Mourning the Reality of Gun Violence

I woke up in a daze, frustrated and hurt by the amount of deaths caused by guns in our country. As families mourn the deaths of loved ones, we are forced to face the fact that yesterday's shooting in California was the worst massacre we have seen since the shooting in Sandy Hook that took place in 2012. Yesterday, Hillary Clinton said this via Twitter: "I refuse to accept this as normal. We just take action to stop gun violence now." At this point, whether you're religious or not or conservative or liberal, as a country we must come together and compromise on a solution because this problem is only increasing. When I think of this issue as it relates to religion, I have trouble wrapping my brain around it because some of the most intense Christians I know heavily support our Second Amendment right, and while it is our right as Americans, it is not our right to abuse it. I read an article on Religion Dispatches that addresses why the church cannot ultimately stop gun violence. Throughout the article the author brings up many points, including how after a traumatic event people are always quick to say "I'm praying for you," but in this case what is prayer actually doing? Praying won't stop this violence. In the article the author writes, "Not only are more liberal denominations split on gun control, they're distracted by any number of other issues: hunger, homelessness, anti-racism, advocating for LGBT rights, refugee resettlement, Israel-Palestine and on and on and on. Anybody who's spent time in a mainline Protestant church knows that it seems like a there's a new cause every damn day. It's difficult to coalesce around any one issue." The country is well aware that we have a number of issues to worry about, but gun violence and gun control is something that needs to be at the top of that list. This is not about separation between church and state, it is about coming together and doing what is best for our country.

Please read the article "Why the Church Can't Stop Gun Violence" on Religion Dispatches:
http://religiondispatches.org/why-the-church-cant-stop-gun-violence/