US Gun Control: the Christian Right gets it Wrong

By Nigel Tomes, Dec 19, 2012.

The latest US gun-related carnage—the “slaughter of the innocents” at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. last Friday, generated a range of responses from Christian commentators. All expressed grief at the senseless loss of innocent life— 20 young children plus 6 school staff perished in a blaze of bullets. The “Christian Right” or “Religious Right,” associated with the US Republican Party, took a particularly hard line in their response to this tragedy. Their response ought to be addressed since (in my view) it misrepresents God’s character and maligns His motives.  

“Violence in our schools… we’ve systematically removed God”

Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and former candidate for the Republican Party’s Presidential nomination, was particularly outspoken. He linked the loss of 26 lives at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT with the removal of prayer from US public schools. In an interview, he said, “We ask why there is violence in our schools, but we have systematically removed God from our schools. Should we be so surprised that schools would become a place of carnage?" Huckabee asked on Fox News.

This is a serious, even blasphemous allegation, maligning God’s motives and contradicting His Word. It suggests that God is somehow complicit in the tragic slaughter of 20 children. In Huckabee’s view either God meted out punishment or withdrew His protective hand (or some similar action) from that school or town because prayer was removed from US public schools. Doesn’t this portray God as vindictive? Was the role of school prayer (in part) to appease an angry God? Was the death of those young children due to our failure to placate a vindictive God? This malicious portrayal of God is contradicted by Jesus’ own words that “it is not the will of My Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones [i.e. children] should perish” (Matt. 18:14). Huckabee has it all wrong! School prayer has been restricted in other countries, yet without repeated incidents of mass slaughter. Why? Could it be due to stricter gun controls?

"We don't have a gun problem …we have is a sin problem.”

Last Summer, after the Colorado movie theater shooting, Huckabee asserted, "We don't have a crime problem, a gun problem or even a violence problem. What we have is a sin problem. And since we've ordered God out of our schools, and communities, the military and public conversations, you know we really shouldn't act so surprised ...when all hell breaks loose," he said on Fox News at that time. Contrary to Mr. Huckabee, other observers conclude based on repeated mass shootings that the US does have a crime problem, a gun problem and a violence problem.

“Guns Are Not to Blame for the Newtown School Massacre”

Mike Huckabee is not the only member of the Religious Right who claims that guns aren’t to blame for the Connecticut massacre. Joseph Mattera is the presiding bishop of Christ Covenant Coalition in New York City. In an opinion piece in the Charisma News Mattera says, “The horrific tragedy that unfolded in Newtown, Conn.…is merely the latest manifestation of a larger problem…the increasing secularization and subsequent dehumanization that comes when a nation moves away the Judeo /Christian worldview.” The problem, in his view is that the “US has gone in the opposition [sic] direction from its biblical roots towards a godless secular view.” Bishop Mattera adopts the old adage that “guns don’t kill people; people kill people.” He argues that “blaming guns for this and other tragedies like Columbine and Virginia Tech massacres would be like blaming automobiles for the thousands of deaths that occur every year due to accidents on highways and streets.”

Bishop Mattera’s logic is flawed. Improperly- or illegally-driven automobiles are involved in the thousands of deaths annually. Governments incarcerate and/or ban drivers convicted of auto-related manslaughter. They ban them from driving, impounding their vehicles. Why then is it inappropriate to legislate gun controls—banning people from owning certain types of firearms? Both guns and automobiles can be murder weapons in the hands of the wrong people. The right to own and operate a vehicle is regulated by the government; it is not an inalienable right, guaranteed by the US constitution. The difficulty with guns is that (due to the idiosyncrasies of history) firearms are addressed in the US constitution (2nd amendment). Nevertheless there is still scope for government regulation. Bishop Mattera’s argument against gun controls is not persuasive. The US Christian /Religious Right has got it wrong.

Has the Christian Left got it Right?

If the Christian Right is wrong on the issue of gun control, has the Christian Left got it right? Catholic writer James Martin SJ is representative of this group. He argues that US gun control is a “pro-life issue.” He says “gun control …is just as much of …a “life issue” or a “pro-life issue,” as is abortion, euthanasia or the death penalty (all of which I oppose).” Martin is arguing for consistency—many US Christians (both Catholic & Protestant) support restrictions on abortion due to the inherent value of human life, made in God’s image (Gen. 1:26). Based on the same “pro-life” principle, Martin asserts, they ought also to support gun controls which will cut gun homicides. James Martin writes “Gun control is about the defense of life.…If one is in favor of protecting the unborn [by restricting abortion]… one should be equally in favor of protecting those lives 6 and 7 years out of the womb, the ages of several of the children murdered last week in Connecticut.” In his view, the “pro-life” principle is a “seamless garment” covering the issues of abortion, gun control, etc. It should not be rent.

‘Guns don't kill people, people do’

Martin also addresses the common retort, “The oft-cited argument, ‘Guns don't kill people, people do,’ is unconvincing. Of course people kill people; just as people also procure abortions, decide on euthanasia and administer the death penalty [all of which take human life]. Human beings are agents in these matters. The question is… how to make it more difficult to end lives.  Over the years the government has legislated minute instructions on safety features for automobiles, to increase their safety for the driver, passengers, and others on the road [reducing fatalities].  Surely it is not beyond us to summon up the moral courage to intelligently [regulate] guns and rifles.” [James Martin SJ, Gun Control is a Pro-Life Issue, America: the National Catholic Review, Dec 17 2012]

We may not agree with this reasoning, but at least this argument has the virtue of consistency. I’ve heard a number of evangelical Bible-teachers argue against abortion, based on the sanctity of human life, created in God’s image. This raises the question —do these same evangelical teachers advocate stricter gun controls in the face of repeated mass killings in the United States. Conversely, if they support the right of people (Christians) to own and use guns, what is their Biblical basis for that position? Are they guilty of inconsistency?

This article is the view of the author and not the view of the Church in Toronto.