Yawn.
Fr. James Martin SJ of America Magazine has penned a piece in which he uses religion to justify a knee-jerk leftist policy (read political) position, even though he assures us that he is not a political person (cough). Fr. Martin deems stricter gun-control a “religious issue.”
That is why I believe that gun control is a religious issue. It is as much of a “life issue” or a “pro-life issue,” as some religious people say, as is abortion, euthanasia or the death penalty (all of which I am against), and programs that provide the poor with the same access to basic human needs as the wealthy (which I am for). There is a “consistent ethic of life” that views all these issues as linked, because they are.
What is noticeably absent from Fr. Martin’s religiously informed opinion is any justification for the belief that such restrictions would limit the type of violence we just witnessed. I am fairly sure the Church has no dogmatic statisticians in its employ.
Why just a week previous to the horror in Aurora, an elderly chap in Florida prevented gun violence and possible mass-murder with the use of a weapon.
A priest such as Fr. Martin, who confesses to being non-political, should be doubly wary of entering the political arena so obviously unarmed.
Father’s argument using the seamless garment approach to promote gun-control is silly and dangerous. It completely ignores the potential benefits of gun ownership while diminishing the critical issues he professes to care so much about, abortion and euthanasia, as just a few other items on a laundry list of concerns.
But on his main premise, that gun-control is a “religious issue” I do not disagree. What I would like to see is lots of well-armed Christians.
The only thing a seamless garment is useful for is concealing a Beretta PX4.
July 23, 2012 at 9:10 pm
I'm not clear where in Catholic teaching that I am forbidden self defense. And the theater had a "no guns" policy. And a good example of the success of gun laws would be the body count in Chicago, a city that boasts of strict gun control laws – it's at the +200 level right now. Here's a hint Father – bad guys don't obey laws.
July 23, 2012 at 9:25 pm
If a culture will raise boys to be men after the model of Saint Joseph, good things will follow — responsible driving, prayerful attendance at Mass, moderate enjoyment of single-malt Scotch and an occasonal cigar, protective behavior toward children and the elderly,and, not least in the catalogue of manly behaviors, responsible gun ownership.
July 23, 2012 at 9:44 pm
"Legitimate defense can be not only a right but a grave duty for one who is responsible for the lives of others." (CCC 2265)
And how many deaths will it take for the gun-control crowd to see that the criminals best friend is a law that restricts legitimate self-defense?
July 23, 2012 at 10:11 pm
Another foolish Jesuit.
July 23, 2012 at 10:45 pm
One of the lowest rates of homicide by gun per capita is in Switzerland. All of the Swiss men are required through service in militia to own a firearm. They ALL have them, therefore, they don't shoot each other.
July 24, 2012 at 2:34 am
No offense to Father Martin but he always seems to be on the wrong (left) side of common sense and orthodoxy.
July 24, 2012 at 2:49 am
Look on the bright side of this, for the first time Fr. Martin is mentioning abortion. Until now, I have never heard of him speaking out about it.
July 24, 2012 at 6:19 pm
At the risk of being shot at, I would like to present a partially dissenting opinion. I am from a hunting family, in a hunting state — but everyone I know, myself included, thinks it's ridiculous that we allow the sale of automatic AK-47-style weapons. There is NO reason that anyone needs that kind of weapon for self defense or shooting a deer.
We have a good friend who is a police officer, and he does not appreciate that at every traffic stop, every domestic disturbance, etc. that he is potentially legally outgunned. The "right" to own these kinds of weapons was surely not on the minds of people who created the 2nd ammendment. I think our friend's "right" to live through his shift trumps anybody else's right to buy those kinds of weapons.
(And yes, I know that criminals can still find ways to get them — but the less of them in the country, the better.)
July 24, 2012 at 8:40 pm
So….we shouldn't increase gun control because criminals will get them illegally anyway…..but if abortion laws will lead to more women getting illegal abortions, we still insist that by making access to abortion more difficult, at least some women will be dissuaded, and even if not, it's still worth it? This is contradiction is seriously problematic.
July 24, 2012 at 9:57 pm
Cue the hyenas. Who but a Jesuit….
July 25, 2012 at 2:09 am
He seems to have quite the following too. What a very unfortunate waste of influence…
July 25, 2012 at 6:42 pm
Good logic, Nikkolai — I haven't seen this point made before, and it's a good one.