FROM THE PASTOR
On the Anniversary of the Emmanuel Nine
AS WE MARKED THIS ANNIVERSARY OF THE EMANUEL NINE
This morning I finally had a chance to open the June edition of The Christian Century. On page ten I found these numbers:
- As of May 3, there were 14, 191 gun-related deaths in the US in 2023.
- 6,073 of those deaths were homicides.
- 8,118 were suicides.
- Only 360 of the total gun deaths were committed in self-defense.
The argument made by many who oppose common sense gun-laws is that those laws would infringe upon the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens who purchased guns – even assault weapons – for the purpose of self-defense. However, the statistics report the gun purchased is much more likely to be used to complete a suicide or to commit a murder than it will be used for self-defense.
We ELCA Lutherans have a special responsibility on this eighth anniversary of the slaughter of the Emanuel Nine who were killed by a young man raised in an ELCA congregation. As we look at “one of our own” who used a gun against fellow Christians who invited him to join in Bible study, we have questions to ask ourselves. How can we address gun ownership and gun violence from a faith perspective? What are we learning about guns and gun violence (and what are our sources)? What are we teaching our children about gun violence when they come home from school telling us about the latest lockdown drill? How can we mobilize our elected leaders to address the national healthcare crisis of gun violence?
Too many are dying.
Pastor John Schumacher, BCC
