In my own firearm training, my instructor actually told me it’s better that you not carry if you are not ready to kill in a moment in time. So whenever a Christian takes on their body the capacity and the willingness in their heart to kill another human being, that, to me, is a serious moral and ethical crisis. It’s also a serious theological problem, because we have to ask, “Is is it always the will of God that I survive a violent confrontation?”
Source: Why Christians Need to Talk About Guns | RELEVANT Magazine
I am a Catholic, and the teachings of the Catechism of the Catholic Church are handy in my laptop:
2263 The legitimate defense of persons and societies is not an exception to the prohibition against the murder of the innocent that constitutes intentional killing. “The act of self-defense can have a double effect: the preservation of one’s own life; and the killing of the aggressor. . . . The one is intended, the other is not.“65
2264 Love toward oneself remains a fundamental principle of morality. Therefore it is legitimate to insist on respect for one’s own right to life. Someone who defends his life is not guilty of murder even if he is forced to deal his aggressor a lethal blow.
2265 Legitimate defense can be not only a right but a grave duty for one who is responsible for the lives of others. The defense of the common good requires that an unjust aggressor be rendered unable to cause harm. For this reason, those who legitimately hold authority also have the right to use arms to repel aggressors against the civil community entrusted to their responsibility.
I doubt pretty much that any Evangelicals would have different view on this matter. I know Judaism goes pretty much along similar lines. I am not sure, but I think even the the ultra pacifist Quakers agree with defending yourself.
Now the important question they ask is this:
“Is is it always the will of God that I survive a violent confrontation?”
If you, willingly, renounce to use the means, both mentally and physically that God has given you to survive a life-ending violent attack, then you are committing suicide. In our side of the street, that is a Mortal Sin. Going back to the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
Suicide
2280 Everyone is responsible for his life before God who has given it to him.
It is God who remains the sovereign Master of life.
We are obliged to accept life gratefully and preserve it for his honor and the salvation of our souls.
We are stewards, not owners, of the life God has entrusted to us.
It is not ours to dispose of.
2281 Suicide contradicts the natural inclination of the human being to preserve and perpetuate his life.
It is gravely contrary to the just love of self.
It likewise offends love of neighbor because it unjustly breaks the ties of solidarity with family, nation, and other human societies to which we continue to have obligations.
Suicide is contrary to love for the living God.
2282 If suicide is committed with the intention of setting an example, especially to the young, it also takes on the gravity of scandal.
Voluntary co-operation in suicide is contrary to the moral law.
Grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can diminish the responsibility of the one committing suicide.
It is both morally and religiously right to defend oneself or others even if death of the attacker is the outcome. To say otherwise and to block the holy right that people have to save their lives is morally despicable. It is no different than the mullahs brainwashing drug-controlled kids into wearing a suicide vest and go blast an open market full people.
But morally absent idiots like CSGV dare to call us degenerates. Imbeciles like Moms Demand try to paint us as Unchristian. But it would not be the first time that a group of idiots twist religion to satisfy whatever sick notion of power they have. When I call CSGV a cult, I am not being funny or insulting, I am just calling it like they truly are. And apparently Shannon Watts wants to add High Priestess to her resume.
We will be happy to keep destroying your molten calf.
The “cult” keeps stepping farther over the line. That guy is saying words apparently without thinking about the consequences . Would he really stand by and allow his loved ones to come to harm , rather than take the “precious life” of a murdering psychopath? I would bet that he would answer some nonsense about passive resistance as a hypothetical. But he has stopped thinking since he put on the mantle of “peaceful resistance.” If everyone who desires peace (such as we all do, as civilized humans) followed this guy’s mantra, before long the psychopaths would kill every last one of us. Not exactly what they are hoping for in their future “world without guns.”
I am afraid that the answer would be yes.
I seem to recall an awful lot of killing going on in Biblical Times, sanctioned by the Creator.
And the correct translation is “Thou shalt not MURDER”.
Killing is perfectly fine when when JUSTIFIED.
I do NOT “Shoot to Kill”…. I “Shoot to LIVE” or to “Protect” or to “Survive”.
One of the most common misunderstandings people have is the idea they should “shoot to kill” or heaven forbid, “shoot to wound”. When you understand that your whole purpose in self-defense is to STOP THE ATTACK, then you have a better grasp on all the rest.
If your attacker happens to die as a result of THEIR actions, then it is just chance, not YOUR intent.
