Disciples Resources on the Prevention of Gun Violence
Gun Safety – A Faith-Based Intergenerational Resource for Conversation and Action to Prevent Gun Violence — With mass shootings becoming a common occurrences, our families, churches and children need resources for quality conversation around this difficult and divisive topic. Coordinator of Justice & Advocacy for Family & Children’s Ministries, Kate Epperly has put together printable resources for those who work with younger generations and their families. Please e-mail her if you have any questions.
“God Before Guns” — The Coalition consists of persons of faith from a variety of faith communities in NE Ohio. It was created in May, 2013 in the wake of the terrible shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. God Before Guns seeks to curb gun violence and the proliferation of ever deadlier weapons in our communities. The Coalition is also committed to the belief that communities of faith must lead the effort to build God’s peace and end America’s terrible addiction to firearms.
North Carolina Lectionary on Gun Violence (Year C of the common lectionary but may be an important resource during any season of the Church)
Quotes on Gun Violence:
“By our readiness to allow arms to be purchased at will and fired at whim… we have created an atmosphere in which violence and hatred have become popular pastimes.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.
“We challenge the culture of violence when we ourselves act in the certainty that violence is no longer acceptable, that it’s tired and outdated no matter how many cling to it in the stubborn belief that it still works and that it’s still valid.” — Gerard Vanderhaar
“Much violence is based on the illusion that life is a property to be defended and not to be shared.” — Henri Nouwen
“The cause of violence is not ignorance. It is self-interest. Only reverence can restrain violence – reverence for human life and the environment.” — Wiliam Sloane Coffin
“There will be no justice as long as man will stand with a knife or with a gun and destroy those who are weaker than he is.” — Isaac Bashevis Singer
“We have cracked down on library books, cell phone calls, fertilizer purchases, and wearing shoes in the airport, but we have done almost nothing at the state level to make it harder for either a terrorist, garden variety armed robber, or young person to get their hands on a handgun.” — Sarah Brady
“I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.” — Mahatma Gandhi
General Assembly Resolutions on Guns
6846 – Calls for the licensing of guns and commends Congress for banning sale by mail of handguns, rifles and shotguns.
7762 – Calls for prohibition of ownership and possession of all hand guns (except for law enforcement and a few other categories).
7940 – (not adopted) Supported continued lawful ownership and use of firearms. (In response to 7762)
8842 – Calls for a two week waiting period for the purchase of a handgun and restriction of automatic rifles to military and law enforcement
Bibliography – Guns and Gun Violence
Atwood, James E.; 2012; America and Its Guns: A Theological Expose’; Cascade
Books
Brueggemann, Walter; 2009; Divine Presence amid Violence: Contextualizing the Book of Joshua; Cascade Books.
Brueggemann, Walter; 2013; Truth Speaks to Power: The Countercultural Nature of Scripture; Westminster John Knox Press.
Jenkins, Philip; 2011; Laying Down the Sword: Why We Can’t Ignore the Bible’s Violent Verses; HarperOne.
Jewett, Robert, and Lawrence, John Shelton; 2003; Captain America and the Crusade Against Evil: The Dilemma of Zealous Nationalism; W.B. Eerdmanns Publishing Company.
U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security, FEMA, Dept. of Education, Dept. of Justice, FBI, & Dept. of Health and Human Services; 2013; “Guide for Developing High-Quality Emergency Operations Plans for Houses of Worship”.
Wink, Walter; 1999; The Powers that Be: Theology for a New Millenium; Galilee Doubleday (1998 Augsburg Fortress).
