In Theory

Q. Recent church shootings have sparked discussion among various church officials on the possible need to carry weapons to religious services. The premise behind this is that churches are no longer seen as immune from violence as they once were. Do you believe that people should carry guns in church for protection or do you believe officials are overexagerrating when they say churches are no longer safe? Do you think churches have done enough to try to curb violence? What do you believe churches should do?

The Rev. Amy Pringle: Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket was hacked to pieces in Canterbury Cathedral by the king’s swordsmen — in the 12th century when medieval sanctuary laws were at their height.

In 1980, El Salvadoran Archbishop Óscar Romero was shot in the heart while celebrating the Eucharist.

And it seems to be a favored practice of ethnic cleansing to round up whole villages, lock them up in the church and burn them alive.

The church has never been a safe place.

And if our options are “to take arms against a sea of troubles,” or to face the wild sea unarmed, I vote for the latter.

If my church received specific threats, or were among a targeted group, I would take necessary measures, maybe even hire armed guards.

But most church shootings are completely random, unpredictable events. They’re the horrible outcomes of misplaced desperation, domestic anger and whatever synapse it is that makes mental illness latch on to religion. Clergy are particular objects of ugly psychological transference and projection, and there’s never a guarantee that it won’t someday turn lethal. There’s no protection against random madness.

And still, the words that keep coming to me are from the Episcopal burial service: “In the midst of life we are in death … [and] whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord … [so] even at the grave, we sing our song: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.”

Jesus said, “Be prepared — for you know neither the day nor the hour” when death will come (Matthew 25:13). It’s not just true for churches, but for all of us: We live on a perpetual cusp between life and death; always grateful for another day of life; always knowing that death can come at any time, for any reason. I’m more concerned with how to live, now, than how I might die tomorrow.