"My Gun and I," by Rabbi Dr. Donniel Hartman

Rabbi Dr. Donniel Hartman is the author of a fascinating new Times of Israel article, "My Gun and I." In this profoundly vulnerable piece, Rabbi Hartman reflects on his love/hate relationship with his firearm, and at a time when Israeli-Palestinian tensions are exceptionally high. 

A few words about Rabbi Hartman. He is president of the Shalom Hartman Institute, a renown educator and thinker, and a combat veteran of Israel's armed forces. His educational experience is broad and deep: He did his Ph.D. work in Jewish Philosophy at Hebrew University (Jerusalem), studied political philosophy and religion at New York University and Temple University respectively, and received his Rabbinic Ordination from the Shalom Hartman Institute. 

According to its own website, the Shalom Hartman Insitute is "a pluralistic center of research and education deepening and elevating the quality of Jewish life in Israel and around the world. Through our work, we are redefining the conversation about Judaism in modernity, religious pluralism, Israeli democracy, Israel and world Jewry, and the relationship with other faith communities." Full disclosure: I was a fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute for two years, have profound respect for the work of the scholars, leaders, and students there, and have had many interactions with Rabbi Hartman, who is, regardless of how one responds to this article or anything else he might say/write, a passionate, insightful, and provocative thinker. Even when one disagrees with him, he is always worth listening to. 

What I appreciate about Rabbi Hartman's article is his utter honesty about his love-hate relationship with his gun. However you evaluate the argument, I hope that you, the reader, will leave with a sense of appreciation for Rabbi Hartman's willingness to give us a glimpse into how the intersection of faith, firearms, and ethics are manifest in the life of a particular Jewish intellectual, whose country is currently experiencing a serious and troubling uptick in violence. 

Faith, Family, and Firearms: Duck Dynasty

A&E's Duck Dynasty is one of the most popular series on television today. Now in its 8th season, the show provides one of the clearest, most prominent examples of how one family (the Robertsons) holds together the realities of faith and firearms. While I've never tried it, I'm willing to bet that one could not find a single episode in which guns and religion are not given some air time. In fact, concerninng the latter, faith is always showcased at the end of each show, when one of the family members leads a prayer around a typically full and festal dinner table. 

As I talk with gun owners from around the country, I would have to say that the Robertsons are both typical and atypical of American gun owners. The Robertsons poverty-to-privilege narrative is clearly exceptional, and their fame remarkable. However, the family's deep appreciation for hunting, the outdoors, family, and "redneck" living is certainly not--and neither is their faith. According to the Public Religion Research Institute, "Americans who are most likely to own guns or share a household with a person who owns a gun include members of the Tea Party (63%), white evangelical Protestants (58%), and Republicans (60%). Americans who are least likely to own guns or share a household with a person who owns a gun include Democrats (34%), Catholics (32%), Northeasterners (27%), and non-white Americans (23%)" (http://publicreligion.org/research/2012/08/august-2012-prri-rns-survey/#.ViAJhZRHarU). The Robertsons certainly fit into several of these categories. 

I referred above to the Robertson family's "privilege," but they would almost certainly prefer the term, "blessing." In their view, the position they now find themselves in is not simply the result of winning the economic lottery: They have been given a calling, and they now have responsiblities to the One who provided that calling. 

In a recent edition of the popular magazine Guns & Ammo (November 2015), Willie and Jase Robertson were asked, "What are the top three things that you'd credit your family's success to?" (p. 75). Willie replied,"Faith for sure, our family's willingness to stick together and our incredible good looks . .. (laughs). Perhaps the third thing we've been blessed with is the gift of storytelling" (p. 76). Jase's answer: "God is number one. The best part of the show has been exposing people to Christianity through our prayer at the end of every episode. Phil has gone on to baptize hundreds of people into the faith. It makes us humble and proud" (p. 76). Jase goes on to tell a story about his uncle Si, also an outspoken Christian: "When Si took the director of the first 'Duck Dynasty' show on a tour of the river,Si told theman, 'Technically, you're not directing this. God is" (p. 76). These two Robertson men clearly believe that the platform they've been given is a divine gift, and one they intend to use. 

