I know there are people of faith on this site. I’m curious to hear people’s views and thoughts on the junction between defensive firearms and the tenets of our faith.
As a Christian, I believe I am to:
Trust God for all things
Love other people without exception
Turn the other cheek to a petty offense
Be willing to die for my faith
In Scripture, I see the following:
If a robber breaking into our homes at night is killed by the homeowner, the homeowner is not guilty.
Nehemiah armed the people while they were working on rebuilding the wall.
Jesus’ disciples were armed, and there is no record of Jesus telling them to disarm. (He did tell them to PUT away their weapons, not THROW away their weapons.)
Jesus used a weapon to clear the temple of irreligious activities
I also find that death and violence are part of the human condition, even as it is certainly an undesirable part of the human condition. I long for a world in which there is no need for weapons of any kind. But that has not been our world for millennia and is not going to be our world.
So for me, it is an issue of deep paradox.
Please share your (calm, respectful) thoughts on the topic/
While I’m an atheist and personally feel the bible was plagiarized from several other religions that predated your religion…I’ll answer in my own fun way.
You ask how someone of your faith can overlook the idea of killing someone in self defense but overlooking certain verses is what christians do best.
I’d be willing to bet you wear clothing of more than 2 kinds of material which Leviticus 19:19 clearly states you shouldn’t do.
I’m sure you also don’t follow Leviticus 9:10 and avoid shellfish or pork among other things.
Personally I’m a fan of Exodus 23:19 which I’m sure you don’t follow either.
I’m guessing you replace a lot of furniture in your house if you try and follow Leviticus 15: 19-20 or do you continue to sit on unclean things?
I’m sure you consider your god loving and kind even with 2 Kings 2:23-25 NIV or Matthew 21:18-22 NIV…so you already ignore these verses.
I’m sure you don’t pay much attention to Numbers 31:17-18 where someone went a little crazy and evil.
YOu probably don’t really pay much attention to any of these Leviticus 25:44-46 NLT, Ephesians 6:5 NLT, Deuteronomy 21:18-21, Leviticus 20:15 NLT, Deuteronomy 23:1 NRSV, Leviticus 21:17-23 KJV, etc etc etc.
So why worry about the other passages. Continue to believe in what ever version you believe in of your god and stop using the bible as a basis for your belief. I support your right to believe in whatever you want…but I tend to laugh when people base the bible as their reasoning because it’s riddled with so many things they have to ignore to continue believing in their loving god. It’s easy…throw away the bible and just believe in whatever god you want. Most christians say its a very personal belief and THEIR idea differs even from the pastor or priest they listen to every sunday. Religion is subjective…so adopt whatever you want and ignore the rest. Christians have been doing it for centuries so you’ll be fine. Just ask for forgiveness and you have to be forgiven.
I don’t believe in death I believe in eternal life. I am a Jew so I don’t believe Jesus is God because there is no consensus on who God is. I don’t discourage any one’s beliefs because it is our right to believe in what we chose. As for guns they should only be used to preserve life. By using them for hunting for food or saving someone’s life. I believe it takes courage to love someone especially when they hate you. Loving them and convincing them to love you is the only way I know to find peace. It also helps to listen to peoples comments and replies on USCCA Forum.
I find no entertainment value in poking fun at people who are grappling with religion. I have many good friends and family members that belong to wildly different faiths; I wouldn’t dream of mocking their religion.
Lol. I’m not playing for entertainment. Every religious person chooses to ignore/overlook/twist some passage in the Bible to ■■■■ them. This is no different and I’m making a point of telling them because no one follows the entire book anymore so why get hung up on bits and pieces when they already choose to ignore huge parts of it.
They chose to ignore the things that don’t have great meaning in their life and chose to hold on to the things that do. This is their life and nobody has the right to take that away. I offer you the same love and understanding as I would them.
Erik10 likes to belittle people of faith. I thought he got kicked off the site.
Nehamiah (Old Testament) had the workers carry their swords and had guards posted all over. There are so many example that one cannot name them all here.
When asked about swords Jesus told Peter to sell whatever and buy a sword.
As for trusting God for everything-- we still have to use our brains. Virtually every miracle in the Bible is preceded by God/Jesus telling the receiver of the miracle to do something and then the miracle. March around the city (Jericho), Dip yourself in the Jordon 7 times, go show your self to the priest, stand up and walk, go wash your eyes… and on and on. The topic is too large for this or any forum.
AND, BTW, My wife and I pray daily that we will never have to fire your guns in self defense.
You have no answer but you insist on mocking people of faith. FINE, you don’t want to believe, but why must you ALWAYS start a fight and show your ignorance on the subject.
“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt”. Author Unknown.
The right of self-defense is always been a judeo-christian view.Now yes I am a Christian but I want to make a comment for those that are not and do so respectfully. This Republic it is not a democracy it is a republic, was founded on judeo-christian principles. It is those principles that govern the founding fathers penning the Constitution, thus protecting your right to descent. I have a friend who is an atheist that has told me on more than one occasion even though he does not believe in God he’s glad the country was founded on judeo-christian principles because it benefits him.
@Scott361 … we live in a broken world and will never know perfection and peace until the New Jerusalem. Romans says that even creation groans in anticipation when all things (including creation) will be set right again. There is plenty of evidence in the Scriptures about defending oneself and others . Probably every person of the Christian/Jewish faith (primarily) on this site has had to come to terms with carrying, defense and Scripture. Too big a topic for this or any forum.
@Scott361… defending oneself from a mugger, home invader, or some other such criminal has nothing to do with dying for your faith… that is a completely different issue- one that you (we) must listen to and for the Spirit of God.
Yeah, I do call it like it is. My hope is everyone uses that space between their ears more often. I welcome anyone from any walk of life to my BBQ, and I speak the same to guests that I do here…open, honest, and direct. I don’t baby people because we have enough babies in the world…and I’m not talking about actual children. If more people stopped placating stupidity, these you get generations wouldn’t be so messed up. Have a good one.
