in his youth, but that he didn’t really see it as a point of sincere faith in Christ. His second baptism in 2018 was an expression of what he considered true faith.
One of the unsettling realities about the fact that the shooter was an active member of a White Evangelical church is that it makes people of Asian descent like me wonder if another Robert Aaron Long is sitting with them in the pews every Lord’s Day.
Not Fringe
Crabapple First Baptist Church is not a fringe church that we can easily say is in the too-broad definition of “Evangelical.” Rather, the church is listed on the 9 Marks church search website, a tool that’s used by those of theologically conservative convictions who are looking for a church that shows the “9 marks of a healthy church.” While 9 Marks does not endorse churches listed on its search tool, it goes without saying that it carries a bit of clout within Reformed and conservative Evangelical circles. In fact, I first began attending a Reformed church in college because it was listed on 9 Marks, and I’m sure others have used the church search in a similar way.
On its website, Crabapple First Baptist Church openly uses the New City Catechism for discipleship and spiritual formation purposes. For those who are not familiar with it, the New City Catechism was developed by the folks in charge of The Gospel Coalition, and it is intended to provide cross-denominational unity and discipleship resources for children to adults. Churches that use the New City Catechism as a whole cannot be characterized as fringe. These are often theologically conservative churches who are intentional about discipleship and fidelity to the Bible.
Long isn’t an active member at some church out there in Evangelicalism; he is a part of a church that is similar to what many of us call home. Any of us of Asian descent who have found our spiritual homes in these circles recognize that Long could have come from our pews and fellowship halls.
This is Our Home
Why are we at home in these circles, some might ask? We all have different reasons. Speaking for my own denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), a sizable number of churches and their regional gatherings are Korean speaking, and just under 1,000 of our pastors are Korean American. Those of us who are 2nd-3rd generation Christians have deep presbyterian and revival roots in Korea, and find consonance with the history of Korean Americans and immigrant Korean churches in the PCA. This is our home and has been our home for a while.
Our home in the PCA connects to broader Reformed and Evangelical denominations that our denomination has official relationships with, and this complicates the matter even further. The Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC), which is considered an official sister denomination of the PCA, was where John T. Earnest, a member and the son of an elder of an OPC church, grew up. In 2019, Earnest, 19 years old at the time, went on a mass shooting at Chabad of Poway in Southern California, an influential synagogue in the area. He had written a Bible-verse filled manifesto before committing his evil act.
Again, Earnest and Long were not on the fringes of a church that was on the fringes of Evangelicalism. They were not loosely connected to Robert Jeffress’ church or Joel Osteen’s church. They were active members of churches within a slice of Evangelicalism that is known for its doctrinal precision. They were integrated into the life of churches that are no different from the churches we call home.
Earnest and Long could have come from any of our churches, no matter how doctrinally sound we think we are. We could have sang besides them in church, listened to sermons with them, met in the same fellowship groups as them, witnessed their baptisms, and communed with them at the Eucharist. And yet they both had hearts that could justify the killing of image-bearers — whether they were of Jewish descent or Asian descent. They saw their victims as “problems” that “needed to be eliminated.” How can we who are non-White know for certain that we will not be seen as a “problem” that “needs to be eliminated” one day by someone in our church?
The Fact of Copycats
One of the matters of fact is that tragedies like the Atlanta shootings inspire copycat killers and copycat events. The Atlanta shootings happened the day after the two year anniversary of the Christchurch mass shootings. The Poway shooting happened exactly six months after the Pittsburgh shooting. These are not isolated events, but they are intentionally wound together by threads of hate.
The church must do everything in its power to prevent a copycat killer from cropping up within her fold. We must not allow another John T. Earnest or Robert Aaron Long to come from our midst. We must make no peace with oppression and make no space for racism.
Yet, I fear that many within the circles we call home — our White brothers and sisters who have influence to make real change — will continue to be silent. Will The Gospel Coalition speak up about this tragedy, knowing that it was someone from a church within their orbit who committed these heinous acts? Will 9 Marks recognize that terrible evil can arise from churches that may be listed on their searches? Will the numerous seminaries, denominations, and institutions who are within this slice of Evangelicalism provide clear and tangible steps to prevent another Earnest or Long to come from their midst? Or will it be more radio silence — until more blood is shed?
We must remember: White supremacy is an idol that demands blood to be spilled on its altar for its appeasement. It has crept into the White Evangelical church seeking disciples and evangelists for its cause. Silence will only result in a proliferation of the bloodshed of the innocent.
