Assault rifles and a nonviolent Christian vision

This is NOT a letter advocating gun control. That argument would be pointless in our present stage of cultural and societal evolution. This is a letter, however, questioning the morality and appropriateness of a Christian institution and an arms manufacturer joined in an unholy union of mutual support.  

This merging is particularly troubling because the alliance revolves around the Stillwater Christian School selling raffle tickets for a “Battle Light” assault rifle (not a sporting or target rifle) manufactured by a company that “proudly supports Stillwater Christian School.”

The painting of The Peaceable Kingdom by Edward Hicks, a Quaker who lived from 1780 to 1849, captures the beautiful vision of Isaiah 11: the wolf dwelling with the lamb...with a little child leading them. It portrays the hope and peaceful values that people of good will from every religion, place, and time long for.

However, there is an enormous gap between this lovely vision and the reality of a world that turns a blind eye to the blurring of the borders between promoting assault rifles and a nonviolent Christian vision. Perhaps, it is this broken reality that has given the green light to the world’s apparent religion of violence?

— Bob Muth, Kalispell; Hannah Plumb, Whitefish; Sandra McDonald, Whitefish; Joan Vetter Ehrenberg, Whitefish; Ed McGrew, Whitefish; Rabbi Allen Secher, Whitefish; Ina Albert, Whitefish; Sam Neff, Whitefish; Ruth Neff, Whitefish; Tom Gilfillan, Whitefish