A Plea to My Fellow Christians as We Respond to Mass Shootings

Another mass shooting has come to pass. More parents are at home without their children under their roof. In the presence of such tragedy, our smallness as individuals becomes too evident. Because we are not capable of processing so many tragedies coming after so many tragedies, we become numb, and in our numbed disbelief and fear, we try to offer an easy answer that will make it all less horrifying.

It is time to call mass shootings what they are: an epidemic. It is not so unlike smallpox or polio or AIDS. It is a scourge that spreads fear, threatens our ability to pursue life and happiness, and, most importantly, endangers our children. Humanity has faced many plagues before, and we have responded heroically at times and counter-productively at others. Watching the responses play out on social media each time over the years since Sandy Hook, I am fatigued by the rounds of faulty logic and tired arguments I keep reading. However, I’m writing this to specifically address my brothers and sisters in Christ who keep posting a certain argument that I fear pours salt in wounds, misrepresents the mission of our Lord, and damages our very faith.

Before I dive into specifics, though, let me tell you a story. In the 1980s, the AIDS epidemic hit America with a terrifying fury. And of course, the gay community was ravaged by the mysterious and brutal disease. In the face of that suffering and death, what did the Christian community do? They looked at their dying neighbor and said they deserved what they were getting. Many said that it was punishment directly from God for their sins. They perpetuated this message blatantly and by their inaction. In the process, they led families to forsake their dying sons and brothers, to leave the suffering to suffer alone as they walked through the valley of the shadow of death. By persuading public opinion in the Republican party, they contributed to the paltry budget allocated by the Reagan administration for AIDS research despite the fact that our countrymen where dying by the thousands. The Christian community neglected sufferers out of their own fear and hatred of people they did not understand, and they hindered the progress towards effective treatment and a cure. The AIDS epidemic is a shameful chapter in the history of Christianity.*

Fast forward to today. For the past two days, I’ve seen countless posts saying that the epidemic of mass shootings in our country are the result of prayer being taken out of school. Of the Ten Commandments no longer hanging on the walls of our public institutions. Of the moral depravity of our citizenry. Once again, Christians are blaming the victims in the midst of a horrifying plague. Once again, we are representing our loving, merciful God as a petty tyrant.

There is a very obvious flaw to this argument. America has a staggering amount of deaths resulting from gun violence as compared tomostl other developed countries. Yet, if you go to Australia or Canada, for example, you will not find a citizenry of saints. You will not find government or institutions promoting Christian prayers. You will not find the Ten Commandments pasted to school walls. The difference between America and our peers is not the content of our character: the difference is the laws of our lands.

I am a millennial and a mother to four beautiful children, all of whom will receive their k-12 education in public schools. I am terrified for the safety of my children. I am not alone. My generation grew up in the midst of Columbine, and as parents, we hear our children talk about drills at school for “if a bad guy comes.” Please, my fellow Christians, hear me when I say that your arguments for how to address this situation that our devoid of factual evidence and your thoughts and prayers that are devoid of action feel not only empty as I wrestle with my fears for my children’s safety: they feel insulting. Please, please, please stop telling me that my God is hateful and that my children’s rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are less important than your right to bare an AR-15.

If I sound combative or if I am insulting you, I am sorry, but as a minister’s wife, I see daily the damage Christians are doing to our religion with these kinds of arguments. We are losing a generation of Americans because of the flawed ways we keep engaging in these conversations. Our God is a God of mercy and a God of facts. It is long past time to retire our empty piety and start engaging in helpful conversations that might lead to a cure for the insidious fear we all live with after so many years of breaking news that yet another shooter has taken away more of our children, our neighbors, our countrymen.

*This information is from Get Well Soon: History's Worst Plagues and the Heroes Who Fought Them