After the Orlando massacre, Facebook is filled with posts about gun control. My friends who oppose the proliferation of assault weapons talk of background checks and restrictions on ownership, while my friends who feel strongly about the Second Amendment seem quite concerned that a constitutional right will be taken away from them. Both sides invoke protection and safety, but from two very different vantage points.
You’ve heard the arguments before: “we need more good guys with guns” and “the only purpose of an AR-15 is to gun down lots of humans.”
I must admit it pains me that so many of my devout Christian friends feel so strongly about their right to possess guns. There appears to be a correlation between evangelical Christianity and adamant support for unrestricted gun ownership. Where does this come from? I can only draw the conclusion that these people are actually more American than Christian, that the American tradition of strength, self-reliance and personal freedom runs deeper in them than Jesus’s teachings on nonviolence and self-sacrifice. It’s the American heritage. We are, after all, a mighty nation.
The message of Christ has always seemed like foolishness to the world. People who prefer dogma and power can boldly preach the Ten Commandments, but they cannot live the explicit commandment to truly love their enemies, with all that might entail. A good guy with a gun seems smart. An unarmed man wielding love as his only weapon seems foolish. Yet it works: nonviolent Christians overcame a mighty nation–the most powerful empire the world had ever seen, and they did it without force of arms. They did it through love and peace and following the words of Christ.
It is a narrow gate, and you won’t be allowed to bring an assault rifle through it.
petermaize 