Skip to main content

Jesuit Says Gun Control Is a Pro Life Issue


Jesuit Father James Martin On Friday, July 20, after the shooting rampage in an Aurora, Colorado movie theater that left 12 dead, Jesuit Father James Martin, culture editor at America magazine, posted the following on Facebook:

“Gun control is a pro-life issue. Pray for the families of the victims in Colorado, and for an end to the taking of life by violence.”
That post sparked a debate on Fr. Martin’s Facebook page that USA Today’s Faith & Reason blog reported on later that day, in a post titled “Would Jesus pack heat? Is gun control a God issue?”
On July 22, Fr. Martin expanded on his views in a post on America magazine’s blog. Fr. Martin stated that he is a religious person, not a political person, and that he believes 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.”
Fr. Martin wrote that he prays for the victims, but suggested that “our revulsion over these crimes, and our sympathy for victims, may be more than an invitation to prayer. Such deep emotions may be one way that God encourages us to act.”
Fr. Martin said religious people should meditate on “the connection between the more traditional ‘life issues’ and the overdue need for stricter gun control.” - See more at: http://www.jesuit.org/blog/index.php/2012/07/jesuit-says-gun-control-is-a-religious-issue/#sthash.fP4QDMGk.dpuf

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Pope Francis: Gun-makers are hypocrites if they call themselves Christians

MAX ROSSI/REUTERS Pope Francis criticized weapons manufacturers who call themselves Christians on Sunday. “They say one thing and do another,” he said. TURIN, Italy — People who manufacture weapons or invest in weapons industries are hypocrites if they call themselves Christian, Pope Francis said on Sunday. Francis issued his toughest condemnation to date of the weapons industry at a rally of thousands of young people at the end of the first day of his trip to the Italian city of Turin. "If you trust only men you have lost," he told the young people in a long, rambling talk about war, trust and politics after putting aside his prepared address. "It makes me think of ... people, managers, businessmen who call themselves Christian and they manufacture weapons. That leads to a bit a distrust, doesn't it?" he said to applause. He also criticized those who invest in weapons industries, saying "duplicity is the cur

A day after March for Our Lives, Pope urges youth to speak out

Pope Francis blesses attendees and palm leaves during at St Peter's square on March 25, 2018 (CNN) A day after hundreds of thousands of people protested gun violence at March for Our Lives events in the US and around the globe, Pope Francis called on the world's youth to continue speaking out and standing up. "Dear young people, you have it in you to shout," the Pope said in his Palm Sunday address at St. Peter's Square in Rome. Pope Francis at the the end of Palm Sunday Mass in Vatican City Palm Sunday -- celebrated on the Sunday before Easter -- is commemorated by Christians as the day Jesus entered Jerusalem in the week of his crucifixion, when palm leaves were strewn in his path. Noting that this Palm Sunday coincides with World Youth Day, the pontiff used the opportunity to compare youth to Jesus's followers, who were scorned by his detractors. "It is up to you not to keep quiet," Pope Francis said. "

Pope Francis prays for Texas shooting victims and calls for stricter gun control

article link VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Saying his heart was broken at the news of at least 19 children and two adults being shot and killed at a Texas elementary school, Pope Francis said it was time to say “Enough!” and enact stricter laws on gun sales. At the end of his weekly general audience May 25, with thousands of people gathered in St. Peter’s Square, the pope prayed publicly for the victims of the shooting the day before at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. “With a heart shattered over the massacre at the elementary school in Texas, I pray for the children and adults who were killed and for their families,” the pope told the crowd. “With a heart shattered over the massacre at the elementary school in Texas, I pray for the children and adults who were killed and for their families,” the pope said. Tweet this “It is time to say, ‘Enough!’ to the indiscriminate trafficking of guns,” the pope said. “Let’s all work to ensure that such tragedies never happen again