In Guns We Trust: the Unholy Trinity of White Evangelicals, Politics, and Firearms

It doesn’t seem that complicated. As a follower of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, who called us to radical reconciliation and forgiveness, who rejected retributive justice and instead taught his followers to turn the other cheek (Matthew 5: 38), guns have no place in the church. It would seem like American Christians would reject the proliferation of guns in America. This is not the case. White Evangelicals own more guns than any other group in America, including active military and veterans.

Before you start trolling this blog with 2nd Amendment memes, let me remind you the founders were talking about muskets and militias. Not about semi auto-matic weapons. Also, no one is trying to take away your hunting gun. 

I have known quite a few people who have stopped going to church because fellow church members brought guns with them every Sunday. Pretty normal, right? Gun in one hand, bible in the other. These church-leavers know it is perfectly legal for their fellow church goers to carry guns into worship along with their bibles, but that’s not the point. Instead, the point is two fold:
#1 Church is supposed to feel safe. Guns do not make anyone safe. The good guys with guns maxim is false. (read this article by John Hopkins University.) 
#2 Jesus preached against violence. This seems like the most obvious argument against guns in church. Throughout Christian history, leaders have argued for non-violence. In response, there are many treatises on just war theory to balance Jesus’ call to non violence and our nation’s call to war. And still, no respected biblical scholar or theologian, who may ultimately reject pacifism, has ever proposed that Jesus embraced violence as an effective tool for justice. The Biblical witness is clear on this one: love is the only weapon to defeat violence. Guns have no place in church.

This why-would-you-follow-Jesus-and-carry-a-gun-to-church question led my friend Bill Kole out of church. The good news is that Bill is a journalist and a committed follower of Jesus. Bill spent the last two years investigating what he refers to as the “unholy” alliance between white evangelicals, guns, and politics. During his investigation, Bill came across the web site I started with a few other Christian leaders, Christians United Against Gun Violence. 

Bill’s book, In Guns We Trust: The Unholy Trinity of White Evangelicals, Politics, and Firearms hits the bookstores today. Every church should be reading this book together. Every church should hang banners that read Ban Assault Weapons. Or Common Sense Gun Laws NOW! Because the only way white evangelical gun worshippers will stop propping up guns laws is if other Christians are louder. 

Buy the book. Read it with others. Talk loudly as a follower of Jesus about the unholy union of guns and church. ​

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