“Thoughts and Prayers are Not Enough!”

It has been reported that the United States has the highest firearm homicide rate in the developed world. Approximately four out of every 100,000 people die in the United States from gun violence. There are reportedly 400 million guns in the U.S. with approximately 120 guns for every 100 people, that is an average of 1.2 guns per person. It would be safe to say that the United States has the most weaponized people of this modern century.

The number of mass shootings recorded by the Gun Violence Archive and reported by CNN took a quantum leap up in 2019 and has continue to surpass 2019 levels every year since. Continuing at our current rate by the end of 2023 we will have experienced approximately 4,000 mass shooting events over the last ten years.

A series of shootings in three states has made for a heart-wrenching several days, leaving 24 dead as more cities join a growing list of American communities scarred by gun violence. “Only in America do we see this kind of carnage, this kind of chaos, this kind of disruption of communities and lives and confidence and sense of safety and belonging” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday after his state suffered three mass shootings in about 44 hours. Newsom was still visiting victims of the Monterey Park shooting that claimed 11 lives when he was told of a second shooting in Half Moon Bay, which left seven dead and one person injured. Governor Gavin was quoted as saying “Thoughts and prayers are not enough!” referring to the type of vigil like the one pictured above that routinely occurs after one of these shootings. Governor Gavin went on to say we hold these types of vigils after every mass shooting but nothing changes. He emphasized more must be done at all levels of government to deal with the dilemma our nation is facing. That is a very difficult task that must begin with the people of faith and with something called repentance.

The above picture was taken on a visit to the Vatican City a few years ago. As a young Catholic boy, I was very familiar with visiting my local parish for confession and repentance on a routine basis. In those days my list of sins included such acts as “making my parents holler.” In an Italian home there was a lot of hollering including my parents shouting at my brother and me that we were the cause of their hollering! “You kids make me holler!” was the routine quote that was heard endlessly. Like any child, I believed my parents and would faithfully repent to my parish priest. Repentance always left me with a renewed spirit determined to be a better Catholic and stop causing my parents to holler at me. Inevitably I would return within a few weeks with a fresh batch of the same sins to repent. I didn’t have the maturity to realize the cause of the hollering was due to my parents’ lack of patience and control over their own behavior rather than for my playing too loudly. It was much easier for my parents to continue in their behavior and blame their sons for the cause than to correct their parenting methods.

I believe our nation is faced with a similar social dynamic when it comes to guns. After each mass shooting, a diligent effort is made to find out all we can about the perpetrator of the event and to diagnose the motives. That information sometimes is difficult to attain and often it is never known why people do what they do. However, regardless of the fact of knowing the backgrounds and the motives of the various shootings or not, that information in itself does nothing to mitigate the next violent gun act from happening. All it does is give our political leaders and our law enforcement officials gratification that something was done that will perhaps give us some great insight to our gun dilemma – but it never does! It amounts to a preoccupation with efforts that distract from addressing real solutions to the dilemma that kills more and more Americans. It demonstrates a lack of interest in facing the hard issues necessary to have a meaningful effect to change this behavior in our nation. Similar to my parents avoiding any improvement to their parenting skills, nothing ever changed. They continued to holler, and I continued to share the blame with my brother. So, how do the people of faith make a difference in this national crisis? The first step is to agree to disagree.

In our nation people of faith have opposing views about gun control. Some people of faith are for gun control, others are not. Some people of faith are for a ban on assault weapons, some are not. Some people of faith believe the second amendment of the constitution prevents any infringement on our ability to own and use guns. Some people of faith believe there are higher priorities of the constitution that supersede our second amendment rights. Such priorities like to “ensure domestic tranquility” and “promote the general welfare” for the people of our nation that are lost because of the unbridled gun violence in our nation. What’s more, the blending of politics with our faith in the communities of faith over the last few decades has resulted in such a polarization that the divide between factions has never been greater in our lifetimes than it is now. It is for this reason the solution to our gun crisis must begin with a repentance by the people of faith. Why the people of faith? Because we have the roadmap to a national repentance in scripture. “As the Lord’s servant, you must not quarrel. You must be kind toward all, a good and patient teacher, who is gentle as you correct your opponents, for it may be that God will give them the opportunity to repent and come to know the truth.” (2 Timothy 2:24-25) In other words, the Apostle Paul is telling his young understudy Timothy that people of faith, when they have a difference of opinion, must first and foremost agree to disagree. They must not “quarrel” but be kind and patient with one another. Why? To give people a chance to ” “repent” and then “know the truth”.

In order to bridge the divide, it will require a “change of mind” which is the meaning of the word “repent”. In scripture it has the connotation of changing the direction of one’s heart and intent. In the most extreme cases it means to turn away in the opposite direction. At a minimum it means to turn away from wrong behaviors and not repeat them. It is fine to have different opinions and opposing views. What is not acceptable is for these different views to bring division into the communities of faith. So, what is required is a change of mind from who is correct about gun control to a mindset on how we agree to what is an acceptable way to live for all concerned. There is no right or wrong answer to gun rights. It is all a matter of interpretation of the constitution. So, in this case where there is no absolute correct answer, how does one decide? Again, scripture gives us an answer.

Romans chapter 14 gives us an example of the church being divided over the issue of eating meat involved in idol worship. Some believed it was wrong, some believed it was not. In this case the individual who was offended gets the priority in consideration. It was better for some believers to give up one of their liberties for the sake of unity in the body of believers. Which side of gun control do you think the Apostle Paul would advise? He would say now as he said then when he wrote the text. That is, it is always better for one to give up a liberty for the sake of unity of faith than continue to divide the community of faith. Gov. Gavin is correct. Thought and prayers are no longer enough. It is time for the community of faith to come together and demand from our state and federal elected officials to take the steps required to stop the onslaught on the American people. Each community of faith must begin to come together in its own fellowship over gun rights, then reach out to other communities. Until that happens nothing will change. But it will take some people of faith willingly sacrificing their liberties to own automatic weapons or possess an unlimited amount of ammunition or be limited in the number of weapons owned. It will take a curtailing of liberty just like we give up unlimited speed requirements or drinking alcoholic beverages while driving. Enough sacrifice of innocent life has been made. It is time for the people of faith to make a few sacrifices of their liberties of gun rights for the better good of our nation and for the sake of unity in the communities of faith.