I love my guns. To me, they’re beautiful tools. No different than the ancient hand drill passed down from my father, or the simple, bone-handled pocketknife I carry. I marvel at the craftsmanship of these utilitarian devices, the grain of…
The Devil’s tool
When I was the age of my grandson Sam, I was enamored with the song “Ya Got Trouble” from the musical The Music Man. I even memorized it and performed it once or twice for some gatherings. It clearly did not…
Weaponizing America: Every neighbor a threat
Something clicked within me recently while half-listening to a news report. The report concerned yet another police killing of a citizen and, as I recall, the reporter’s words went something like this: “Police chased the man on foot for two…
We have ‘soft targets’ of war here at home too
With the news of so many tragic events over the past few weeks, I have been struck by the thread that seems to run through so much of the carnage-filled images continuously in the media. The interviews from mass shootings…
In the war of words over guns, ‘wisdom is better than weapons of war’
We fight the “gun battle” in many ways. Some hurl statistics like darts, trying to puncture the other side’s position. Their opponents are adept at this, too, reminding us: “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics”…
Firearms and children 2021: ‘Death has climbed through our windows’
On Sunday, Sept. 27, 2021, a front-page story in the Winston-Salem Journal by Lisa O’Donnell began by asking, “Who was Jumil Dewann Robertson?” Then offered this description: “He was the grandson who could do no wrong; a cousin in a…
While we’re talking about guns in America, let’s talk about our fear-based theology that also drives gun sales
The sound of skidding tires filled the air as the car spun around, the window rolled down, and an arm reached out. It wasn’t until the third shot that I realized that I was staring down the barrel of a…
The right to bear arms: Be cautious in attributing that right to God
The Bible seems to be the most reasonable place to look for evidence that this right to bear arms, located within the founding papers of a civil government, is God-given.