I recently read Tom
Brokaw’s book, “Boom,” which looks at the tumultuous 1960s and the cultural
fault lines that emerged in the US. The epicenter was 1968. Both Martin Luther
King and presidential candidate, Robert Kennedy, were shot and killed in the spring
and summer of 1968.
Perhaps it shouldn’t
be surprising that it was 1968 when the Presbyterian Church began voicing concerns
about guns and gun violence. Some will be surprised that it was the “old
southern church” of Presbyterians that first clamored. The Presbyterian Church
US petitioned Congress to enact legislation “without delay” to control the sale
and possession of firearms of all kinds.
The church could see
the storm clouds gathering. The signs were evident that American society was headed
for a crisis.
In 1989 a reunited
Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) urged strong legislation to ban the private
ownership of destructive automatic weapons such as AK-47 assault rifles, Uzis
and all paramilitary weapons, whether domestic or imported.
In 1994 a federal assault
weapons ban was signed into law! The game changer? Jim Brady and his wife. Sarah. In 1981, Jim Brady, the White House press secretary,
was shot in an assassination attempt aimed at President Reagan. Brady was
permanently disabled. The Brady's turned their tragedy into a movement to ban
assault weapons.
In 2004, the U.S.
Congress permitted the assault weapons ban to expire….without a vote.
The church has voiced
its concerns over guns and gun violence for 50 years. We are not alone. The
United Methodist, the United Church of Christ, the Episcopal Church, the US
Conference of Catholic Bishops, The Lutheran Church and the National Council of
Churches have issued various and bold statements calling for stricter gun laws,
banning assault weapons, prohibiting the carrying of concealed weapons and
other sensible regulations.
Which is to say American
Christian churches have been thinking and praying about this for a long time.
I once visited the St.
Nicholas Church in Leipzig, in the former East Germany. I began to learn the
story of how Christians gathered and prayed for freedom in that church for forty years during the
oppressive rule of the Communist government. However, a movement of prayer was
rekindled in the spring of 1989 and that movement grew. On October 9 of that year, 70,000 people gathered
inside and outside the church armed with candles and prayers. Many feared a violent
crackdown from Communist officials. However, the police were frozen by the
presence of 70,000 Christians praying and carrying candles. Exactly a month
later, November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall collapsed, signaling the end of a repressive
government and the beginnings of German reunification.
Sometimes it takes a
long time and a lot of prayer for people to act….and for change to occur.
