Supporters from across the country are campaigning for the Nobel Peace Prize to be awarded to Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church, the site of a mass shooting of nine congregants last June. Christian Today reports campaigners have rallied behind the church for its peaceful response to the devastating event that claimed the lives of eight church members and Reverent Clementa Pinckney.
Frank Zuccarelli, the township supervisor said, “They truly deserve the Nobel Peace Prize. They were the main reason for the response to this horrific crime being love and forgiveness. No one has done more to promote peace at a time when it would have been the most difficult.”
"We expected to see on the news that night, burnings and protests and clashes with the police, but we didn't see anything like that.”
"We were all brought up to believe an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, so we assumed something terrible would happen. When we didn't see that we were very, very surprised and very moved,” he finished.
Campaigners have created an online petition asking that the 2016 prize be given to the church for its response of peace in a time of trauma and devastation. Advocates hope the petition will reach 1 million signatures.
The interim pastor at Emanuel AME said, "We came together with the understanding of forgiveness. This is embraced as an acknowledgment that we do better together. Our faith is stronger than fear, and love always overcomes hate.”
Publication date: October 15, 2015
