INFORMED AND EMPOWERED seem appropriate actions to Trump’s signing a law making it easier for mentally ill people to purchase guns, and for the Minnesota House working to pass an omnibus bill which includes Permitless Carry and Stand Your Ground Bills. All of…

IT’S SO EASY! Along with many, I wore an orange t-shirt (over my clergy shirt) to a public hearing at the Minnesota State Capitol as a colorful sign of opposition to two gun bills that were being introduced. The first was a Permitless…

DEARLY BELOVED The lead song in “Prince, the Revolution” is “Let’s Go Crazy!” The first line is: “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life.” In this challenging time of alt-right, white power, fear-filled, authoritarian nationalism, any…

THE BLESSING AND THE INDICTMENT Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:1-12 contains a BLESSING and an INDICTMENT of President Trump’s gun violence positions. As stated in THE TRACE article of 19 October 2016, Trump supports: 1) Opposition to universal background checks;…

DANGEROUS BILLS To quote Rev. Nancy Nord Bence, Executive Director of Protect Minnesota, ” “The Permitless Carry and stand your ground (SYG) bills introduced yesterday in the state legislature represent the most extreme views of the gun lobby, not the moderate views of…

REFUSE AND CHOOSE Isaiah 7:15-16 twice includes the phrase, “refuse the evil and choose the good.” I find these words fitting for gun violence prevention (GVP) action. The verbs “refuse” and “choose” are powered by personal decision. As Helmut Thielecke expressed in his…

THE COST OF ARROGANCE: I submit that arrogance is a major contributor to gun violence, the rise of White Nationalism and the election of Donald Trump. In his confession after killing nine African-Americans, with a .45 calibre handgun at the Mother Immanuel AME…

PREACHING AND TEACHING ABOUT GUNS Engaging the issue of gun violence prevention (GVP) takes faith-filled courage. Yet, we can and we must. Theologically, we are on solid ground, needing only to cite prophetic texts, gems from the Sermon on the Mount and nuggets…

The Idolatry of the NRA “Hear, O heavens, and listen, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me….The ox knows its owner…but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.”…

TRUMP AND GUNS President-elect Trump vowed to personally eliminate gun free zones on his first day as President. His fealty to the NRA and blind interpretation of the Second Amendment signal guns for a gun free for all! And more. Trump’s selection for…