I know that at least one of my readers is so anti-gun that if I talk about guns long enough around him, he will become violent, throwing whatever is within reach at me. Perhaps this is why he is anti-gun: not so much for the sake of others not having guns, but so that he'll never be allowed a gun. Anyway, despite knowing my audience, when I saw this picture on Dan Phillips' blog, I couldn't resist reposting it here.
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Many people defend the use of guns because they see it as a necessary component of ensuring personal safety. The question is whether it is the best means to achieve such a goal. In other words, is arming a country with guns really going to make the world a safer place?
Many people are opposed to the idea of encouraging guns because there are better alternatives to ensuring public safety. Would it not be more effective to address the issues hindering personal safety like drug use,alcohol abuse, poverty, etc that might be encouraging crime rates within a community? That seems like a more long-term solution than simply handing out a gun to every individual citizen.
In addition, I don't think pastors should be mixing their own political biases into their sermons. Besides, Southern states have more of a 'gun culture' so it's not surprising that they would be 'pro-gun'. Moreover, I don't think there is necessarily a "Christian" way of looking at gun policy. This is a public policy issue and such issues are complex and effective solutions are varying depending on state (or provincial) needs.
Nonetheless, it was an interesting post and certainly got me thinking.
Hi Mons, It was a Sunday school class. Did you listen to it? If not, do not judge.
As to the merits of the issue being brought up in church, I think it's morally neutral. Christianity is a worldview (it's more than that, but it's at least that), so if the Bible has some principles that shed light on how Christians should think about the gun issue, I think it's fair (i.e., not unbiblical) to bring it up.
I really want Christians to think biblically, and I think this class helps. (To give this context, Dr. Grudem at the end of September last year, in the Sunday school class that he teaches, started going through the material that composes his next book: Politics and he covers many issues, such as abortion, marriage, and euthanasia. And there he said, “What I teach will represent my view and I will attempt to reason from the Bible to show how I reached these views. My views are not the official position of SBC [Scottsdale Bible Church] and they are not the only views at SBC.”)
Next, you said, “Many people are opposed to the idea of encouraging guns because there are better alternatives to ensuring public safety. Would it not be more effective to address the issues hindering personal safety like drug use, alcohol abuse, poverty, etc that might be encouraging crime rates within a community?” I suspect you’re right that if we were able to fix those issues crime would go down significantly. That said, it doesn’t preclude allowing guns for protection. Your comment makes it seem like you see this as an either/or position, where, I can see it as both/and, namely, give people guns and fight these social problems that lead to crime.
Let me close by encouraging you to listen to the talk.
I did listen to part of the talk (which I made sure to do before commenting) so I got the premise of his point.
I don't think gun control can be compared alongside issues like euthanasia or abortion because the gun control policy is much more of a 'grey area' topic for Christians. It can go either way. It's like telling Christians which political party to vote for.
Instead of depending on guns for protection, why don't we invest in safer locks and implement after-school programs to keep kids out of trouble? My point is, why depend on guns at all in the first place?
If you listen to the whole talk, he makes the point that hidden weapons permits should not be outlawed, and that in states where people are permitted hidden weapons, violent crime goes down. If a robber doesn't know who else is carrying a gun in a corner store he'll hesitate even more to pull out the gun.
Also, in the talk he makes the argument that in the UK, where they have very strict laws pertaining to guns, the bad guys still get the guns, so it's only the good people who definitely don't have guns.
Anyway, in reference to Dr. Grudem talking about his stance on gun control, you said, "It's like telling Christians which political party to vote for." But it's not telling them who to vote for. If I say that murdering unborn babies is evil and wrong, I am just as much so telling people who to vote for as when I tell them that gun ownership reduces violent crime, and I'm certainly not going to back down from saying that abortion is bad.
Oh, but thank you, Mons, for interacting with me on this. I commend you for not staying silent on an issue with which you disagree.
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