"You can dance if you want to."
What am I missing here?
Help me out.
How can many conservative Christians reconcile what they clearly believe with what they profess to believe?
Let’s address the guns first.
How can you possibly reconcile that one with scripture?
God apparently felt strongly enough about this one to include it in his commandments at least twice. “Thou shalt not kill.” We see it in both Exodus 20:13 and Deuteronomy 5:17.
How exactly does this permit you to own a weapon of deadly force?
I can hear the excuses already. “It’s a prohibition against murder, not self-defense.” “We’re no longer bound by the law since Jesus came to fulfill it.”
If the Old Testament is no longer important, why is it even included in the Christian Bible?
Wasn’t Jesus rather clear about its importance? In Matthew 5:17-19, he said, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
And, if you consider that in any way vague, how do you spin Matthew 5:39 to your advantage in the gun argument? “But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.”
It seems to me that this edict puts you in a difficult position.
I suppose you could assert that you have received some special divine revelation that supersedes these words, but that creates another conundrum regarding Biblical inerrancy.
The Biblical issues are not the only logical contradictions in the pro-gun camp.
I often hear, “Guns don’t kill people, people do.” And I’ll grant you that, but it’s baffling that, in nearly the same breath, anyone can insist that their personal ownership of firearms is necessary. Either a gun is a more efficient killing machine or it isn’t. Playing both sides of that fence is logically impossible.
If it’s truly about self-defense, wouldn’t it be far better to seek out non-lethal means to do so?
The curious bloodthirsty nature of the way many gun enthusiasts articulate their position really doesn’t bear out the claim of the defensive nature of their weapons. There’s a certain “eye for an eye” tenor to the argument (a position clearly refuted by Jesus in Matthew). It often even goes beyond this “like for like” standard of vengeance too, demanding a life for the temerity to so much as trespass on the real estate of the gun owner. A man's home is his castle, right? Surely he must defend it. But Jesus wasn’t a big proponent of that idea. “Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.” (Matthew 19:21)
Despite this unambiguous enunciation of Jesus, it is all too common for conservative Christians to completely ignore this moral precept. They would rather opt for: I’ve got mine, Jack. Keep your hands off of my stack. (I paraphrase Pink Floyd here… and even they weren’t promoting this as a good idea.)
Conservative Christian Republicans are always willing to give some lip service to Jesus, but often ignore most of what he is actually purported to have said. They seem to be more enamored of the gospel of Ayn Rand, who was an atheist and a humanist, but not a glowing example of either. It’s the hateful example of Ayn Rand that we see expressed in the most vocal Republicans more often than any teaching of love from Christ.
“For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” (1 Timothy 6:10)
“And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:24)
Until they acknowledge that greed and guns are the antithesis of the teachings of Christ, I can’t help but detect a bit of hypocrisy in these folks.
I’m not saying every conservative Christian Republican is like this. That would be naive and simplistic. But the most vocal of them certainly are. And, even if this isn’t the majority, it would seem that way due to their willingness to drown out any other voices. If you are among the conservative Christian Republicans who don’t agree with the narrative you’re being saddled with, it’s time for you to get loud and denounce these folks who would speak for you.
