‘No one ever caused any change by being neutral’
October 6, 2023
A memorial honoring victims of gun violence. (Photo courtesy of the
Rev. Jimmie Hawkins)
Near the end of a recent Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) webinar, Tracie Campbell made an impassioned plea for people of faith to “do something” to curtail gun violence in this country.
“No one ever caused any change by being neutral, and so I think that the church has a place to be bold, to make a statement, and if people don’t like the statement that you’re making as the church, then they’ll find somewhere else to go and worship, but you have to take a stance because people are dying,” said Campbell, senior health manager for Mecklenburg County Public Health’s Office of Violence Prevention in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Campbell was one of three panelists who shared their thoughts and expertise during “The Intersection of Faith and Gun Violence Prevention,” a webinar by the Presbyterian Office of Public Witness (OPW). The event was coordinated by OPW Summer Fellow Ariyah Sadler, with assistance from Christina Cosby, the office’s domestic representative.
Cosby delivered the sobering statistic that, as of the morning of the online discussion, more than 24,600 lives had been lost to various forms of gun violence in this year alone.
In addition to holding the webinar, OPW has issued an Action Alert asking Presbyterians to support the Safer Neighborhoods Gun Buyback Act of 2023 to give communities an opportunity to initiate buyback programs to reduce gun violence.
The Office of Public Witness hosted the webinar, which you can watch
on Vimeo. (screengrab)
“This legislation would allow the Department of Justice to make grants to state and local governments as well as gun dealers for people to turn their guns in for financial compensation in the form of prepaid cards that cannot be used to purchase another firearm,” according to the Action Alert.
During the webinar, panelists explored some of the root causes of gun violence and how churches and others can address them.
“You know who needs to be doing this more than anybody? The people who are older,” said panelist the Rev. Deanna Hollas, who serves as Gun Violence Prevention Ministry Coordinator for Presbyterian Peace Fellowship. “You have the capacity to do this in ways that you don’t realize because you are able to take risks that other folks may not be able to take. … Let’s use this to our advantage and put our bodies and our efforts into something that is actually going to create the world that our children deserve to live in.”
The panel also pointed out several issues with the Second Amendment, which protects the right to bear arms.
The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution “is something that needs to be critiqued, and when placed against the Bible, placed against the trajectories that support our love and concern for our sisters and brothers, we can see that it is quite opposed to these ideas, quite antithetical to them,” said the Rev. Dr. Rodney S. Sadler Jr., an associate professor of Bible and director of the Center for Social Justice and Reconciliation at Union Presbyterian Seminary.
The Rev. Jimmie Hawkins moderated a three-person panel
during “The Intersection of Faith and Gun Violence Prevention”
webinar.
Sadler also noted that the amendment dates to “when people had guns that could fire maybe one or two rounds a minute, not when you have guns that could fire hundreds of rounds in a minute. The laws were made by people who also talked about Manifest Destiny, and the elimination of the American Indian population by genocide, that also supported things like — oh, I don’t know — slavery. … We’ve recognized some of these other bad ideas. Why don’t we recognize that this might also be one of these bad ideas?”
The panel was moderated by the Rev. Jimmie Hawkins, who leads OPW and the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations as advocacy director.
Hollas highlighted Guns to Gardens, a movement to collect and dismantle guns that are then transformed into garden tools or other items. Churches that are interested in getting involved can learn best practices in Guns to Gardens action circles being held by Presbyterian Peace Fellowship.
These action circles teach congregations how “they can go about being a safe surrender site so we can begin to embody Isaiah’s words of turning our swords into plowshares,” Hollas said.
The Office of Public Witness is one of the Compassion, Peace & Justice ministries of the Presbyterian Mission Agency.
Darla Carter, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Today’s Focus: The Intersection of Faith and Gun Violence Prevention webinar
Let us join in prayer for:
PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Eliza Minasyan, Coordinator, Jinishian Memorial Program, World Mission, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Rosa Miranda, Associate, Hispanic/Latino-a Intercultural Congregational Support, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Let us pray
God of grace, who calls us into a common ministry as ambassadors of Christ and entrusts us with the message of reconciliation, give us courage and discipline to prayerfully support your servants of all backgrounds and nationalities, that together we may declare your wonderful deeds and show your love throughout the world. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
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