What one thing would you do to curb gun deaths?

“This could have been my church.”

How many people whispered this to themselves, their spouses or their friends after seeing the news of the gun-and-murder rampage at Sutherland Springs, Texas?

If you are a Christian, we must say: This is my church.

The same way each of us should have said after Sandy Hook: This is my school and these are our children.

After Las Vegas: This is the concert I attended, and these are my fellow citizens.

We could go around all day about the supposed virtues or heretical interpretation of the Second Amendment. We could debate all night about whether guns kill people, or bullets kill people or people kill people. We could argue till the cows come home about whether more guns make you safer, or actually lead to more deaths.

As we argue or agree, bullets continue to fly and bodies continue to fall.

The facts remain: 26 people are still dead from someone shooting them with a gun in Sutherland Springs; 58 people are still dead from someone shooting them with a gun in Las Vegas; 1,297 children are still dead each year from being shot by a gun; and 93 people will die from guns today — and every day — in America.

How is it patriotic to accept the gun massacres of one’s fellow citizens with mere “thoughts and prayers”? This epidemic of death-by-gun is a problem that we must all work together to solve.

So here’s what I want to know from you, whether you are a staunch supporter of common-sense gun laws, or a staunch supporter of gun rights: What is one thing you are willing to do to prevent more gun deaths?

Your answer will depend, of course, on what your starting point is on the gun issue and what your sphere of influence and power is. The more power you have (I’m talking to the president, legislators and NRA leaders), the more is expected for you to take additional action to stop this epidemic.

The more influence you have (parents, teachers, clergy and mental-health professionals), the more is expected from you to educate yourself and those in your care about how to end gun violence.

Even if you think you have very little power or influence, each one of us can take one step to decrease the likelihood that another person will be shot dead — by their own hand or by accident or by evil calculation. Whether you are a gun owner or a gun shunner makes no difference. Each of us has an obligation to move the needle down on gun violence in this country.

Unfortunately, whatever we’ve already done up to this point is clearly not enough. Mass shootings, defined as an event where four or more people die, are happening daily. So whatever we’ve done to this point, and no matter how good our intentions have been thus far, we need to do more.

I challenge people of faith to organize a dialogue in your house of worship about how your faith community can do more to prevent gun violence. I recommend using deliberative dialogue materials from the National Issues Forums (www.nifi.org) to help facilitate these nonpartisan discussions. Other helpful organizations include the Brady Campaign, Everytown for Gun Safety, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.

It is past time for religious leaders and people of faith to take a united stand against this country’s idolatry of the gun, and work together to protect our citizens. That would be the ethical thing to do. And it would be the patriotic thing to do.

This story was originally published November 15, 2017 at 5:22 PM with the headline "What one thing would you do to curb gun deaths?."