COUNCIL FOCUS:
The Council is concerned with all forms of violence in our society, with the prevalence of weapons in our culture, and with the media emphasis on guns and gun play that can be desensitizing over time. While we respect the legitimate use of guns, such as for hunting, we reject the notion that a peace-loving society should endanger the welfare of children or others by placing a premium on gun ownership over safety.
The tragic shootings at Virginia Tech brought the focused attention of everyone to the issue of gun violence. The Council's lectionary materials includes a section on gun violence.
Click here to read a press release from North Carolinians Against Gun Violence (NCAGV).
RESOURCES:
Unit in Acts of Faith: Resources for Prophetic Worship (worship aids, scripture commentary, prayers, litanies, hymn suggestions, and issue-based statistics and facts).
"How Long Shall I Cry For Help: Gun Violence"
RELEVANT POLICY STATEMENTS:
Children and Gun Violence (October 28, 1998)
LINKS:
WHY PEOPLE OF FAITH SHOULD CARE:
Gun violence, especially handgun violence, has increasingly become a cause for alarm in our nation and state. As Christians, we especially are disturbed. The way of Christ is a way of peace, reconciliation, forgiveness, and love for enemies. The spirit of Christ is sharply opposed to the spirit of violence and the instruments of violence. It is also opposed to the law of retaliation or responding to injury with injury.
Christ rejected the use of violence in the pursuit of his mission, and when one of the disciples drew his sword in defense of Jesus, the Lord said, "Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword" (Matthew 26:51-53).
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