Rational people do not relish killing nor do they look forward to it, but they DO reserve it as a RIGHT which at times may be necessary to preserve other life. We hope the day will never come when we must use deadly force, yet we are realistic enough to be ready and able should the need arise.
At the time of an attack you owe your assailant absolutely nothing; not compassion, not pity, not humanity, not sympathy or empathy, and certainly not the benefit of the doubt.
They CHOSE to attack YOU.
The Bad Guy has been already warned by Society that breaking and entering, assault, rape, murder, etc. are against the law and that there are some people with guns out there that may kill them if they continue with their criminal pastimes.
“I do not ‘shoot to kill,’ I shoot to LIVE.” That sounds familiar.(14:53-15:17, and I apologize that dropping you into that is probably not going to make much sense without 16 episodes of context. In my defense, it’s a really good series dealing with pride, forgiveness, humility, good, evil, and belief, and is at least as relevant to Christianity as it is to the religion it actually features.)
Funny how a Japanese writer who follows Shinto understands the 5th/6th(depending on your particular sect) commandment better than most Christians and Catholics do.
Antis who wax philosophical really don’t do a lot of thinking, and ALL anti-gunners seem to have an extreme lack of “Red Team” work, where they look at the talking points, agenda items, and rebuttals us on the other side bring.
Because of that, this clown didn’t see that he’s essentially condemning ALL Police, Military, and private security….or at least those who have had to pull a trigger for righteous reasons, to hell.
That’s a SERIOUS dick move, and given that war and soldiers are depicted so heavily in the Bible without one-sided universal damnation, that seems like a MAJOR oversight.
ie: Dude is a TOTAL idiot!
Who knows what he believes. They will try anything to win.
Yes and like all pacifist cowards, they hide behind rough men ready to do violence on their behalf. How moral is it when they simply have others do their dirty work for them so as to keep their hands clean?
Been a long time since my Catechism days but it’s amazing how much sense it all makes.
The catechisms make a lot of sense to me. They match up pretty well with my personal interpretations from an evangelical viewpoint.
And Gremlin, apology accepted. I now need to watch all those.
For all that the community is mocked, Japanese animation has a lot of depth that just can’t be found in Western animation. When it’s bad, it’s pretty awful, but when it’s good, it’s REALLY good.
I agree. Honestly, I watch more japanese animation than most western tv shows period, by that’s more of an effect there being hundreds (thousands?) of episodes of good stuff on that hand, while I’ve caught up on most of the western stuff that I can stand.
Noragami, Aldnoah.Zero, Death Parade, Durarara, Rokka no Yuusha, and Lupin III, and that’s just what’s had a season air since January, not even touching on classics like Cowboy Bebop, Fullmetal Alchemist, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and Trigun.
I feel like most of the people here would enjoy Bebop and Trigun in particular.
Yeah, Trigun was my introduction to GOOD shows. Don’t even remember what butchered-by-Americans show I first watched growing up, but it had turned me away from Japanese stuff completely.
Schenck is one of the protagonists in a “documentary” called “Armor of Light”. The trailer was on ENDO a few days ago.
It also features professional grieving mother Lucy McBath talking about eeeevil SYG.
Consciously or not Schenck seems to have been absorbed by the Bloomberg/Moms demand whatever blob.
I’m not even Christian and I knew these things. God wants his followers to survive and thrive, so they may worship him and do his works. This isn’t any kind of moral quandary.
I am a not a Christian and do not care what you think. “Shall not be infringed.” Unless you have 2/3 of Congress and 3/4 of the state legislatures ready to amend the Constitution, I don’t care and I don’t have to give you a reason why. Molon Labe.
The constitution isn’t a “thing” anymore.
And also….
2321 The prohibition of murder does not abrogate the right to render an unjust aggressor unable to inflict harm. Legitimate defense is a grave duty for whoever is responsible for the lives of others or the common good.
I wonder if “Moms Demand” is aware of 1 Peter 3:7? Or Thomas Aquinas’s statements in the Summa on the nature of women? Or Saint Augustine’s?
Or does religious faith only count when it’s being spouted by left-wing ideologues?
Only counts when it’s being spouted by left-wing ideologues or trashed by left-wing atheists.
“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.” – Luke 22:36
If He wants the disciples to buy a sword, I would have to think He means for them to use it, if needed, to defend themselves.