03/30/2023
Editor’s Introduction: Guns, Violence, Security in the U.S.: What Might the ELCA Say Now?
[1] The April issue of JLE publishes the papers and proceedings from The Lutheran Ethicists’ Network Gathering that was held in January. The conference topic in 2023 was “Guns, Violence, Security in the U.S.: What Might the ELCA Say Now?” [2] This issue is released the same week as the mass shooting at The Covenant […]
April/May 2023: For Congregational Discussion
[1] As the ELCA urges congregations to host open discussions on issues such as gun violence prevention, the following discussion guide gives readers a list of questions to discuss as a group after looking together at the “Notes from the Discussion” in this issue. [2] Considering the nine ideas generated at the Lutheran Ethicists’ Gathering, […]
From Controlling Guns to Making Peace: An Assessment of ELCA Social Policy and Public Witness
American gun violence today [1] On an average day, gunshots injure more than 300 Americans. 200 survive while more than 100 perish. In 2021, 47,000 Americans died from guns, an increase of 44% over the last decade. This loss exceeds record highs in the 1990s, although death rates today remain slightly lower. Males account for […]
Understanding and Misunderstanding American Gun Culture and Violence
INTRODUCTION [1] The United States of America is exceptional in many ways. This includes the fact that there are more guns (c. 400 million) than people in the country (332 million) and that we have more gun violence than other high-income nations. Many draw a clear line between more guns and more gun violence. I […]
Notes from the Dialogue: What Can the ELCA Say or Do about Gun Violence Now?
As indicated in the editor’s introduction, this submission to the April 2023 issue provides readers with a snapshot of themes and content reported from the break-out group discussion session at the January 2023 Lutheran Ethicists’ Gathering. This informal summary was compiled by Rev. Rebecca Ninke and Dr. Jennifer Hockenbery; it does not represent official minutes […]
April/May 2023: Book Editor’s Introduction
As we enter Holy Week, we explore a creative form of book reviewing used by ELCA Pastor Matthew Best who has transformed his book review into blog posts reflecting on each day in Holy Week. The book inspiring his reflections is Jason Porterfield’s Fight Like Jesus: How Jesus Wages Peace Throughout Holy Week. He posted […]
Book Review: Fight Like Jesus: How Jesus Waged Peace Throughout Holy Week by Jason Porterfield
I read this book during Lent, which was the perfect time to read such a book. And let me just say – WOW! Great book. I highly recommend it. For our purposes here, I’m going to break down the review of the book in a manner similar to the structure of the book itself, which […]