Reflections on the Michigan Church Shooting

My heart is sad.

This past Sunday (September 28, 2025) I woke up to news feed that the beloved leader of my church, president Russel M. Nelson, had passed away peacefully during the night at age 101. As the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints he stood out as a leader who called his people to personify Christ's love and teachings by becoming peace makers in our communities.

I went to church that day where we partook of the Lord's Supper (what we call "the sacrament") and we had a lesson about loving people who are unkind to us based on president Nelson's last address. I went home to enjoy a quiet Sunday afternoon.

Then I got a text from a friend.

Church blazing after being set on fire by the gunman.

She told me that there had been a shooting at a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Michigan that very morning.

It was more than just a shooting.The perpetrator rammed his truck into the entryway, placed explosives, poured gas, set fire ablaze, and open fired with an automatic weapon on shocked and unarmed members of the congregation.

Four church members were killed, eight were wounded, and the building burned to the ground. The attacker was also killed by police.

Interviews after the attack with people who knew the shooter reveal that he had strong anti-Mormon persuasions. He claimed that we "are the Anti Christ".

The purpose of this blog is not to explain or defend my church's doctrines, history, or practices.

My purpose here is to talk about hate. And love.

Jake Sanford, the killer, was a loving father of a child with medical complications. He was a marine veteran, a Christian, and a hunter. He had struggled with substance abuse in the past. A man who had talked to him a week prior to the attack said that Jake acted very compassionately toward the man's autistic daughter, and said he never would have pegged Jake as a mass murderer. In other words, Jake was a pretty normal guy.

What could drive someone "normal" to do something so terrible? When I think of mass murderers, I picture people who look scary. Jake looked like a guy I'd be friends with. I don't think he thought he was doing something wrong--in fact, I think he thought he was being heroic.

I'm not trained in psychology. I don't know to what extent PTSD or mental health drove Jake to commit this vicious act of cruelty.

I do know about love and hate though, because I'm a human.

We humans like to separate ourselves into tribes. We see people who are not like us as the other, the enemy. This tendency rages in politics and world affairs and people like you and me get sucked into the Hate Machine. I feel the pull every time I watch the news.

We feel threatened by people who have a different perspective. As soon as we begin thinking about them as a label (Woke, Fascist, Left, Right, or in this case, Anti-Christ), we dehumanize them. When we see people as a label instead of a human, we don't feel bad saying nasty things about them or commiting violence against them.

When something cruel is said against me, or when something violent is done to me, it is so easy to feel justified returning hate to that person or group. It's self defense, it's what they deserve.

All that kind of backlash does is continue the cycle. It feeds the Hate Machine. If I respond to unkindness with unkindness, that person feels even more justified for how they treated me.

Jesus taught us to love our enemy. I am convinced that that is the only answer. Nothing else will stop this crazy world from getting darker and more violent.

It's easy to be nice to people who think like me. It's a lot harder to love someone who hates me or has opposing views. That's where it matters most, though.

How good of a person I am is less determined by the tribe I claim than by how loving I am to the people around me and how well I forgive people who have wronged me. (Maybe I'm not great at it, but I'm trying!)

Turning the other cheek is not passively standing by while someone beats you up. It is deliberately treating them the way that you want to be treated in the very moment that they are mistreating you. Returning goodness for hatred is capable of defeating our enemies like retaliation never can by turning your enemy into your friend. That is the only way to win a conflict.

Love is stronger than hate, but hate is easy. It takes courage to muster love when you feel wounded. You will never wield more power than when you choose to meet antagonism with compassion. Instead of lowering yourself to the animal impulse to fight back, invite them to a higher path of love and dignity.

My son at a church sponsored service project buidling beds for kids in need with the organization Sleep in Heavenly Peace.

Think about the person or group that you are angry at right now. (I'm thinking of mine too...) Can you muster love for them? Can you forgive how they wronged you? What can you do that would show them kindness?

The way that I respond to people who don't think like me determines if I am making the world a better place or becoming a casualty of it.

It's easy to say that I forgive Jake Sanford because he is dead and he can't hurt my group anymore. I challenge myself to forgive and get along with people who are still alive and currently oppose me, people who voted different than me, are a different race, don't belong to my religion, or are in any different tribe than me. I challenge myself to not just put up with them but to see the good in them. I hope they can see the good in me, too.

This shooting is a reminder that how we view people who are different from us matters. It shows the consequence of indulging in hate. We can do better. I feel motivated to do better. How about you?

This is my favorite talk by president Nelson, Peacemakers Needed.