Yesterday many of us woke up to yet another new story about a shooting, this time in an Episcopal Church. It made me look again to see why it was again that some people think that any weapon (I don’t know what weapon was used in the shooting) is available to everyone. The reality is that it wasn’t until 2008 that owning a weapon under the 2nd Amendment was determined separately from association with the Militia or military. The case of DC V Heller made the determination that handguns for protection should not be inhibited. Other weapons might be limited, but many who have not read even a summary of that take it to mean they can and should be able to own whatever they want. I disagree and so does DC v Heller.
Protect us O God from ourselves. May we recognize that we need to protect our society and that arming more people with the ability to take lives is the wrong answer and instead may we put in place protections and expectations on those who want to exercise the right to keep and bear arms. May we, who have carried weapons of war, help those who have not understand the true power of those weapons. May we as a world decide that we should put more energy into feeding, educating and housing those in need than we do in creating new ways to hurt and kill one another. May we look to ways to help those who truly need mental health care, who are in times of great stress, and temporarily separate them from the ability to easily kill others. May we love one another so much that we are able to make reasonable protections more important that our opinions of a poorly interpreted constitutional amendment. Help us O God. Amen
Prayers for Challenging Times 