Skip to main content
Sojourners
faith in action for social justice
Sojourners
About
About SojournersEventsOur TeamWork With UsMediaWays to GiveInvite a SpeakerContact Us
SojoAction
OverviewTake ActionIssue AreasResourcesFaith-Rooted AdvocatesChurch Engagement
Magazine
Current IssueArchivesManage My SubscriptionWrite for Sojourners
Sections
LatestPoliticsColumnsLiving FaithArts & CultureGlobalPodcastsVideoPreaching The Word
Subscribe
MagazineRenewPreaching the WordCustomer ServiceNewsletters
Donate
Login / Register
End the Violence

Pastors, Parents, and People of Faith: Game Changers on Gun Violence

By Jim Wallis
YURI GRIPAS/AFP/Getty Images
Thousands of people participate in the March on Washington for Gun Control on January 26. YURI GRIPAS/AFP/Getty Images
Jan 31, 2013
Share Full Article
Share As A Gift
Share a paywall-free link to this article.
This feature is only available for subscribers.

Start your subscription for as low as $4.95. Already a subscriber?

  • Link copied!
Share This Article
Share Options
  • Link copied!

Pastors, parents, and people of faith — they can make the most difference in this country. We have seen it just this week on immigration reform. On Monday, in a breathtaking display of bipartisanship not seen for years in our dysfunctional capitol city, Democratic and Republican senators unveiled their plan for fixing the horribly broken immigration system — which their partisan irresponsibility caused. It was quite amazing, really. The very next day, President Barack Obama announced his commitment to and principles for comprehensive immigration reform amid a cheering crowd of young people in a Las Vegas high school gymnasium.

Political courage has suddenly replaced partisan roadblocks and official reticence to take on the controversial issue of immigration. What changed all this was, in my view: the courage of the young undocumented “DREAMers” who risked stepping out and speaking up; a change of heart among many law enforcement officials who find the present system untenable; business leaders who realize the economy now depends on immigrant labor; and, most dramatically, the faith community’s conversion to what Jesus said about welcoming the stranger as we would welcome him, and treating immigrants among us — who are the largest growing group in our faith communities — as our brothers and sisters in Christ. It’s been basic: Gospel and relationships — but it has changed immigration politics. And as others, including those in the White House and the Congress, will tell you: evangelicals’ entry into this debate has been the primary political game changer.

We have a real battle before us now, and the ugly xenophobia and anti-Hispanic rhetoric that has resisted reform before will no doubt re-surface again. But that angry — and I will say racist — talk is what sunk the Republican Party in this last election. And the election has changed everything—even many Republicans’ sentiments. In this moral battle over the last several years, I have witnessed the roles of pastors, parents, and people of faith. Their roles have made all the difference.

Could that now happen again on guns? It will certainly be a long, up-hill battle (as immigration once was), but I think a change is possible here too.

Read the Full Article

To continue reading this article — and get full access to all our magazine content — subscribe now for as little as $4.95. Your subscription helps sustain our nonprofit journalism and allows us to pay authors for their terrific work! Thank you for your support.
Subscribe Now!
Already a subscriber? Login
Thousands of people participate in the March on Washington for Gun Control on January 26. YURI GRIPAS/AFP/Getty Images
Search Sojourners

Subscribe

Login Magazine Newsletters Preaching The Word
Follow on Facebook Follow on Bluesky Follow on Instagram Subscribe to our RSS Feed
Sojourners
Donate Products Editorial Policies Privacy Policy

Media

Advertising Press

Opportunities

Careers Fellowship Program

Contact

Office
408 C St. NE
Washington DC, 20002
Phone 202-328-8842
Fax 202-328-8757
Email sojourners@sojo.net
Unless otherwise noted, all material © Sojourners 2025