N.R.A. and Values

Part II

Part II of this series on "N.R.A.: Testing the Spirits" will focus on values.  Values drive an organization, move it forward, provide the lens through which it activates its purpose. What are some core N.R.A. values?  I would suggest that the following values are on balance more expressive of the N.R.A. leadership rather than regular members.  Let's see some values.

INFLEXIBLE, ABUSIVE BULLIES:  Four respected national leaders resigned their membership saying: "[The NRA has become] very inflexible and almost radical; they appeal to a fringe element of gun owners." General Norman Schwarzkopf; "[I object to the] ludicrous and offensive implication that federal agents are encouraged to commit acts of violence against ordinary citizens." Congressman John Dingell; "They've become abusive, accusatory, sick, violent, threatening bullies.  They want absolute subservience, and they are not going to get it from me." Former Colorado Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell; "[I object to the BATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms) being referred to as a bunch of] jack-booted thugs." Former President George H.W. Bush (1)

ANTI-RESEARCH: In 1995 the N.R.A. mounted a successful campaign to cut funding for the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control whose responsibility is to do research on why accidents and tragedies happen, believing that understanding the reason will help lead to higher safety standards and fewer accidents and deaths.  The reasons for their opposition: "They want to foster a negative image against law-abiding gun owners.... All their research comes to the conclusion that owning a gun is bad and dangerous to your health." Their research is "obviously flawed". (2)

Also criticized were two highly respected medical journals: The New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association saying, "We have a problem with these organizations, too, for not holding the articles to their usual standards." (3)

RACIST AND DISRESPECTFUL: Jeff Gordon, N.R.A. Board Member, referred to the Japanese as "Nips" and suggested calling South Africans from Gauteng Province "Orang-gutangs". Comparing Los Angeles with Ho Chi Minh City he said, "LA and Ho Chi Minh City have declared themselves sister cities.  It makes sense as they are both Third World metropolises formerly occupied by Americans." (4)

Ted Nugent, N.R.A. Board Member and celebrity spokesperson, called Hillary Clinton a "toxic c--t".

"This bitch is nothing but a two-bit whore for Fidel Castro." Also, "I met a couple of guys in line yesterday who go, 'Write something to my girlfriend, she won't let me go hunting'.  I wrote her something and I said, "Drop dead, bitch.' What good is she, trade her in, get a Dalmatian. Who needs a wench." (5)

INSPIRED "RIGHT TO CARRY" AND "STAND YOUR GROUND" LAWS: Stand Your Ground laws make it legal for a person who is attacked in public to use lethal force as a first resort.  A new study out of  Texas A&M found that "...lowering the expected costs associated with lethal force..." these SYG laws "...induce more of it".  In Florida justifiable homicides tripled between 2005-2011 because of SYG laws. (6)

STOKE FIRES OF FEAR: Wayne LaPierre writes: "Americans are facing the reality that they are on their own.... People are anticipating dangerous times and are responding in the only sensible, logical way possible - they are buying guns." "America's women are leading the way!... The more women who buy and shoot guns, the safer and better off we'll all be." (7)  The N.R.A. has run ads to promote gun purchasing: "Should you shoot a rapist before he cuts your throat?" and "If you are attacked on your porch, do you want your neighbors to be opposed to gun ownership or a member of the N.R.A.?" (8)

EXTREMIST-MILITIA MOVEMENT FRIENDLY:  "The N.R.A. has made martyrs out of two odd characters, not because either is particularly heroic, but because both came in the cross hairs of the BATF."  Jack Anderson is speaking of Randy Weaver, an avowed white separatist, and David Koresh, child sex molester, who is quoted as saying, "I am God's chosen instrument, and the laws that govern mere mortals do not apply to me." (9) The N.R.A. is consistently referenced in the Southern Poverty Law Center's magazine Intelligence Report which is dedicated to exposing right-wing extremist militia groups, as defending citizens' right to bear arms.  In fairness, the SPLC does not say the N.R.A. directly supports  violent militia actions. Yet, one needs to ask, why the linkage?  Even Jack Anderson asks for an investigation of the linkage between the N.R.A. and the militia movement. (10)

A word about the sources for the above commentary.  Jack Anderson's book, Inside the NRA, copyright 1996, is cited in numbers 1-5, and 9. Jack was a member of the NRA, a Republican, a respected journalist, and a dedicated Mormon, hardly the type of person who would have an ideological axe to grind. I find that what Jack wrote in 1996 is consistent with the present NRA actions.             The Rolling Stone, a 2013 article, is quoted in numbers 6-8.  The Intelligence Report is referenced to support Jack Anderson's inquiry.

Since this is the second commentary on the theme of "NRA: Testing the Spirits", connecting the NRA with a Biblical witness is necessary.  Hence, I conclude with words from the hymn, "Healer of Our Every Ill", ELW 612:

Healer of our every ill, light of each tomorrow,

Give us peace beyond our fear, and hope beyond our sorrow.

Too often the NRA leadership fails the test of being a healer, but instead foments fear, creates the rationale for justifying more violence, makes people into objects, and instills a spirit of "the enemy", us vs. them. I find these outcomes contrary to Biblical witness.

Peace!

Ron Letnes