Somehow, I don't think that this is the right message to be sending in church:
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- A Kentucky pastor is inviting his flock to bring guns to church to celebrate the Fourth of July and the Second Amendment.
New Bethel Church is welcoming "responsible handgun owners" to wear their firearms inside the church June 27, a Saturday. An ad says there will be a handgun raffle, patriotic music and information on gun safety."We're just going to celebrate the upcoming theme of the birth of our nation," said pastor Ken Pagano. "And we're not ashamed to say that there was a strong belief in God and firearms -- without that this country wouldn't be here."
The guns must be unloaded and private security will check visitors at the door, Pagano said.
He said recent church shootings, including the killing Sunday of a late-term abortion provider in Kansas, which he condemned, highlight the need to promote safe gun ownership. The New Bethel Church event was planned months before Dr. George Tiller was shot to death in a Wichita church.
Why do I get the feeling that thinking Tiller's murder means we should talk about gun safety is missing the forest for the trees, so to speak?
Look, I'm as much in favor of the right to keep and bear arms as anybody. I don't think reasonable gun control laws which focus on keeping guns out of the hands of criminals are a bad idea, either. But it's not as though Christians can pretend that the same Jesus Who sternly warned Peter against living by the sword would much like the notion of a celebration at His house that involved praising lethal weapons.
Just because our current president once famously conflated the ideas of religion and gun ownership doesn't mean Christians ought to get enamored of the notion. While the use of force to protect ourselves and defend those in our care may be legitimate, this fact is a reflection of our sadly fallen world, not a cause for celebration. The everlasting arms which, according to the old hymn, we're supposed to be leaning on aren't made by Smith and Wesson, after all.
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as soon as muslims took arms into mosques in gaza, the israeli defense forces declared those places of worship as legitimate military targets that threatened the state. and followed up on that by raining laser-guided missiles into several of them.
And you wonder about the fear of the "Christianist threat"?
Oh, yeah, that lame line..."cling to guns or religion." But that's what logicians call a disjunction: "or," not "and." Juxtaposition, not conflation; I guess that's why it didn't register with me.
This situation has folks clinging to guns and religion.
So my question is, why stop at revolvers? Why not show up to church with an AK-47 slung across your shoulder? After all, the ban has expired (and, not to rain on anyone's parade, but I haven't heard of anyone in a position to do so looking to reinstate it anytime soon).
I've always construed Luke 22:36 as metaphorical--if you look at the whole context, Jesus prefaces it thus: "'When I sent you without purse, bag, or sandals, did you lack for anything?' 'Nothing', they answered. 'But now I say if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.'" (emphasis added) He seems to me to be saying, "Look, before it was a cakewalk for you guys. It's going to be different now, though. I'm going the way destined for me, and I won't be with you anymore, so it's going to be much harder. You have to realize that now and prepare accordingly." Which is not quite the same as interpreting this as Jesus saying, "Boys, from now on you're gonna have to pack heat!"
I actually am from Kentucky, and I own several guns and have a concealed-carry permit; and yet, knowing the culture, I think Obama was exactly right in the quote that Erin gives. Supporting responsible gun ownership and supporting the Second Amendment is one thing; making guns into almost a metaphysical, God-given right that supersedes almost everything else, and getting fanatically paranoid about the most modest and reasonable restrictions on guns, as many people in Appalachia and the South do, is another.
Let me put it this way: No gun - no freedom.
Another point to ponder: If someone can't be trusted with a gun, then they can't be trusted without a custodian. In my case, why would the state want to usurp my freedom and become my custodian?
Jesus meant for us to be packing heat at all times because unless you're ready at all times, you aren't ready.
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