Unsettling Advent 2022, Day 20
Thomas Lecaque writes that the AR-15 has been claimed as the sword Christ will wield in the Apocalypse. It is not a tool for revelation, but it is certainly a tool of Armageddon. It is a gun that ends worlds.
Unsettling Advent 2022, Day 19
Jeremy Fuzy writes that it is an American tradition to believe in the myth of redemptive violence — the idea that we can get violence under control by using more violence. But state-sanctioned killings, whether by police or the death penalty, do nothing to stop
Unsettling Advent 2022, Day 18
Brian Kaylor writes that ten years ago today an armed man walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, and opened fire. This massacre at Christmastime evokes memories of part of the biblical story we tend to leave out of our nativities and pageants.
Unsettling Advent 2022, Day 17
Lisa Sharon Harper writes that here, in the darkness, we acknowledge all the deaths that have occurred from gun violence. Here, in the darkness, we say to each fallen soul: We see you. The dark is clarifying. Isn’t it? When we allow ourselves to sit
Unsettling Advent 2022, Day 16
Michael Martin, founder and executive director of RAWtools Inc., writes that Christians are both one of the largest gun-owning demographics in the country and are consistently labeled as judgmental, especially toward the LGBTQIA+ community. This Advent, let us reflect on the inclusive ministry of Jesus
Unsettling Advent 2022, Day 15
Bekah McNeel writes that Advent affirms we are right to wonder. It sighs, “not yet,” in reply. Advent reminds us that the Prince of Peace is coming to a wounded, fearful people, but he is not here yet. Peace is still twisted and detoured by
Good Samaritan with a Handgun?
On Sunday evening, a man opened fire in a shopping mall in Greenwood, Indiana, killing three people and wounding two others before also being shot dead. What city officials said in response sparked some odd headlines.
Meet the First Minister of Gun Violence Prevention
For decades, the Presbyterian Church (USA) has urged its members to study, dialogue and act to prevent gun violence going back to the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. Other mainline denominations have also joined, like the Episcopal Church’s Bishops United
The NRA’s Thoughts & Prayers
In this edition of A Public Witness, we look at the principalities and powers preventing us from doing something about gun violence, along with the Christian leaders aiding and abetting their cause. Then we denounce the idolatry that demands we sacrifice our children.
Why Does This Keep Happening?
Contributing writer Greg Mamula reflects on the recent shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, that left nineteen children and two teachers dead. If we are truly offering our thoughts and prayers to the tragedy that is the epic endemic of gun violence in