Guns and the Gospel

The Pasadena Palm Sunday Peace Parade is organizing a gun buyback back campaign and is reaching out to the religious community to encourage them to contribute to a gun buyback fund that will “turn swords into plowshares.” (See http://laquaker.blogspot.com/2013/02/turning-swords-in-plowshares-statement.html  and http://thepeaceacademy.org/peaceparade

To us, it seems pretty obvious that Jesus, aka “the Prince of Peace,” wouldn’t be a big supporter of the Second Amendment nor would he favor the arms trade, drones, and other forms of violence. Yet not all Christians see guns as a problem, or as un-Christian. A recent Arkansas law (the so-called “Church Protection Act”) allows people to pack concealed pistols in churches. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/04/arkansas-guns-in-church-bill-passes-in-house_n_2618689.html ) Some preachers are such ardent pro-gun advocates they preach this message from the pulpit. A gun-loving pastor in even asked his congregation to bring guns to church to celebrate July 4^th. (http://www.askmen.com/money/money-news/28_gun-loving-pastor-piece-be-with-you.html.) Christians have borne arms, served in the military, and on the police force. So what does the Gospel tell us about the right to bear arms?

Just prior to his entry into Jerusalem, a city Jesus knew would be hostile to his prophetic message, he surprises his disciples by telling them they must arm themselves, in apparent contradiction to what he said in the sermon on the mount: “Love your enemies.”

35 [Jesus] asked them [the eleven apostles], "When I sent you out without a purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?"
They said, "No, not a thing."
36 He said to them, "But now the one who has a purse must take it, and likewise a bag. And the one who has no sword must sell his cloak and buy one. 37 For I tell you, this scripture must be fulfilled in me: ‘And he was numbered among the lawless’; and indeed what is written about me is being fulfilled."
38 They [the disciples] said, "See, Lord, here are two swords."
"It is enough," he replied. (Luke 22:35-38, NRSV).

In this passage, Jesus tells his disciples to take up swords not to defend themselves (two swords would hardly have sufficed against the Roman legions), but to fulfill a scriptural prophesy. The Messiah would be counted among the lawless, and what do the lawless do? They carry swords.

Later the moment of testing comes in the garden of Gethsemane. In the dead of night Jesus is confronted with armed opponents, and Peter does what comes naturally: he uses his sword in self-defense, cutting off the ear of his assailant. Instead of praising Peter, Jesus reaches down and heals the wounded man. Then he utters his most famous condemnation of violence: “Those that live by the sword perish by the sword” (Matt. 26:52).

This message transformed the hearts and minds of Jesus’ followers. In the darkness of night Peter “stood his ground” and did what seemed perfectly natural, legal and even commendable: he defended his leader using a lethal weapon. But Jesus demonstrated a better way: non-violent resistance and healing. Jesus was willing to sacrifice his life rather than harm another.

Most of Jesus’ disciples followed this example, and all of the apostles were persecuted and killed. None resisted violently. They set an example of nonviolence that has been followed by peace-loving Christians ever since, from St Martin (the Roman soldier who converted to Christianity and refused to bear arms) to Martin Luther King.

 When Dr. King said “America was the greatest purveyor of violence in the world,” he was talking about the arms trade.  Today the United States sells over 70% of the armaments in the world and spends more on war than nearly all the rest of the world put together. Some of the arms we sell end up in the hands of our enemies, just as some legally purchased guns eventually end up in the hands of criminals. Many of the unpopular regimes we support with our weapons have populations that hate us for this reason. Most people resent the drones that fly over their homes and terrorize them, and some turn to terrorism in response. The international arms trade enriches the elites but doesn’t make average Americans any safer. Americans own more weapons than citizens in any other wealthy nations, yet we are the least safe.

Perhaps it is time to take seriously, and update, Jesus’ message. “Those who make a living from firearms will perish from firearms.” This is literally true. 30,000 Americans die each year due to firearms, twenty times more than in other rich countries. Our addiction to guns is literally killing us. It is time for us to follow the example and words of Jesus, and heal those who are deaf and blind to these realities.