Rob Schenck’s Consistently Prolife Ethic (Guns, Abortion, and All) in THE ARMOR OF LIGHT

What works so exceptionally well about this film is that it is thoroughly articulated through the theology of evangelical Christianity. (Although, as Schenck himelf points out, he is probably closer to black evangelicals than white on this issue.) Rob Schenck is not a liberal; he still isn’t. He simply, as an evangelical, is full of moral conviction about this issue and is willing to speak out about it at great personal cost.

What also works exceptionally well is that the film is more of a story and a thought piece. It doesn’t offer prescriptive steps one through five of how to solve gun violence in America. Some might be disappointed that it doesn’t. But I think that if Schenck gave us those prescriptive solutions, he would be doing the hard work for us. Instead, I think he wants us to get into the Scriptures, to get on our knees, and to honestly challenge ourselves and ask ourselves hard questions. He wants us to wrestle with the issue of guns in our lives and ask God what He is calling us to do.

Of course the answer many will give is that they have guns in order to protect innocent lives. And I think that’s a fully valid argument. Certainly, there are times when deadly force is regrettably necessary. But is it as often as we think? In addition, we have to consider that the presence of deadly force as our go-to for dealing with fearful situations might in fact lead to the loss of innocent life.

Deadly force is not something we should ever rejoice the opportunity to use; rather, it is something that we must safeguard against misuse as much as humanly possible. That means just laws that guard against abuses and help keep guns out of the hands of those who are most likely to harm others (those who are dangerously mentally ill or who have a violent background are the most important groups).

If we’re honest, I think we would have to admit that we have not done enough as a prolife community to safeguard this mortal force against misuse. Because of our commitment to autonomy over and above life of neighbor, we as Christians have often failed to support even the most basic of common-sense gun law improvements, improvements that would not in any way overturn the Second Amendment, such as closing the gun show background check loophole. (My personal favorite organization that advocates for responsible gun ownership measures is Gabrielle Giffords’ and Mark Kelly’s organization: Americans for Responsible Solutions. They have a list of proposed reforms here.) While changes in gun laws will never stop all gun violence, they certainly can help to curb it. A prolife people ought never to throw up their hands and say there is nothing they can do. (We would never say that about abortion, after all.)

I think this film also provokes Christians to prayerfully and openly ask the question as to whether they personally should own guns. This is not an issue of what is lawful or not, but a heart-searching experience of questioning oneself and asking, “Why do I own a gun? What is my motivation? Do I need a gun?” It could also include questions such as, “Should I as a Christian have a concealed-carry permit? How many guns do I really need?” It could include practical questions like, “Am I doing enough to make sure children don’t get their hands on the guns that I own?” (I don’t know the answer to those questions for you. But I do know you need to pray about them if you haven’t already. … And maybe even pray some more if you already have.)

Your experience of self-reflection could involve prayerful questions in which you honestly assess where you are getting your guidance about your relationship with guns, and whether your understanding is informed more by the Bible or by NRA slogans.

We could mentally picture a situation in which we killed someone who was attempting to perpetrate violence. Do we feel glee and victory or do we feel grief and sorrow at the loss of life?

One could picture oneself in a conversation with Jesus. When we raise our arguments regarding our relation to guns, how do we picture the Jesus we know in the Bible reacting?

Many of our answers to these questions will be open to Christian freedom. I think that there are definitely Christians who should not own guns, and I think there are Christians for whom owning guns is not a problem. The point is not that we all come to the same conclusions about guns but that we are honestly willing to ask the question without preconception. That we are willing to lay our guns (as the old evangelical saying goes) “on the altar” if God would ask us to do that. If we were not willing to even consider whether we should own guns, it might speak to a certain spiritual problem in our lives. It might tell us in what our trust truly lies.

The Armor of Light doesn’t give us all the answers. But it sure raises the questions in a morally compelling, respectful-of-Christianity manner. Every Christian who owns a gun or knows someone who does should be willing to set preconceived ideas aside and just sit down and give it a listen. Unfortunately, right now sites for seeing the film are still somewhat hard to find. The website lists places you can see the film; hopefully, showings will expand as time goes on. Please share the film’s website or this post with your Christian friends. And if you get a chance to see the film, please take the opportunity.

Before I close, I want to make one important note: I live in an area of the country that is rural and very focused on hunting sports. I think of many of my friends reading this article and I worry they will feel vilified or feel that I don’t understand what hunting means to them and their families. Honestly, I’m not a vegetarian so I have no problem with hunting; most of my friends use hunting to feed their families and that’s their primary source of meat. Their ability to live off the land and provide for their families is commendable. Furthermore, for them, the experience of hunting is an experience of family connectedness and of enjoying the beauties of creation. I probably have a moral urban than rural sensibility so it’s harder for me to relate to hunting, but I respect it. Most of the people I know in my area of the country are very responsible in their use of firearms too, teaching their children gun safety and being sure to lock up weapons.

But I think everybody who is a Christian, including my friends, needs to think about how guns relate to their lives as followers of Christ. Not in relation to hunting, but in relation to fear, danger, protection, and the taking of a life.

I don’t mean any disrespect to those who own guns. I think as Christians we can love one another and respect one another and still challenge one another in different areas of our lives. Again, I don’t have all the answers, but what I’m arguing for most is willingness to prayerfully and openly bring our beliefs and thoughts before God and see if they are in line with Scripture.

For more on The Armor of Light, check out the Patheos Movie Club. I especially commend to you Pastor Schenck’s article “What I Believe about Christians and Guns and Why I Believe It.”

An added reminder that I will be monitoring the comments section. (As life has sped up for me, I don’t always have time to respond, although I try to do so when I can.) I can definitely respect differences of opinion on this issue, but I’d ask you to please express yourself charitably, knowing that most people feel passionately about one side or the other of this issue. Obviously, any threats of violence or personal attacks are, as always, forbidden here. Thanks!

——————-

Community discussion guidelines: