Essay: US school shootings are already at a record in 2022 – with months still to go
US criminologists JAMES DENSLEY, DAVID RIEDMAN and JILLIAN PETERSON look – in an article first published on The Conversation – at the increase in US school shootings in recent years…
Updated: In the US, gunman kills three seniors over potluck dinner at Alabama church
Updated: 10:40am, 18th June (AEST)Vestavia Hills, Alabama, US AP The 70-year-old visitor had previously attended some services at St Stephen’s Episcopal Church before police say he showed up for a potluck dinner, pulled a handgun and fatally shot three of the elderly participants, one of whom died in his wife’s arms as she whispered words […]
Essay: Five ways to reduce school shootings
In the wake of the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, US psychology professor PAUL BOXER outlines, in an article first published on The Conversation, what research shows about preventing such violence…
Challenging times: In the US, clergy of colour face unprecedented mental health challenges
DEEPA BHARATH, of The Associated Press, and ADELLE M BANKS, of Religion News Service, report on how exhausted faith leaders are being left with serious questions about how to care for their own physical and mental well-being while helping congregants in a meaningful way…
My Mission: Meet the first minister of gun violence prevention
EMILY MCFARLAN MILLER, of Religion News Service, meets Rev Deanna Hollas, the first ordained minister of gun violence prevention in the largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States…
In the US, Uvalde tells Biden to “do something”; he pledges “we will”
Uvalde, Texas, USAP US President Joe Biden grieved with the shattered community of Uvalde on Sunday, mourning privately for three hours with anguished families left behind when a gunman killed 19 schoolchildren and two teachers. Faced with chants of “do something” as he departed a church service, Biden pledged: “We will.” At Robb Elementary School, Biden […]
The Interview: Shooting survivor Taylor Schumann shares why Christians need to offer more than thoughts and prayers
EMILY MCFARLAN MILLER speaks with Taylor Schumann, author of ‘When Thoughts and Prayers Aren’t Enough’ in the wake of this week’s mass shooting in which 19 children and two adults were killed at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas…
Essay: We’ll pray for Uvalde. But as gun deaths mount, there’s too much to pray for
In an article first published on Religion News Service, CHERYL TOWNSEND GILKES, assistant pastor and professor of African American Studies and Sociology, says we must pray for understanding of God’s grace, but also for an end to a culture of destructiveness…
Essay: After mass shootings like Uvalde, national gun control fails – but states often loosen gun laws
In an article published on The Conversation, CHRISTOPHER POLIQUIN, a professor at UCLA who has researched gun policy, looks at what’s happened legislatively in the past after mass shootings – and why we should look beyond Washington for action on gun policy…
COVID-19, shootings: Is mass death now tolerated in America?
MICHELLE R SMITH, of Associated Press, reports from the US that the sheer numbers of deaths – caused by everything from from COVID-19 to mass shootings – has some grappling with the question of whether mass death become accepted in the US…