Wrestling with Religion

Until late in WWII, infantry firearms fell into three categories: heavy machine guns requiring two operators; long-range rifles, either bolt-action or semi-automatic, with offset stocks requiring re-aiming between shots; and pistols or light machine guns spitting out light rounds with limited range. One of Nazi Germany’s many military innovations was the first assault rifle, the StG 44. It was lighter than previous rifles and incorporated three innovations: a select-fire switch converting it to a machine gun, an in-line barrel limiting barrel rise, and a mid-size round with medium range. A single weapon that could pinch-hit for all three categories. A young Soviet inventor named Mikail Kalashnikov combined these innovations with features from the American M1 and created the Automatic Kalashnikov rifle, or AK-47, named for the year it was adopted by the Soviets. In the more than 70 years since its invention, this rifle and its upgrades have been wildly successful. Kalashnikovs ...

My great-great-grandfather Green was a devout lay Methodist who founded Sunday Schools wherever he went. He founded Green's chapel in north Alabama, which was my grandfather's and father's home church. My paternal grandfather, Papa Green, was a gentleman and a scholar, retired businessman, and farmer who kept a Bible and newspaper on the table by his rocker. My mother's grandfather donated land for a Baptist church down the hill from his house in central Alabama, where her father and mother, were pillars of the church and sustained a one-room school, also on family land. Grandaddy worked road maintenance in addition to farming to send my mother to Montevallo, the nearby women’s teacher’s college. Mother and Daddy were the first college graduates in their families. Both became teachers and settled in Auburn, Alabama. I grew up in a house just a few blocks from the university and within sight of one of the best public schools in the state. Daddy had converted t...