Christianity and Guns

This post is prompted by a post suggested to me by a friend.

The post is titled “The Kingdom of God Has No Guns,” which for Catholics and at least LCMS Lutherans, seems to be starting with an error. We believe that the Kingdom of God is here, present today and has been since Christ’s coming to die for our sins. Not completely here, but through the coming of Christ, it is present, and as Colossians 1:16-18 states:

¹⁶ For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. ¹⁷ And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸ And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

So, we are in the Kingdom, Christ is in everything, and the Kingdom has all manner of weapons, including guns and even nuclear weapons.

If a Christian desires to be a pacifist, not own guns, swords or clubs, that is certainly fine, but it may also be mere virtue signaling — Wow! I see Christians have disarmed! I think I’ll be a Christian!

It helps to understand the proper translation of “Thou shalt not kill” in Exodus 20:13, which is “thou shalt not MURDER” … so self-defense, war, etc. do not break the sixth commandment. Christians are not commanded to be conscientious objectors.

While the post tries to convince us that many Christians “worship guns,” this is disingenuous. Yes, many Christians falsely worship wealth, fame, pleasure, etc., as false gods, but very few put “guns before God.” Until the start of widely publicized selective shootings, sometimes in schools, guns were just another physical object. Any problem with the use of a gun was due to the user, not the gun.

A basic question here is, why does the left and the government (but I repeat myself) want to disarm the population? As history has shown in Nazi Germany, the USSR, the PRC, etc., an unarmed population is MUCH preferable for authoritarian control. As we saw in the test case of Covid, government naturally seeks to be authoritarian, and as Obama famously said about the rural Rust Belt people, “They cling to their guns or religion …” As we see in every totalitarian state, you need to get rid of the guns, and then you can get rid of religion (a prime threat to totalitarianism).

The 2nd Amendment is about protection from the government, not hunting or even self-defense. The 2nd Amendment provides the teeth for preserving the rest … freedom of speech (now under direct attack) and freedom of religion (under not-so-subtle attack) being of special interest here. Quote from the prompting post:

And here’s the provocative part: as Christians, we cannot continue to pretend that gun ownership for self-defense is a neutral act, a personal choice without spiritual consequence. Every gun kept in our homes is a declaration of distrust in the Prince of Peace. Each firearm is a refusal to live as if the kingdom of God has broken into the world, where the lamb lies down with the lion, and swords are beaten into plowshares. When we choose to own guns, we are tacitly aligning ourselves with the powers of death and violence.

Guns are a tool, and like all tools, they provide leverage. If self-defense is a natural right, why would it be denied to women and weaker men? Certainly, if you are willing to disarm and trust God to ensure the government won’t start killing Jews and Christians, no criminal will break into your house and kill you and your family, which may make you feel more Christian. If so, certainly going the way of Christian Science, Jehovah’s Witness, or the Pentecostal faiths and refusing medical care would make an even stronger statement. Why is taking advantage of modern medicine not a declaration of distrust in God?

God gave us the ability to make and use many technologies. Around 100K people a year die from a fentanyl OD in the US, yet fentanyl is also an important painkiller (my wife needed it for spinal surgery). Open borders increase the flow of illegal fentanyl into the country, however, most of the people concerned about gun violence are either unconcerned or in favor of open borders.

The Pope himself has declared that “repelling migrants is a grave sin.” The Vatican must be packed to the rafters with migrants—I’m amazed that has not gotten more coverage! If you can't trust the Pope to follow his own teachings, "Is the Pope Catholic?" doesn't have an easy answer.

The lamb lying down with the lion and swords being beaten into plowshares is obviously after the SECOND coming of Christ. A lamb lying down with a lion today is even less sensible than Christians vowing to be unarmed. Like the lamb lying down next to the lion, Christians declaring that they do not have guns makes them a target. Criminals LOVE knowing that their intended victims are unarmed. That is why "No Guns Allowed" signs should say "No Guns Allowed (for law abiding citizens)."

Luke 22:36: “Then said he unto them, but now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.” Did Christ just not mean that part, or was it like the left’s statement on the 2nd amendment … “he didn’t say GUNS!”

I find it strange that a society that kills babies, denies the existence of God, judgment, eternal damnation and is riddled with broken families, abuse of children and addiction (both apparently the case with the Georgia shooter) is “surprised” that there are school shootings. While taken out of context and magnified all out of proportion, the alleged JD Vance statement that “school shootings are a fact of life” is unfortunately true in today’s broken society. When many in the country celebrate the killing of babies for convenience, the declaration of “no morals” could not be clearer. As our national slide to total depravity continues, I expect bombings that kill 100s and probably gassing, arson, and violence I can’t yet imagine, a school shooting will be made as newsworthy as a drunk driver killing a few unfamous people.

As the post points out, school shootings came to the forefront after Jonesboro and Columbine, and along with mass shootings, trended upward since. Why?

I’m sure there are a ton of factors, but the availability of guns is almost certainly a minor one. Young black men are 20x as likely to die of gun violence than young white men. It seems unlikely that blacks have more guns than whites. Black street culture is different than white. July 4th weekend this year in Chicago, 109 were shot, 19 fatally. Is the fact that we generally don’t know that somehow “racist,” or might it be political? It is possibly not newsworthy because numbers slightly less than that are common for Chicago. Do we think the gang bangers are going to give up their guns? Do we care as much about the Black Chicago lives as we do white school kids, or do we just follow the media narrative, and feel what we are told to think/feel?

So, if some Christians are convinced that being a Christian and having a gun is not compatible, it is a free country at the present. Nobody is forcing gun ownership as they do in Israel and Switzerland. As long as we keep the 2nd amendment, we are likely to remain at least somewhat free. Joe Biden may believe you need F-16s and nuclear weapons to challenge the US government taking your guns, but Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan have not been “big wins” even with us having those assets. It may make some feel virtuous to be unarmed, but pleading that you are a filthy sinner and seeking forgiveness is much more Christian than feeling virtuous because of some work you may have done or not done.