Gun worship

The latest mass shooting by a 15-year-old boy in Oxford, Michigan, is a sign of the unceasing victory of gun violence in our society. What shocks me almost as much is the utter silence of the religious community to anything beyond comforting the grieving families.

The very first commandment in the Hebraic and Christian faiths is that "You shall have no other gods before me." Clearly our culture, our courts and millions of Americans have made a god of the gun. As Martin Luther wrote 500 years ago, "whatever your heart clings to is a god to you."

When will we religious folk denounce this idolatry and counter our country's fascination with a shiny destructive power tool? When will we at least put controls on this deadly instrument, as we do the cars we drive? When will our faith in God challenge this absurd faith in the gun?

Scripture says we cannot serve God and Mammon (wealth); it is just as true that we cannot serve God and the Gun.

Rev. Martin Deppe

Chicago