#IamAChristian: Ben Carson Leads Way As Christians Declare Their Faith Following Oregon Shooting
Following witness reports that the Oregon community college shooter asked victims “Are you Christian?” before shooting them, Christians are taking to social media to proclaim their faith, and Republican presidential hopeful Ben Carson is leading the way.
The Daily Mail reports that the presidential candidate Ben Carson responded to the Umpqua Community College shooting by posting a photo of himself on Facebook. The image showed Carson holding a sign that read, “I am a Christian.” The sign seemingly responded to the claims that the Oregon gunman had asked victims if they were Christian before shooting them dead.
Carson not only posted the image to his official Facebook page, the GOP presidential candidate also encouraged others to do the same. Shortly after the posting, Carson changed his profile to a photo image that also contained the #IamAChristian hashtag.
Ben Carson noted on his Facebook page that we don’t have all the details surrounding the Oregon shooting. However, he says that with more details coming out surrounding the tragic murders, people across the world are now posting photos of themselves declaring that they are Christian. He took part and encouraged all of his followers to do the same.
“Today, many of your questions were in regards to the sorrowful event that took so many precious lives in Oregon yesterday. We don’t have all the details yet, but as time passes more are coming out. Millions of people are posting pictures of themselves declaring they are Christians in support of the victims and their families. I did so on Facebook this afternoon. If you have a moment, please consider doing it as well.”
Though, as Ben Carson points out, we do not currently know the motive behind the deranged gunman that left nine people dead at the Roseburg, Oregon, community college, social media and dating profiles for the troubled man suggest he was “not religious” and proclaimed to be against organized religion.
Witnesses at the Oregon shooting claim that the gunman made all victims get on the floor before asking them if they were Christian. The witnesses say that the gunman shot all those who claimed to be Christian in the head while those who did not answer or said they were not Christian were shot in other parts of the body. One survivor, Anastasia Boylan, recalled the horrifying shooting to her family members. She claims that the gunman had Christians stand up before him as he proclaimed that they would “meet God in one second” before shooting them in the head.
“She told her family that he told his victims to stand up and declare their religion, before telling them: ‘Good, because you’re a Christian, you’re going to see God in just about one second.'”
In total, nine victims lost their lives at the hands of the gunman who was also killed at the scene. The victims included a first-year nursing student that hoped to one day work in pediatrics, an 18-year-old studying dental hygiene, a professor of the writing class where the students were gunned down, and a recovering drug addict who had just completed a rehabilitation program. You can learn more about all nine of the Oregon shooting victims here. The victims’ families are slowly speaking out about their lost loved ones as police release the official list of the deceased.
What do you think about Ben Carson leading the charge to have social media users declare that they are Christian publicly?
[Image Credit: Facebook]
