Guns And Religion

BY Herschel Smith
11 years, 1 month ago

Sam Rocha writes a scholarly commentary on guns and religion for us.

During Obama’s first go-round in 2008, there was a big flare-up surrounding his comment about rural voters bitterly clinging to guns or religion. It was the equivalent of Romney’s inelegant 47% remark from this past fiasco election.

I’ve already gone on the record about guns here: “Those Immune to Violence Arm and Disarm.” I hope I made myself clear. I am not impressed or persuaded by either side of the Newtown-fueled gun aftermath. I wrote, “I don’t have any solutions because I remain unconvinced that we have truly understood the problem — gun advocates and apologists alike be damned.”

Well there you go.  Mr. Rocha weighs in on people he has never met, for whom he has no responsibility, and over whom he has no authority, and places himself in the position of God.  He tells them to be damned.  The balance of the commentary is as puerile as the preceding.

The Twitter and Facebook noise has simmered down on one side of the issue (with a few annoying and predictable exceptions). There are no more breast-beating choirs demanding that we melt all guns or insisting that gun ownership makes you a serial killer or a Republican.

While this herd has apparently calmed down and moved to other pastures, there is a disturbing stream of meme’s and other social media apologetics on behalf of guns and against gun control.

Look: I don’t want to embarrass anybody and I am not trying to be nasty about this. I understand that it’s easy to get caught up in something like this amidst the new media flurry. I got rather carried away with Notre Dame football this season and we all saw how that turned out. Oh boy. How embarrassing!

Don’t worry about embarrassing people, Sam.  You’re embarrassing only yourself.  But it would pay to read a little more.  The chorus of voices calling for the heads of gun owners is only growing as the statists demand more powerful totalitarians to rule us.  That you don’t know this shows you’re ill-informed.  Finally, this.

What is perhaps more disturbing is the second point that Obama got wrong: it is not an either/or between guns or religion. It has become a both/and. There are many people—who I won’t single-out here—who equivocate their guns and their religion, together. And I don’t mean “the religion of guns” or the “state religion of gun ownership” or something clever and esoteric like that. What I mean is that there are creepy, growing signs that some people are beginning to get too close to being comfortable with something like this:

Then Sam graces us with this picture.

Continuing, he says “The prevailing argument seems to be that owning a gun is a God given right.”  Concluding, he says “Cling to love.”  Very well.  You go right ahead, Sam.  I’ll keep my guns, and you cling to love the next time someone invades your home and rapes your wife and you can’t stop them.  And as for owning a gun being a God-given right, that’s the only correct thing you said in the whole commentary, even if by accident to ridicule it.

Look, I simply cannot deal with every stupid commentary that comes out from a “Christian” perspective on firearms.  But Sam would do well to do just a little research before writing drivel like this.  Despite what he has seen in schoolroom pictures, Jesus was not a pacifist, Bohemian hippy.  He was God.  He is the scarlet thread running through the Scriptures.  He didn’t come to demolish the law.  He fulfilled the ceremonial law, and emphasized the moral law.  He lived a blameless life and died for the sins of His people.  Everything in His life was oriented towards this end.  His teachings were consistent with Old Testament law and the New Testament apostles.  There isn’t anything inconsistent.

Therefore, laws on honoring the image of God in man and self defense are still valid and binding.  As I have observed before:

God has laid the expectations at the feet of heads of families that they protect, provide for and defend their families and protect and defend their countries.  Little ones cannot do so, and rely solely on those who bore them.  God no more loves the willing neglect of their safety than He loves child abuse.  He no more appreciates the willingness to ignore the sanctity of our own lives than He approves of the abuse of our own bodies and souls.  God hasn’t called us to save the society by sacrificing our children or ourselves to robbers, home invaders, rapists or murderers.

Back to the beginning of this silly commentary, Sam gives us this horrible cartoon.

Jesus has no trigger discipline.  Ridiculous … and sacreligious.  The commentary states no particular problem, poses no solution, and goes nowhere, with the addition of some stupid cartoons.  So why did Sam write it to begin with?  I don’t know.  But perhaps Sam should do some study prior to writing again.

Prior:

When Christians Discuss Guns

Christians, The Second Amendment And The Duty Of Self Defense

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Comments

  1. On January 25, 2013 at 7:26 pm, Sam said:

    Great post. Lively discussion. Good job. Toodles,

    SR

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This article is filed under the category(s) Guns,Religion and was published January 23rd, 2013 by Herschel Smith.

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