Phil Robertson in particular takes his newfound platform very seriously, unapologetically using it to comment  on matters of faith, politics, and values. One finds Phil Robertson commenting on everything from ISIS ()http://youtu.be/qhYbxCRcLCM) to homosexuality (http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2013/12/18/phil-robertson-suspended-after-comments-about-homosexuality/). The Bible plays a central role in how Phil interprets society and its woes. 

He is unmoved by controversy, or even by the disciplinary attempts of A&E. Phil Robertson is like Donald Trump: he speaks his mind with little to no regard for the well-patrolled borders of political correctness. 

Jase also seems to share Phil's concern that the Bible be given a central place in American politics. In response to the question, "What do the Robertson's look for in a presidential candidate?" Willie: "Obviously the 2nd Ammendment is big to us, and their spiritual platform. When you read the forefathers, our country was founded on those two principles" (p. 74). Jase, similarly, linked faith and politics: "I think it was George Washington who said, 'It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible" (p. 74). As far as I can tell, the Robertson men share a common conviction about the Bible, namely that it provides a clear standard by which to judge society and the government charged with its care. The Bible provides a guide, not only for the lives of individuals but also for American society. This conviction is further grounded in a particular interpretation of America's founding fathers, whom they see as ideological allies. 

Whenever I interview people, I usually ask what guns symbolize to them. While my own minimalist public profile all but guarantees that I will never get to ask the Robertson's that question directly, the aforementioned interview in the November 2015 version of Guns & Ammo may give us a glimpse into how Jase and Willie might answer this question. Both were asked, "What does the 2nd Ammendment mean to you?" Willie, the businessman of the family, responded with a typical nod to family and industry: "We are a family that hunts and works in the gun business. It's our life and our livelihood. We've always been about the 2nd Ammendment" (p. 64). Jase's response actually provided the interview's first reference to guns as tools of self-defense against human violence, a topic rarely broached in the television series: "The Second Amendment means freedom to me, freedom to provide for your family and protect yourselves from evil" (p. 64). The freedom to bear arms is tied to one's responsibilities to family and self.

For Willie and Jase, guns are also clearly related to family history, legacy, and patriotism. When asked about their first guns, they not only provided answers (a .410 shotgun), they told stories. Willie:"Our first guns were a couple of family guns. We didn't have a lot of money, so we only had a 16 gauge and Dad had bought me a .410" (p. 62). After a jovial argument about for who actually owned the gun, a number of stories spilled out about how Willie damaged the gun as a child, and how (after sawing off the damaged part), it became a snake-slayer (pp. 63-64). 

The Robertson family is in many ways typical of gun owners in America. In other ways, however, they are exceptional. At day's end, one thing is clear: They represent one of the most public examples of a family that is entirely comfortable at the intersection of faith and firearms.  

Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey (R): Serious Christians Need to Get Serious about Gun Ownership

Religion stands at the very center of the recent school shooting at Umpqua Community College. According to many accounts, the shooter asked his victims about their religious views before shooting them (see the following ABC News article). As the investigation continues, more details about the shooter will no doubt emerge. 

Religion has also played a role in the response to this shooting, at least for Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, a Republican from Tennessee, according to a Washington Post article by Elahe Izadi, Lt. Gov. Ramsey ("Christians ‘serious about their faith’ should consider getting guns, Lt. Gov. says"). On his Facebook page, Ramsey posted a NY Post article about the shooter's targeting of Christians and then makes the following statement: 

"As I scroll through the news this morning I am saddened to read the details of the horrible tragedy in Oregon. My heart goes out to the citizens of Roseburg -- especially the families and loved ones of those murdered.

The recent spike in mass shootings across the nation is truly troubling. Whether the perpetrators are motivated by aggressive secularism, jihadist extremism or racial supremacy, their targets remain the same: Christians and defenders of the West.

While this is not the time for widespread panic, it is a time to prepare. I would encourage my fellow Christians who are serious about their faith to think about getting a handgun carry permit. I have always believed that it is better to have a gun and not need it than to need a gun and not have it.

Our enemies are armed. We must do likewise."

Ramsey then posts a link to Tennessee's Handgun Carry Permit page, providing people with instructions on how to obtain the permit. 

The story of the Umpqua Community College shooter is one in which religion and guns tragically intersect. The discourse that emerges at this intersection, however, will only become denser as Americans register their responses to this tragedy. If the responses thus far are at all telling, "religion" will not, and indeed never does, provide a single response to human suffering and violence.