Beating Guns Quotes

“We don't need gun control; we need bullet control. If the bullets cost $5,000 you are going to think twice before you shoot someone. And there will be a lot less stray bullets and innocent bystanders.
--quote by Chris Rock”
― Shane Claiborne & Michael Martin, Beating Guns: Hope for People Who Are Weary of Violence

“Much of our theology is fundamentally rooted in fear. It's about escaping suffering, either in this life or in the next. Fear of hell. Fear of dying. Fear of scarcity. Fear of not making a difference in the world.”
― Shane Claiborne & Michael Martin, Beating Guns: Hope for People Who Are Weary of Violence

“One of the most dangerous things in the world is powerful people who are afraid.”
― Shane Claiborne & Michael Martin, Beating Guns: Hope for People Who Are Weary of Violence

“We can see all around our country what happens when a society is driven by fear rather than love. Fear leads to violence. When we create policies out of fear rather than love, we do really terrible things to people. We build walls and ghettos and prisons and defense shields. We rip apart families of immigrants and refugees, and threaten to send young people back to countries they have never lived in, all because of fear.”
― Shane Claiborne & Michael Martin, Beating Guns: Hope for People Who Are Weary of Violence

“Love does not have room for fear. And fear does not make space for love. Just as love casteth out fear, fear also casteth out love.”
― Shane Claiborne & Michael Martin, Beating Guns: Hope for People Who Are Weary of Violence

“It may well be that the difference between murderers and saints is that murderers think the evil of the world is outside of themselves, while saints think the evil of the world is inside of themselves.”
― Shane Claiborne & Michael Martin, Beating Guns: Hope for People Who Are Weary of Violence

“Violence is often the instrument of those who are impatient, those who lack imagination, those who cannot wait on justice or freedom or redemption.”
― Shane Claiborne, Beating Guns: Hope for People Who Are Weary of Violence

“We need a new approach to reducing gun violence. Rather than demonizing gun owners, perhaps we should focus on cutting funds from the gun profiteers. Instead of concentrating on the issue of rights, maybe we should approach it as an issue of conscience.”
― Shane Claiborne, Beating Guns: Hope for People Who Are Weary of Violence

“Idols are things we put our trust in. They are not God, but we treat then like they are. They take on a transcendent, magical character. We hold them with a sacred reverence that should only be given to God. We are willing to die for them and kill for them and sacrifice our children for them.”
― Shane Claiborne, Beating Guns: Hope for People Who Are Weary of Violence

“Our fundamental starting point, with guns and everything else, is this: What policies help us live well together? What's best for the most? What's good for the common good? What policies are vital for humans to thrive? We are not just thinking individualistically but as "polis," as a people -- less about "I" and "me" and more about "we" and "us." There is something that unit us that is deeper and more profound than all the stuff that divides us. Something unites us across party lines and blows all the labels and categories out of the water: our shared humanity.”
― Shane Claiborne, Beating Guns: Hope for People Who Are Weary of Violence

“Not many people get argued into thinking differently, but experiences and stories move us, especially when we have the humility to listen and view the world from a different lens, from someone else's eyes.”
― Shane Claiborne, Beating Guns: Hope for People Who Are Weary of Violence

“For some folks, the second ammendment is as holy as the great commandment, so it warrants a closer look. But it is important to note from the outset that, for those of us who consider ourselves Christians, the final authority for life is not the Constitution. It's the Bible. It's Jesus.”
― Shane Claiborne, Beating Guns: Hope for People Who Are Weary of Violence