Thread by @BMLESQ

A THREAD ON GUN VIOLENCE, in which I'm sharing several articles that address the issue from varied perspectives--politically, religiously, sociologically.
(Taken together, I think they paint a fair picture of the issue and suggest some ways to address the problem.)

@andrewtwalk recently wrote "Mass Shootings and the Church’s Opportunity in Confronting the American Male Mindset" which attacked the issues facing our young men head-on, from the perspective of what the church can and should do.
andrewtwalker.com/2019/08/mass-s…

Though he wrote it around Father's Day, I re-read this article by @dandarling titled "5 Ways Churches Can Stand in the Gap for the Fatherless" that I believe complements Andrew's article (above) and shows how "everyday church life" is impactful
factsandtrends.net/2019/06/14/5-w…

In probably the best article I read, Taylor Schuman, a college shooting survivor, wrote for @CTmagazine on how to pray for survivors.
It is extremely practical, thorough, and convicting!
christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/august…

@CTmagazine also published God Hates Gun Violence in 2018, which they've made free to read this week.
In it, Mark Galli speaks about how Christians must see violence (including, but not limited to, gun violence) as God does and seek to reduce it.
christianitytoday.com/ct/2018/june/g…

@roddreher, writing for @amconmag, asks Why Do We Have Mass Killers?
There is an extremely powerful thread embedded by @RadioFreeTom explaining what has & has not changed--specifically, number of guns owned has not but mass shootings have. Why is this?
theamericanconservative.com/dreher/why-do-…

In a direct attack on the recent violence we've seen by White Supremacists, @DavidAFrench writes that "It’s Time to Declare War on White-Nationalist Terrorism." (I could not agree more!)
It is a serious threat, and more needs to be done to stop it.

The @latimes also published an op-ed titled "We have studied every mass shooting since 1966. Here’s what we’ve learned about the shooters." It points to 1) childhood trauma, 2) an "identifiable crisis," 3) studying other shootings, 4) access to weapons
latimes.com/opinion/story/…

In a well-researched piece, @NickKristof writing for the @nytimes, shares ideas on "How to Reduce Shootings."
*Importantly, he focuses on shootings generally (rather than mass shootings) which account for WAY more deaths and are likely easier to address.
nytimes.com/interactive/20…

@NickKristof also wrote a piece outlining "10 Modest Steps to Cut Gun Violence." I agree with several but not all of them. And he has interesting ideas on some things we could at least *experiment* with to begin impacting this nightmare-of-a-problem.
nytimes.com/2018/05/23/opi…

Lastly, I'll end on a high note! Here's a story from @thisisinsider by Kelly McLaughlin about a "hero grandmother" who persuaded her grandson to check into a hospital when he was planning a mass shooting.
We need friends/family to be active in young lives!
news.yahoo.com/hero-grandmoth…

@threadreaderapp unroll please