GUN LAW REPREIVE? Two dangerous gun bills, Stand Your Ground and Permitless Carry were not added to an Omnibus Public Safety Bill in the Minnesota House. Significant credit for this omission should go to the many gun violence prevention organizations whose supporters consistently…

HOLY WEEK AND WEAPONS OF LOVE Jesus redefines “weapons.” On Maundy Thursday, the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke place Jesus in a room where the Lord’s Supper is instituted. The disciples and Jesus ate and drank together with Jesus pulling a “bait…

“DONKEY KING” VS. “GUN KING” – The Choice What kind of king are we seeking? “Donkey King” or “Gun King”? Palm Sunday-Passion Sunday features Jesus entering Jerusalem, the power center of Judaism, on a donkey instead of a white stallion. Humility and nonviolence…

RESPONSE TO ANGRY REPLIES I have received several angry replies to my “Stomping Stand Your Ground” blog. The writers deserve a response. One writer called the blog “shameful and disgusting…politically motivated crap. If my church supported this, I would be looking for a…

STOMPING STAND YOUR GROUND The Minnesota Committee on Public Safety conducted a hearing with a Stand your Ground Bill (HF-238) on the agenda for discussion and vote. At the discretion of the Chairman, Tony “Wyatt Earp” Cornish, discussion did not happen but a…

DIVING DEEP ON DANGEROUS BILLS As commented in a previous blog, two dangerous bills are being presented for House legislative action: Permit to Carry and Stand Your Ground. Why are these bills dangerous? 1. According to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, 1.8%…

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;…