"Happiness is a (cold) gun": American Gun Owners and Their Theological Grounding

The USA is infamous for its incidence of gun violence and its complicated (and not-uncontested) history and identity as a "gun culture."  Many are further baffled by its levels of gun ownership given its relatively high degree of Christian affiliation, which must necessarily engage Christian values such as peace-making and non-violence, particularly as seen in the life of Jesus as presented in the Gospels.  How can these things coexist? How do Christian gun owners understand their practice theologically?  Drawing on interviews and focus groups conducted across the country, I will describe a range of ways in which American Christian gun owners attempt to explain why and how they "carry" in terms of their Christian commitments, particularly comparing the perspectives of white and Black participants in my study. 

Speaker

Maxwell Grant is Senior Minister of the Second Congregational Church (United Church of Christ), in Greenwich, Connecticut USA.  His interest in the intersections between firearms and Christian theology began after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in 2012.  As a practical theologian, he studies religious responses to trauma, theology and narrative (especially pop culture), and conceptions of sin and idolatry.  In addition to a Master of Letters (MLitt) and Ph.D. from the University of St Andrews, he holds a Master of Arts in American Civilization from University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Divinity from Yale Divinity School. 

Respondent: 

Dr. Levi Checketts, Assistant Professor, Department of Religion and Philosophy, Hong Kong Baptist University