Recently, our friend and brother, The Reverend Dr. Marvin A. McMickle, President, Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, Rochester New York, posted a blog entitled, “Guns, guns, guns!” It appeared in the print edition of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. Below is an invitation from Vice President Thomas McDade Clay (Institutional Advancement Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School) to share the post with others and to encourage dialogue on this extremely important topic.
Today, in an effort to do just that, Shepastor invites you to read Dr. McMickle’s powerful insights and share in the discussion…
Good morning,
Dr. McMickle’s most recent Unite Rochester blog appeared in yesterday’s print edition of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. To read the article on the Democrat and Chronicle site, please click the following link:
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/local/blogs/unite/2016/06/22/guns-guns-guns/86224090/
For your convenience, I have also copied the blog post into the body of this e-mail (please scroll below the signature line).
Please feel free to share this post with others and to encourage dialogue on this extremely important topic…
Thomas McDade Clay
Vice President for Institutional Advancement
Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School
Guns, guns, guns!(End Quote)
By Rev. Marvin A. McMickle, Ph. D.
Late one night in 1958 when I was 10 years old, my father was coming out of an Elks Lodge in Chicago when he was confronted by a gunman who demanded my father's wallet, watch and rings (including his wedding band). My father complied, believing that would be the end of the matter. That is when the robber placed his gun against my father's head and proceeded to pull the trigger.
The gun jammed and would not fire. The gunmen tried to shoot my father a second time, but again the gun jammed. Without a functioning gun that had bolstered his courage the robber tossed the gun aside and ran away. When the gun hit the pavement where it had been thrown the gun fired. Thankfully, no one was hurt!
The scourge of guns that is so much in the news today has marked and marred American society from its beginnings. The NRA declares that the "only answer for a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun." Short of arming every single American who would need to possess a weapon everywhere and at all times, most people shot and killed by guns are innocent people up against a coward made brave by possession of a firearm. Most of the time there are no "good guys" around to protect innocent people. It is madness to continue this argument about guns in America.
This is about a bravado culture more informed by John Wayne than by common sense. This is especially true when it comes to military style assault weapons used in all of the recent mass killings in this country. No one hunts or has target practice with an AK 47 or A-15. These weapons were designed to kill human beings on a battlefield, and thanks to the NRA and its indefensible interpretation of the Second Amendment, the battlefield has become the streets of Orlando, San Bernadino, Paris, Brussels, and a classroom in New Town, CT.
Perhaps when one of the US Senators who voted four times this week against gun reform has a gun held against the head of one of their loved ones they will think and vote differently. As for Donald Trump who thought it would be a good idea for people in the Orlando nightclub to mix alcohol with guns I can only hope that people see how truly dangerous his ideas are for our country.
Post a comment or send me an email at Shepastor1@hotmail.com
Until next Wednesday,
In Faith, Hope and Perseverance,
Pastor Chris
www.shepastorchris.org
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