About this time two years ago, I accepted the offer to become the next Executive Director of the NC Council of Churches. We agreed that I would spend two weeks with the outgoing ED in June learning the ropes, and then I would really get to work in August. My first day in the office was June 18, 2015. I had heard the news from Charleston that morning when I woke and I knew that event would forever define my first day at the office. The NC Council of Churches was founded in 1935 because some people didn’t like the racial inequality they saw around them. My first day in the office was a bitter reminder that laws and policies can’t change hearts. The people at Mother Emanuel were shot because of the color of their skin—not the religious convictions that had brought them together that night. Furthermore, they were shot by someone who never should have been allowed to own a gun.
On the first anniversary of this terrorist attack, the Council and its gun-violence prevention allies organized an awareness-raising weekend in our communities of faith across NC. As the second anniversary of the Mother Emanuel shooting draws near, we are raising the banner once again and calling on people of faith to take seriously the tension between the Second Commandment — prohibition against false idols — and the Second Amendment — right to bear arms.
No one pretends the line is easy to draw, but on the spectrum from accidental deaths, planned suicides, crimes of passion, and calculated murders, there are some important barriers to impose. Some people should not own guns, and some places should never allow guns. Several bills have been introduced during this session of the NC General Assembly that still bear watching as we move into the summer months and approach the anniversary of the Emanuel AME Church shooting. These bills would:
- Allow guns on campus, even in areas with children such as day cares, early learning colleges, and hospitals;
- Eliminate our life saving background check on private sales of handguns (the pistol purchase permitting system); and
- Eliminate our concealed weapons permitting system.
Let’s talk about it. On the weekend of June 16-18, say something in your place of worship about the senseless loss of life because of lenient gun regulations and irresponsible gun ownership. Our Gun Violence Prevention Page includes resources and links to our allies in this work. There can be a healthy balance between the Second Commandment and the Second Amendment. As people of faith, we must be willing to work toward it.
Charles French says
May 23, 2017 at 8:09 amThe Second Commandment:
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My Commandments.
vs
Second Amendment:
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
I don’t see the connection.
As for the legislation. Read it. You still have to have a permit to carry on Educational property. The pistol permitting system, which is on done once every five years, would be REPLACED with an instant check system. There is no provision to do away with the conceal carry permitting system.
Aleta Payne, Deputy Executive Director says
May 25, 2017 at 3:45 pmDear Mr. French,
Thank you for taking the time to read what we are thinking about gun violence at the Council. I appreciate your request for clarification about 2nd commandment. You say:
The Second Commandment:
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My Commandments.
vs
Second Amendment:
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
I don’t see the connection.
And so, to clarify: I am implying that for some, guns have become an idol they believe can protect them from a danger that they can’t quite articulate, but that seems to be something that would take away freedom and perhaps lives. I believe only God can adequately protect those things–freedom and life–and guns actually put them in danger in some situations.
As for the 2nd amendment, I’m all for it, but I don’t think it was meant to imply the right to carry any kind of gun in any kind of place in any kind of situation…
Best, j
Jennifer E. Copeland, Ph.D.
Executive Director
North Carolina Council of Churches
Rev Sharon Risher says
May 17, 2017 at 11:00 pmMy mother Mrs. Ethel Lance was killed in Emanuel AME Church in Chas, SC. Thank you for your courage and ministry. 2 years and it still hurts real bad.