Is the American Christian Church a Sponsor of Terrorism?

Please read this if you are a gun owner. 
Please read this if you believe nothing can be done to stop the mass shootings in America. 
Please read this if you are afraid your child will not return from school one day.
Please read this if you have become overwhelmed by the gun debate in our country. 
Please read this if you are afraid. 
Please read this if you are a Christian.

The United States has a sever gun problem.

• Every day an average of 300 Americans are shot.
• In 2015 there were 36,252 gun deaths, including 22,018 suicides and 12, 979 homicides, and at least 85,000 injuries.
• Every day, an average of two women are shot dead by their partners.
• Nearly 6,000 children are shot every year, a fifth accidently with 1,300 fatalities.
• Since 1982 there wave been 83 mass shootings (definition of a mass shooting: 4 or more victims in a public space.)
• Americans make up less than 5% of the global population, but own 42% of the world’s guns.
• Over the past 50 years more Americans have been killed by guns that in all the wars in our nation’s history.

Please do not rationalize away the above stats. Guns are killing American citizens at a horrifying rate. We cannot ignore the recent back to back shootings in Las Vegas or Sutherland Springs, Texas. Thoughts and prayers are empty platitudes. As a Christian minister, I believe America needs policy changes, not prayer.  

Americans are obsessed with safety. If a child falls out of a crib because of a faulty railing, every crib is recalled. Americans are obsessed with health. If we are told that pomegranates are good for us, all of a sudden our supermarkets are filled with pomegranate snacks, juice, treats, infused coffee. So why do we continue to do nothing about guns which are one of the greatest safety and health concerns of this century? Why are we the only western country that watches, inert, as our fellow citizens are slaughtered around us?

There are a number of false rationalizations & complicated rhetoric whirling around gun control, which as of late, have left our country immobile:

1. Gun control doesn’t work. WRONG: Most of the states with the highest rates of gun deaths, such as Alaska and Louisiana, have loose restrictions; most of those with the lowest rates, such as Hawaii and Massachusetts, have much stricter laws. If we look internationally, the same pattern holds true.
2. The NRA is a powerful lobbying group. Yes & No. There are more Americans who aren’t members of the NRA. One powerful and wealthy lobbying group cannot hold a country hostage.
3. The second amendment protects people’s right to bear arms. Yes & No. The Second amendment reads: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. Automatic weapons and militias are very different. In addition, our country has a significant and proud history of changing our constitution: The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments ensured equality for recently emancipated slaves; The 19th Amendment granted women the right to vote.
4. Congress is too divided and can’t get anything done. Yes, but we elected them. They work for us.
5. It’s a mental health problem. WRONG. I find this argument appalling, as if all mentally ill people are armed and dangerous. Mental Health is not a new disease, but prolific access to semi automatic weapons is. Those who suffer from mental illness are far more likely to be victims of gun violence than the perpetrators.
6. There is nothing that can be done. WRONG. First, vote! Second, check out these two incredible groups: giffords.org and everytown.org. Third take the time and investiagte all your investmanets, including your pensions. If they are invested in gun manufacturing companies, divest and tell the company/mutual fund/pension board, etc why you are divesting.

    The following is a list of the Biggest Gun Manufacturers in the United States:

• Sturm Ruger (RGR)
• Remington Outdoor
• Smith and Wesson (American Outdoor- AOBC) (SWHC)
• Glock
• Sig Sauer
• O.F. Mossberg and Sons
• Savage
• Springfield Armory
• Beretta
• Taurus International
• Keystone Sporting Arms
• Kahr Arms
• Barrett Firearms
• Norinco
• Hi-Point Firearms

Renee Graham, argued in the Boston Globe (October 8, 2017) that the United States is a state sponsor of terrorism, “Our government is complicit in at least 58 murders and more than 500 injuries at a country music festival in Las Vegas. By failing to consider even common sense gun control policies after previous mass shootings, legislatures are supporting those who terrorize and kill people.” 

I would take Graham’s argument further. As a follower of Jesus, I believe the American Christian Church is a sponsor of terrorism for remaining deafeningly quiet on gun control. The Christian Church has loudly declared its concerns over unborn fetuses and led a successful campaign to limit women’s access to safe and affordable abortions. I am confident that the Church could lead as a successful campaign to mandate common sense gun control, but it hasn’t. In remaining quiet, the Christian Church has made it clear that the deaths of thousands are unimportant. Domestic terrorism is acceptable. And in doing so they embraced the irony that elementary students in Sandy Hook, CT matter less than unwanted fetuses. 

The common Christian response to another mass shooting, "thoughts and prayers," without the will to change policy or practice, is the very definition of "faith without works." As a progressive Christian I’m not praying anymore. As a wise clergy friend said, “...right now I don't have it in me to overwhelm this great empty space with hope-filled murmuring about God’s love and abiding presence in the midst of tragedy.” Instead, I’m acting. I’m speaking the uncomfortable things many do not want to hear. I am voting. And I am pleading with you, if you claim to follow Jesus, to join me in fighting for gun control, and at minimum common sense gun laws. 
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Read this again: Over the past 50 years more Americans have been killed by guns that in all the wars in our nation’s history.

As Christians, we cannot stay quiet any longer. We must mobilize, less we become the church of guns. 

As citizens, we cannot remain inactive any longer. We must enact real change and policy, less we become a nation of guns.

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