Oregon Reverend Jeremy Lucas used $3,000 in “discretionary” church funds to buy half the tickets in a raffle for an AR-15. Lucas was disturbed by the raffle, sponsored by a girls’ softball team to raise money for a California tournament. Lucas said, “I want to live in a world where a girls’ softball team doesn’t have to raffle off a gun because it’s the quickest way to make money. I happen to believe that the world is going to be a better place when there are fewer guns in it.”
Let’s review: 1) By purchasing all available tickets, Lucas guaranteed the raffle’s success; 2) We doubt this was what Christ Church Episcopal parishioners had in mind when they dropped their money into the collection plate; 3) For $3,000, Lucas could have purchased four or five AR-15s outright, making this seem less about removing guns; 4) Had he not won the rifle, Lucas still would have been proud of funding the trip—further defining this as nothing more than a self-serving publicity stunt.
