religious foo: Open Carry in Church
Jun. 5th, 2009 07:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alpharaposaA Kentucky Church is encouraging Open Carry of guns for a Sunday
"Christ tells us to put down the sword and this pastor seems to be encouraging them to take up the sword," said Helmke.
I read this line, and immediately thought of the following verse:
Luke 22:36 (New International Version)
36He said to them, "But now 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."
That would be Christ telling the disciples to take up a sword, even if they had to sell the clothes on their backs to get one.
I admit that the quote from Helmke irked me, just because it's such a common problem. Christ didn't tell us to never fight. He told us to be ready. To buy swords. He warned us that there would be wars.
He didn't tell us to start fights, either, but he reminded his disciples that there is still violence in the world. He told them to be ready for it. We might choose to face that violence as soldiers or as pacifists, but we shouldn't deny that it is there.
We tell ourselves such fantasies that, if only we stop fighting, the evil people in the world will stop, too. That's not true. Some may, but some won't. The decision on whether or not to fight isn't about them. It's about us. I may be called to fight, or called to surrender. If I choose to fight, then I accept that responsibility. Weapons are dangerous, and I am responsible for what happens when I use one. If I choose to surrender, then I accept that I might be killed. The evil that drives men to kill may claim my life as well. But death isn't important; it cannot make me any less God's child. Both taking up the sword and putting it down mean taking risks. Whichever way you choose, though, nothing that others do to you can separate you from God. They can't take away your baptism. They can't take away His Grace. They can't take away God's Love.
The question of whether or not we should have guns in church shouldn't be about whether or not guns are evil. They're not. They're just things. However you feel about them, a gun by itself is no more harmful than a drill bit.
On the other hand, I also recall Paul's advice to the Corinthians:
1 Corinthians 8:
9Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. 10For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol's temple, won't he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols? 11So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. 12When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.
To explain- In Corinth at the time, the meat at the butchers was all sacrificed before idols before it was sold in the street. Paul stated earlier that he knew full well that the idols were meaningless bits of stone, so the ceremony was also meaningless. The meat was no more or less tainted than if he'd gone and killed a bull himself.
On the other hand, not everybody in the church was that certain. Some of them had been pagans all their lives, and were afraid that, maybe, the ceremonies weren't meaningless. So, they couldn't bring themselves to eat meat, and seeing others eat it meant that they felt doubts about the sanctity of their church.
Sure, it might not be wholly reasonable, but Paul flat out states that, if the choice is not eating meat or causing a fellow Christian to falter in their faith, then don't eat the meat.
It's kind of like drinking a beer in front of a teetotaler. Some of them don't mind. They know their choice is their own, and what others do doesn't matter. Others are tempted by it, though. Or perhaps simply made to feel unwelcome by it.
When I was a gamer in college, there were those in the local role-playing group that would sometimes "scare the norms". They delighted in making other people uncomfortable. They mocked them for their fears. I did it myself a few times, and I'm sorry.
Regardless of whether or not those fears are foolish, they are real. The people who have those fears are real people. Role-playing isn't a sin, but taunting and mocking those who feared it is a sin. When I scared the norms, I was being uncharitable to them. Likewise, drinking a beer isn't a sin, but mocking somebody who won't drink with you is.
Many people are scared of guns. It doesn't matter if it's reasonable to be scared of them, the fact is that they are. We should acknowledge that their fear is a real fear, and, if we address it, do so in charity.
All this comes down to this: If we are to have guns in church, we should make an effort to ensure that they do not distract from the message of The Church, and also that we do not make those yet uncertain of them fearful or unwelcome by their presence. If we can't do these things, then it is better not to have guns in churches.
"Christ tells us to put down the sword and this pastor seems to be encouraging them to take up the sword," said Helmke.
I read this line, and immediately thought of the following verse:
Luke 22:36 (New International Version)
36He said to them, "But now 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."
That would be Christ telling the disciples to take up a sword, even if they had to sell the clothes on their backs to get one.
I admit that the quote from Helmke irked me, just because it's such a common problem. Christ didn't tell us to never fight. He told us to be ready. To buy swords. He warned us that there would be wars.
He didn't tell us to start fights, either, but he reminded his disciples that there is still violence in the world. He told them to be ready for it. We might choose to face that violence as soldiers or as pacifists, but we shouldn't deny that it is there.
We tell ourselves such fantasies that, if only we stop fighting, the evil people in the world will stop, too. That's not true. Some may, but some won't. The decision on whether or not to fight isn't about them. It's about us. I may be called to fight, or called to surrender. If I choose to fight, then I accept that responsibility. Weapons are dangerous, and I am responsible for what happens when I use one. If I choose to surrender, then I accept that I might be killed. The evil that drives men to kill may claim my life as well. But death isn't important; it cannot make me any less God's child. Both taking up the sword and putting it down mean taking risks. Whichever way you choose, though, nothing that others do to you can separate you from God. They can't take away your baptism. They can't take away His Grace. They can't take away God's Love.
The question of whether or not we should have guns in church shouldn't be about whether or not guns are evil. They're not. They're just things. However you feel about them, a gun by itself is no more harmful than a drill bit.
On the other hand, I also recall Paul's advice to the Corinthians:
1 Corinthians 8:
9Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. 10For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol's temple, won't he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols? 11So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. 12When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.
To explain- In Corinth at the time, the meat at the butchers was all sacrificed before idols before it was sold in the street. Paul stated earlier that he knew full well that the idols were meaningless bits of stone, so the ceremony was also meaningless. The meat was no more or less tainted than if he'd gone and killed a bull himself.
On the other hand, not everybody in the church was that certain. Some of them had been pagans all their lives, and were afraid that, maybe, the ceremonies weren't meaningless. So, they couldn't bring themselves to eat meat, and seeing others eat it meant that they felt doubts about the sanctity of their church.
Sure, it might not be wholly reasonable, but Paul flat out states that, if the choice is not eating meat or causing a fellow Christian to falter in their faith, then don't eat the meat.
It's kind of like drinking a beer in front of a teetotaler. Some of them don't mind. They know their choice is their own, and what others do doesn't matter. Others are tempted by it, though. Or perhaps simply made to feel unwelcome by it.
When I was a gamer in college, there were those in the local role-playing group that would sometimes "scare the norms". They delighted in making other people uncomfortable. They mocked them for their fears. I did it myself a few times, and I'm sorry.
Regardless of whether or not those fears are foolish, they are real. The people who have those fears are real people. Role-playing isn't a sin, but taunting and mocking those who feared it is a sin. When I scared the norms, I was being uncharitable to them. Likewise, drinking a beer isn't a sin, but mocking somebody who won't drink with you is.
Many people are scared of guns. It doesn't matter if it's reasonable to be scared of them, the fact is that they are. We should acknowledge that their fear is a real fear, and, if we address it, do so in charity.
All this comes down to this: If we are to have guns in church, we should make an effort to ensure that they do not distract from the message of The Church, and also that we do not make those yet uncertain of them fearful or unwelcome by their presence. If we can't do these things, then it is better not to have guns in churches.
