faith & action
In God’s sight, the earth had become corrupt and was filled with violence. The Lord regretted making human beings on the earth, and he was heartbroken. Genesis 6:11&6
In the time of Noah, God was moved to action by the situation humans had created. Our hearts are also broken by corruption and violence. In today’s News-Gazette, New Covenant joins the faith communities of the Interfaith Alliance to call for action to save the lives of our children and our neighbors.-Renée
The families of (at least) 18 children in Uvalde, Texas did not get to celebrate the last day of school, and their teachers’ families did not get to welcome their loved ones home at the end of the day. Ten members of the African-American community in Buffalo went on a routine grocery shopping trip and never returned. Each of these incidents is preventable, yet our nation has decided upon inaction.
Our country’s laws have failed them, just as we have failed countless concert goers, worshippers, movie patrons, mall shoppers, the LGBTQ+ community, and others who have lost their lives in any of the more than 215 mass shootings in this country since January 1 of this year. As shocking as that quantity is, it is dwarfed by the countless incidents that have taken place since Sandy Hook, or Columbine, or any of the other high-profile incidents of gun violence that were supposed to, at long last, serve as a wake-up call. Instead, the elected officials who are empowered to introduce and enact legislation that would enact sensible controls and begin to save lives choose to wring their hands and offer thoughts and prayers that ring hollow. They kowtow to the morally (and financially) bankrupt NRA and continually announce through their inaction that it is more important to satisfy their gun fetish than to protect our friends, our neighbors, and our children.
As people of faith, we vehemently denounce the idolatrous worship of firepower. We insist that our elected officials look beyond partisan politics to enact important protections for our citizenry and end this cycle of violence. We call for legislation including renewal of the Assault Weapons ban, restrictions on the sale of large magazines of ammunition, the closing of the “gun show loophole,” and a waiting period for the purchase of firearms. While no legislation can be foolproof in eliminating all gun deaths, such steps would be a positive first step toward meaningful change.
It is imperative that our elected representatives cease to stand idle while our neighbors bleed. If they continue to refuse to take action, it is incumbent upon us all to elect leaders who will.
Interfaith Alliance of Champaign County
New Covenant Fellowship