The Church That Used To Be

As I wrote after the 2012 Newton shootings,

I have never owned a gun. The last gun I fired was in high school ROTC, and I doubt that I'll use one again. For me owning a firearm carries too much risk of an accident, of it being stolen, or, in the worst case, of me or someone I love being tempted to use it in a moment of weakness.

You, dear reader, might expect me to be in the gun control movement, which, let's face it, includes some who are in favor of the complete abolition of the private ownership of guns. But you would be wrong.

We all could wish for a world where firearms didn't exist, but given that bad guys have them and we don't (thankfully) have police everywhere, I understand why many citizens acquire guns. Besides, the Constitution says it's their right.

After the slaughter of innocents in San Bernardino this past week, the Bishop of my Diocese sent out this letter the day after [bold added]:

Advent is the season of hope and expectation. With many religious leaders, I offer my thoughts and prayers for the people of San Bernardino, but I call on Christians to take up John the Baptist’s prophecy that one was coming, the one we follow, who doesn’t simply call us to repentance, important as that is, but to transformation.

It is time to boldly stand up and say, as we know most Americans believe, that good gun control must happen now. And it is time to face up to the prison pipeline and the tragic lack of mental health care, two lapses from what it would mean to be a truly civil society, and act with compassion and courage.

Here are some resources for us to use in becoming transformed and transforming people around gun violence and related issues:
30 gun control actions you can take now
Six gun control groups worth your time and donations
SAVE (Soldiers Against Violence Everywhere) Oakland
Diocese of California’s Gun Violence Prevention Taskforce resources

+MHA

You see, the massacre can be blamed on too many guns in society....except not.

As we have learned this past week, the mass killings were perpetrated by an Islamic terrorist couple who acquired their guns legally in California, a state with some of the nation's strictest gun control laws. (They were also not on the no-fly list---prohibiting guns from those on the no-fly list was one of President Obama's suggestions in his December 6th speech.)

But back to my Episcopal Church: the Bishop's message showed how wedded the church is to a progressive ideology that favors not only gun confiscation but wealth redistribution, alternative energy, and universal health care by an all-powerful State.

I yearn for a church that rises above politics and talks to all people about their deeply held beliefs and choices.

Why do some buy guns? Because they are afraid.

Why do others want guns taken away? Because they too are afraid.

The church that used to be had an Answer to fear. The church that used to be proclaimed the Answer from the rooftops. Now the Answer is to e-mail my legislator about tighter background checks.