The widespread American love of guns that is often coupled with the equally widespread fear that a tyrannical government will one day deprive gun-loving Americans of their precious firearms has many of the trappings of a religious movement. For many Americans, the gun is clearly holy, the ownership of guns is viewed as a sign of religious maturity, the Second Amendment is treated with the reverence of scripture, the NRA is much like a church, and any government office or official that dares to propose any restrictions on the use and ownership of guns is regarded as the Devil. For Americans who do not share this quasi-religious devotion to guns, gun enthusiasts are viewed as “gun nuts.” Their passionate attachment to firearms as well as their unwillingness to contemplate what non-gun lovers view as eminently sensible restrictions on guns seems wholly irrational and impervious to logic or argument to those outside the gun culture, much like a deep-seated religious conviction that one does not share. This paper will examine the ways in which modern American gun culture fits the definition of a NRM or New Religious Movement, compare it with other religious movements, analyze its origins and development, and attempt to explain the reason for its rising popularity and influence on popular culture and identity formation in America.
About the presenterMichael Strmiska
I am an Assistant Professor in World History at SUNY-Orange (Orange County Community College) in Middletown, New York. In Fall of 2015 I was a visiting professor at Masaryk University in the Czech Republic, teaching courses on Neo-Paganism and New Religious Movements and European Mythology. My PhD is in Religious Studies from Boston University. My research projects include modern Pagan religious movements (Neo-Paganism) in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, and America, and minority religions in Eastern Europe.