Book Review: Practical Sacramental Theology: At the Intersection of Liturgy and Ethics

Abstract

passing recognition that the gun culture identity that is being critiqued (I think rightly) applies to ‘some gun owners at least’ or a ‘subgroup of fellow gun owners’ (p. 126) and that most perhaps truly intend for the gun to be used only for protection. His major concern that even such gun owners have had their imaginations habituated in ways at odds with the gospel is valid, too. However, his writing at times strikes me as unfair, as when he attributes other motives to Christian gun owners: that they subscribe to a narrative ‘that enshrines a violent hero who overthrows the evildoers with a superior display of marksmanship’ (p. 120), that they seek ‘retaliation’ (p. 121) and ‘retributive payback’ (p. 122), and that they harbor ‘fantasized anger toward an other’ (p. 128). The Afterword by Crouch and Hays succinctly urges Christians to answer Jeremiah’s call to ‘seek the peace (shalom) of the city’ (Jer. 29:7), and that this entails not only regulating and reducing guns, but more positively, to pursue the provision of better education, housing, mental health care, and other needs towards the promotion of the common good. I agree. Unfortunately, their book missed an opportunity to forge a greater alliance with most Christians who are not pacifists but who nevertheless agree that guns pose a clear and present danger to gun owners and their loved ones, fellow citizens, and the common good. Many Christians, myself included, who think that armed force may sometimes be morally justified—even obligated on the part of public authorities—also support stricter regulations of firearms if not, ultimately, their absolute abolition.