An American Idol - Guns

In the Spring 2014 issue of "Episcopal Peace Witness" published by the Episcopal Peace Fellowship the book America And its Guns: A Theological Expose was reviewed. The review sent me to Amazon to see if the book was available and to read any reviews about the book listed on the site. The reviews are usually, if not always, positive (Amazon wants us to buy the book) but it is possible to gain some insight about the book there.

The initial review said this:
"James Atwood contends that the thirty thousand gun deaths America suffers every year cannot be understood apart from our national myth that God has appointed America as "the trustee of the civilization of the world" and even "Christ's light to the nations" Because these purposes are noble, and we are supposedly a good and trustworthy people, violence is sometimes "required" and gives license to individuals to carry open or concealed weapons, which "save lives" and can even be "redemptive" Atwood, an avid hunter, cautions that an absolute trust in guns and violence morphs easily into idolatry. Having spent thirty-six years as a Presbyterian pastor fighting against the easy access to firearms, one of which took the life of a friend, he uses his unique experience and his biblical and theological understanding to graphically portray the impact guns have on our society. He documents how Americans have been deceived into believing that the tools of violence, whether they take the form of advanced military technology or a handgun in the bedside stand, will provide security. He closes with a wake-up call to the faith community, which he says is America's best hope to unmask the extremism of the Gun Empire."

Dr. Linda Gaither in her review in the "Episcopal Peace Witness" says:
"James Altwood describes his powerful book ... as a wake-up call for a sleeping giant, America's Churches. His task is to stir up awareness of an Idol which everyday competes with the Good News of the Peaceable Kingdom for the hearts and minds of Americans. That Idol he names the Gun Empire. To that Idol are offered 30,000 dead Americans, slain by gun violence, every year. Gun violence, Atwood suggests, ... is a spiritual problem...'  

Certainly vast numbers are associated with the Gun Empire. There are 300 million guns circulating in America today, almost enough for every man, woman, and child, with 3 million more sailing off the assembly line every year. ... more Americans were killed with guns in the 18 year period between 1979 - 1997 (651,697) than all the servicemen and women killed in battle in all U.S. Wars since 1775 (650,858). ... Over 3000 children are killed unnecessarily by guns in this country every year, ... Yet no sane gun legislation on behalf of reducing the number of guns has passed Congress since the 1994 Brady Bill." 

This American obcession with guns is not new, but the reality of the pervasiveness of the Gum Empire (to use Atwood's term) and the "theology" connected to it became real and apparent to many of us who lived through and during the 1960s. The assanation of JFK, Robert Kennedy, Dr. martin Luther King Jr. and others brought to the forefront the need not only for appropriate legislation but for a fuller understanding of how the Culture of the Gun is so embedded in and destructive to our society and the lives of the people who live in it. This book is going to be one of my future reads.