An Open Letter to the Clergy and Members
of
the General Conference of the United Methodist Church
by William B. Rogers, MD
[email protected]
I write to you with greetings in Christ, but with deep concern for the
anti-gun (anti-self defense, anti-Constitution) bias announced at this year�s
conference. I am especially dismayed that such a public statement was made in
the name of United Methodism without a consultation with the members of the
local churches. Certainly no vote was taken among the members of my home
church to authorize the annual conference to support such a position, let alone
to author it!
The topic of "gun control" is of great interest to me and my fellow
physicians. Public debate on the subject has been very one sided according to
the anti-gun rhetoric streaming out of several medical organizations lately. As
a man of science, I have begun to wonder what some of my fellow physicians have
done with their own scientific training. I have wondered why the large,
lobby-oriented, medical organizations have, like the UMC, made unilateral
decisions among the "leadership" (should that not be "servantship?")
to call for registration of firearms (and firearms owners) and the insistence
upon such "safety" devices as trigger locks, lock boxes, etc. that are
not at all proven to be of value, and that may have "unintended
consequences" the like of which have not been dispassionately considered
and which may be very destructive to life, limb, property, and sovereignty of
nation.
Why we have not had energized public debate presenting both sides of the
argument for the right to keep and bear arms? Why do we not insist on
data-driven policy decisions? I have concluded that the reason for a lack of
public scrutiny and honest debate is the same for our professional medical
organizations as it is for the Church, our law enforcement agencies, and the
body politic: We are caught up in an era of political expediency driven by an
amazing lack of courage!
In my view, "political expediency" is very much beneath the Body of
Christ. It has preceded some of the darkest moments in the history of the
Church. As for a "lack of courage," Rev. Smith, neither you nor I were
born again unto a spirit of Fear. Our decisions must never be dictated by such a
spirit that aggravates us but that has no authority over us.
Let me offer some material (conveniently available on the world wide web)
for your perusal:
A very concise review of several studies germane to the community and
individual safety of firearms is found in the March 1994 Journal of the
Medical Association of Georgia, Volume 83, beginning on page 133. "Guns
in the Medical Literature - a Failure of Peer Review" by Dr. Edgar Suter
explores the many distortions and outright fabrications that are accepted as
fact - not only by the public, but by many physicians and their lobbying
organizations. He illustrates how even research by
non-gun-owners and liberal sociologists like Gary Kleck shows the clear
danger to our communities posed by much of the feel-good gun control concepts
endorsed by medical lobbying groups such as the American Academy of Pediatrics,
the American Medical Association, and others. Suter's thoroughly referenced
article can be found on the internet at:
