Religious liberals are increasingly concerned about the slaughter of Americans by firearms.

[Thats my opinion]

Several weeks back we were met with the spectacle of a seriously disoriented young man who easily purchased an assault weapon with a 100-bullet clip. Every year thousands of Americans are shot with legally purchased guns. Why anybody outside a war zone needs an assault weapon boggles the mind. Any number of them can be picked up on the Internet or in gun shows. Consider the suggestion that if those in that theater audience had been equally armed, the slaughter would have been prevented. Really? Thousands of bullets whizzing around a closed theater is hardly a sane scenario. The recent shooting in New York resulted in the death of the culprit and the wounding of nine bystanders---all from police bullet fragments!!

If the gun control issue is to be seriously addressed, who is going to do it? While the issue is buried somewhere in the Democratic platform, only Dianne Feinstein has been willing to raise as much as a whisper. How come? The Republicans are cuddled up with the NRA, the Democrats are scared to death of this organization, and the majority of Americans don’t seem to care.

Increasingly the liberal church is taking up the issue. Recent articles in The Christian Century (the widest read ecumenical journal), America (a national forum produced by the Jesuits), Christianity Today (a widely read evangelical publication) and a series of releases by Religion News Service have brought the matter to the attention of millions of America’s religionists. The Jesuit, Fr. James Martin, calls gun control “a pro-life issue.” Fr Frank Pavone, head of “Priests for Life” has said, “Anyone concerned about protecting human life has to be concerned about the misuse of guns.”

Other than these faint efforts coming from the religious left, where else is there much active concern? What non-religious groups, or even prominent persons are taking it up? In the meantime we will continue to see thousands of Americans gunned down every year—five times more firearm deaths than in the rest of the world put together.

[msongs]

1. uh oh, liberals trying to suppress the rights of gun owners again nt

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

15. Of course, the first post is from a gun nut

Why do you need guns? I really want to know.

[Jim__]

2. The issue here is not religion; it's money and politics.

If a politician, say, running for the House, even suggests that gun control might be rationally discussed, the NRA pours millions of dollars into the district to insure his defeat - politically, in most districts, to raise the issue is to lose. A democracy should not be dominated by money. I see that as the much bigger issue here.

[Thats my opinion]

4. Jim, I'm afraid you are corrrect. Alas! nt

[rrneck]

3. Do you really want to elect Democrats

or are you just looking for another bandwagon to throw your religious baggage onto?

[Thats my opinion]

5. You certainly made my paragraph two point.

Here is a deadly political issue. But a matter that is very much a religious one. At best it is a post-election matter.

Any attempt to run Christian liberals away from electoral politics is also politically deadly.

[rrneck]

6. I would suggest a bit of research

if you want to discuss guns and politics here in the United States.

[bongbong]

7. They're facing a losing battle

Gun-nuts in America have a religion already - the worship of the gun.

Their Old Testament is the movie "Rambo", and their New Testament is "Rambo Part 2"

[rrneck]

8. You'll probably find s lot of information here...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/117269539

[skepticscott]

9. Here's a news flash

People of all stripes have been fighting this issue for a long time, without the need to say "Look, look! I'm fighting for tougher controls on guns and I'm religious to boot! Isn't that great??" Why you need to engage in your usual shameless promotion of "liberal" and "progressive" religion on this issue, and at this late date, is a mystery (or should that be MysterY?)

These self-described "faint efforts" have not "brought the matter to the attention of" anyone who hasn't had their heads in the sand for decades. As usual, religion is late to the game (which doesn't seem to stop you from trying to give it far more credit than it deserves).

[trotsky]

10. So are non-religious liberals.

We just don't feel a need to shove our non-belief in front of the issue and make it the focus, like you want to do with your brand of religion.

We'd rather just get things done. Good luck with your way. Too bad it so eerily resembles how the fundie right uses their religion.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

11. Uh oh, two fly-paper topics in one post

[Goblinmonger]

12. Here's some statements from Dawkins via Twitter

Richard Dawkins ?@RichardDawkins
In every country, there are narcissistic, inadequate, fame-hungry losers who want to kill someone. In most countries they don’t have guns.

Richard Dawkins ?@RichardDawkins
In every country, there are psychotic crazies who want to kill someone. In most countries they don’t have guns.

Richard Dawkins ?@RichardDawkinsIn every country, quite ordinary people lose their temper and temporarily want to kill someone. In most countries they don’t have guns.

What was your point again?

[rexcat]

13. That sounds like...

a typical militant statement coming from a militant atheist.

[cpwm17]

16. Richard Dawkins isn't an American

But he is so right here.

[2ndAmForComputers]

17. Uh oh. You said Richard Dawkins is right about something in the Religion group.

[muriel_volestrangler]

14. If this is the article in Christianity Today you mean

by the senior managing editor:

Making Non-Sense of the Colorado Shootings
Spiritual thoughts on another random act of violence.

...
My sarcasm does not signal that I'm for or against gun control. We may be at a cultural moment when more self-defense is called for. Or maybe such a solution would just lead to more useless violence. I'll let political and social scientists sort that out. I'm more interested at this point in my reaction as a disciple of Jesus: it began with fear and self-protection.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2012/julyweb-only/making-non-sense-of-colorado-shootings.html?paging=off

it seems to sidestep the issue of gun control completely. If progress is to be made on gun control, I'd have said it needs changes in that evangelical culture, which has much more of the "self-reliant American" ethos that persuades gun fans they are doing something admirable in walking round with a weapon designed to kill humans. But it looks like that publication isn't going to bother - the article just goes into a "what is evil" contemplation.