America and Its Guns: A Theological Exploration - Understanding Firearms in American Culture & History | Perfect for Researchers, Historians & Theology Students
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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.
REVIEWS
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Jim Atwood is an educated, trained, ordained Presbyterian minister. He owns guns and hunts. He is not trying to promote taking away guns from American citizens but only to call for rational measures to regulate gun ownership.Chapter 15: "Fifty laws and Policies that Perpetuate Murder and Disorder" alone is worth the price of the book. These laws have "the deliberate intent to keep law enforcement (ATF and FBI) weak and ineffective in their task of overseeing the business of guns in America." Congress has deliberately kept the ATF budget so low that it cannot adequately inspect the licensed gun dealers, and the Senate has not approved a head of the ATF for over a year. The FBI keeps records of all crimes in which guns are used, but it cannot make the information public. The FBI is forbidden to identify gun dealers that are the known source of guns used in crimes and put them out of business. Unlike manufacturers of produces such as dolls and toy guns, manufacturers of real guns are not required to maintain any standard of manufacture or be face liability of any kind. "Gun rights" have been raised to such high priority as to mean no restrictions whatever. Atwood cites statistics that reveal the outright lies the NRA uses in presenting specious arguments for its cause, plus other statistics demonstrating that increasing the number of guns in a particular area is accompanied by an increase in gun-related crimes and death, the exact opposite of what the NRA claims.Atwood demonstrates the fallacy of the claim that the answer to gun crime and innocent persons' death by guns is more guns. In truth, the gun has become a kind of idol, a false god that requires sacrifice and fails to provide the benefits that its adherents claim for it.In response to the recent Newtown massacre, Atwood's book is the most appropriate source to inform and enable the majority of American people to mobilize to provide the regulation of militia that the Second Amendment calls for.
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