Turning death into life with RAW Tools

It has been said that violence is the real religion in America. If you think this is hyperbole, then consider the following:

If you tabulate all the murdered civilians in the world, 86% of them have occurred in the United States.

• Of children who were killed in the 23 developed countries in the world, 87% of them were American children.
• Civilians in this country own more guns than any other country in the world. We lead the developed world in the number of homicides.
• In the U.S., we have lost more lives to guns domestically, than all the combined lives lost in America’s wars. In 2022 over 36,000 people lost their lives to gun violence.
• In our country as well as in our state, communities are traumatized by gun violence daily.

There is hope for people and communities weary of violence.

The James River Chapter and Hampton Roads Chapter of the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy invite you to a RAW Tools event to be held on Saturday, April 22 at the St. Johns Church of God in Christ, located at 2402 Orcutt Ave., Newport News from 2-3:30 pm. Shane Claiborne, founder of Philadelphia Raw Tools will be hosting the event along with St. Johns Church of God in Christ.

The mission of RAW Tools is to literally and figuratively “beat guns” by disarming hearts, forging peace and cultivating justice. Raw Tools is a faith-based organization( www.rawtools.org ) inspired by the words of the prophet Isaiah from the Old Testament:

“They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”

At the event we will witness a blacksmith turning a gun into a garden tool. We will hear stories from those touched by gun violence, and invite people to the anvil to use a hammer to beat a part of a gun.Join the James River and the Hampton Roads chapters of VICPP to push back against the dominant story of gun violence in our culture. We hope to see you there as we transform weapons into tools of life and art, and healing into our communities.

The event is free and open to the public thanks to our partners:

Pastoring the City           St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church           Hope for Hampton and Newport News

St. Johns Church of God in Christ, Newport News                Green Foundation                Moms Demand Action

Flourish CNU             Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy            City of Newport News