# Former Marine Turned Progressive Christian on Guns, God, and Arming Trans People - Brian Recker

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-a-better-way-2a-podcast-7092718/former-marine-turned-progressive-christian-on-guns-god-and-arming-trans-people-brian-recker
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-a-better-way-2a-podcast-7092718/former-marine-turned-progressive-christian-on-guns-god-and-arming-trans-people-brian-recker.md
Podcast: [The A Better Way 2A Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-a-better-way-2a-podcast-7092718)
Published: 2026-05-18T12:58:02+00:00
Episode link: https://rss.com/podcasts/the-a-better-way-2a-podcast/2835547
Audio file: https://content.rss.com/episodes/300301/2835547/the-a-better-way-2a-podcast/2026_05_18_12_56_14_d981992e-8e7f-4fb9-9c6e-251b91a44099.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-a-better-way-2a-podcast-7092718/episodes/former-marine-turned-progressive-christian-on-guns-god-and-arming-trans-people-brian-recker
Duration seconds: 4903

## Resource

We brought Brian Recker on the show because a ton of people were curious about his views on guns and the Second Amendment. Brian's a former Marine officer, a father, a self-described stubborn Christian, and the author of a book about why the concept of hell is a toxic doctrine. He also doesn't own a gun and favors common sense gun control. So we knew this one was going to be interesting. What we got was one of the best conversations we've had on this show. We got into the myth of redemptive violence and why Christians keep backing every American war, John Brown and whether violent resistance can ever be justified, how the Second Amendment was never designed to protect Black people or marginalized communities, the killing of Alex Pretti and the hypocrisy of conservatives who support gun rights until the wrong person is armed, arming trans communities and why Brian sees beauty in marginalized people exercising their rights even though he personally chooses nonviolence, the militarization of police and how you can draw a direct line from fugitive slave patrols to modern law enforcement, and why the left has a massive messaging problem that keeps alienating the exact people it should be reaching. Brian came in not agreeing with us on a lot and we didn't agree with him on everything either, but we had an actual conversation about it without anybody feeling like an enemy. That's the whole point of the show and this episode is a perfect example of it. Brian's book: Hell Bent If you want to support the show, head to our Patreon for exclusive merch, extra content, and to help us build a more inclusive gun community. Edited by Matthew Boerger

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## Transcript

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