As a people of faith with a strong commitment to pacifism The Church of the Brethren has long been an outspoken voice in favor is gun control. As gun control legislation has once again entered the public conversation it is important for us to actively engage in the conversation. Below is a template of a letter that we encourage you to send to your legislators in Washington DC. Feel free to elaborate or edit to reflect your own voice.
As people of faith, we are called to find dramatic and effective ways to witness to the peace and reconciliation offered through Jesus Christ. Responding to the issue of gun violence is one way to provide that witness. The incomprehensible violence visited upon the community of Newtown, Connecticut brings renewed focus to this issue. We believe that we simply cannot accept gun violence as a “norm” in our society. We urge you to renew your efforts to regulate guns and access to guns. As a starting point, we support the effort to re-instate the ban on assault weapons and to ban high-capacity ammunition clips. Present-day violence is made far worse than it otherwise would be by the prevalence of weapons on our streets. As Christians, we believe that it is idolatry to trust in guns to make us secure, since that usually leads to mutual escalation while distracting us from the One whose love alone gives us security. Even as we pray for the community of Newtown, we remember that more than 32,000 Americans die every year as a result of gun violence. Of course no single law can prevent all this, but we can certainly take reasonable, common sense steps to reduce the likelihood of deaths and injuries due to gun violence. We believe we can reach across the divisive debate around gun control to take small steps to save lives. Thank you for your consideration and support. In God’s Peace,For more information on the Church of the Brethren’s stance on gun control read the 2010 resolution on gun violence with more current actions outlined in the January 24 Newsline “Church of the Brethren joins in religious coalition working to end gun violence”.
