TanklessPro
Member
I was born Southern Baptist, but started attended a UMC when we moved to a rural place. I was listening to Tom Gresham on Guntalk this weekend and made a statement about the UMC being anti-gun. So I did a little search....
http://www.umc.org/what-we-believe/gun-violence
This is some of what they state
"""In light of the increase of gun violence affecting the lives of children and youth, we call upon The United Methodist Church to:
convene workshops of clergy and mental health care professionals from communities (urban, rural, and suburban) in which gun violence has had a significant impact in order to discuss ways by which The United Methodist Church should respond to this growing tragedy, and to determine what role the church should take in facilitating dialogue to address the issue of gun violence in our schools and among our children;
educate the United Methodist community (parents, children, and youth) on gun safety, violence prevention, adult responsibility around gun violence prevention, and the public health impact of gun violence;
identify community-based, state, and national organizations working on the issue of gun violence and seek their assistance to design education and prevention workshops around the issue of gun violence and its effect on children and youth;
develop advocacy groups within local congregations to advocate for the eventual reduction of the availability of guns in society with a particular emphasis upon handguns, handgun ammunition, assault weapons, automatic weapons, automatic weapon conversion kits, and guns that cannot be detected by traditionally used metal detection devices. These groups can be linked to community-based, state, and national organizations working on gun and violence issues;
support federal legislation in the US Congress to regulate the importation, manufacturing, sale, and possession of guns and ammunition by the general public. Such legislation should include provisions for the registration and licensing of gun purchasers and owners, appropriate background investigation and waiting periods prior to gun purchase, and regulation of subsequent sale;
call upon all governments of the world in which there is a United Methodist presence to establish national bans on ownership by the general public of handguns, assault weapons, automatic weapon conversion kits, and weapons that cannot be detected by traditionally used metal-detection devices;"""
.... And apparently they are very anti-gun and this disturbs me.
I have several church friends that are very pro-gun, like myself. Our Sunday School leader and I have been discussing a men outing to the range where I'm a member. I plan on having a discussion with the Associate Pastor, who I have know for close to 25 years.
I also found that UMC of Kentucky has been vocal opposing this view. If you are a member of the UMC, were you aware of this? If you were, what have you done to oppose this? If not, do you plan on doing something now?
BTW, I take my Christianity very serious. Please do not turn this into a discussion on Religion because it will be closed. Thanks in advance.
http://www.umc.org/what-we-believe/gun-violence
This is some of what they state
"""In light of the increase of gun violence affecting the lives of children and youth, we call upon The United Methodist Church to:
convene workshops of clergy and mental health care professionals from communities (urban, rural, and suburban) in which gun violence has had a significant impact in order to discuss ways by which The United Methodist Church should respond to this growing tragedy, and to determine what role the church should take in facilitating dialogue to address the issue of gun violence in our schools and among our children;
educate the United Methodist community (parents, children, and youth) on gun safety, violence prevention, adult responsibility around gun violence prevention, and the public health impact of gun violence;
identify community-based, state, and national organizations working on the issue of gun violence and seek their assistance to design education and prevention workshops around the issue of gun violence and its effect on children and youth;
develop advocacy groups within local congregations to advocate for the eventual reduction of the availability of guns in society with a particular emphasis upon handguns, handgun ammunition, assault weapons, automatic weapons, automatic weapon conversion kits, and guns that cannot be detected by traditionally used metal detection devices. These groups can be linked to community-based, state, and national organizations working on gun and violence issues;
support federal legislation in the US Congress to regulate the importation, manufacturing, sale, and possession of guns and ammunition by the general public. Such legislation should include provisions for the registration and licensing of gun purchasers and owners, appropriate background investigation and waiting periods prior to gun purchase, and regulation of subsequent sale;
call upon all governments of the world in which there is a United Methodist presence to establish national bans on ownership by the general public of handguns, assault weapons, automatic weapon conversion kits, and weapons that cannot be detected by traditionally used metal-detection devices;"""
.... And apparently they are very anti-gun and this disturbs me.
I have several church friends that are very pro-gun, like myself. Our Sunday School leader and I have been discussing a men outing to the range where I'm a member. I plan on having a discussion with the Associate Pastor, who I have know for close to 25 years.
I also found that UMC of Kentucky has been vocal opposing this view. If you are a member of the UMC, were you aware of this? If you were, what have you done to oppose this? If not, do you plan on doing something now?
BTW, I take my Christianity very serious. Please do not turn this into a discussion on Religion because it will be closed. Thanks in advance.