Nothing in the Bible justifies deregulation of gun sales and ownership, according to a panel of religious activists who spoke this week at the Religion Newswriters Association’s annual conference in Decatur, Ga. The panel included Rachel Laser from the Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism, Christian ethicist David Gushee of Mercer University, Bryan Miller of Heeding God’s Call, Atlanta Episcopal Diocese Bishop Robert Wright and Jim Winkler, the president of the National Council of Churches. Reporter Kay Campbell writes at AL.com:
“It’s hard to articulate a strong Biblical case for a heavily armed society,” said Professor David Gushee, a Christian ethicist at Mercer University. “That’s not Biblical reasoning; that’s cultural reasoning.”
Rachel Laser, the deputy director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, was more blunt.
The indiscriminate support of gun rights in American society has become “the worship of idols,” Laser said, “And that’s blasphemy. For Jews, there is the biblical mandate from Leviticus: You don’t stand by while your brother’s blood is being shed.”
“Jesus is not a member of the NRA,” said Bishop Robert Wright.
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