American civil society gun culture
Bigstock
American civil society gun culture
Bigstock

Gloria is 40 years old, a mother of five and a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She is also a gun owner.

Gloria was one of the dozens of gun owners interviewed by two University of Kansas researchers, Abbie Vegter and Margaret Kelley, for a groundbreaking new study exploring the religious connection to gun ownership.

“When asked about why she owned a gun,” the researchers write in “The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Gun Ownership,” published in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, “Gloria expressed a desire ‘to protect innocence.’ She related this back to the idea of the supernatural, sharing ‘I guess it goes back to good and evil. I would hope that I would always choose the good side, and sometimes that means that you’ve got to get rid of the bad guy.’”

— Mya Jaradat in Understanding America: Is there a connection between faith and firearms?

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

82 COMMENTS

  2. I like this new lefty religiosity equating “WWJD” to “you should just cuck to everything and be a doormat.” The commies can’t eradicate god so they have to usurp god and make it work for them.

    I’m not a believer myself but some of the shit I’m seeing coming from the churches of friends who do attend services is nuts. Hyper progressive, globalist, collectivist, cucking to Caesar garbage. Like every preacher is Jeremiah Wright all of a sudden.

    • There are good and bad in everything, including the church. The good seldom get mentioned or any credit (think Samaritan’s Purse in NYC), but that isn’t why they do it. I can’t and won’t excuse Jeremiah Wright, but for every one of him, there are dozens who mean well. And you are also right, when someone claims to be “a good [insert any denomination here]” yet supports an agenda that is not back by the church they claim means so much to them, that’s bad press being dumped on good people. In out case it’s like someone who claims to support the Second Amendment but then wants to ban gun or magazines as a compromise.

      • Sometimes I like a good ol’ fire n’ brimstone Old Testament eye-for-an-eye smite that mf’er preacher, and then sometimes I like a “Jesus is love” turn the other cheek, love they neighbor sorta preacher. Lately I’m trending toward the former.

    • The communist will use whatever avenue he can to brainwash the masses, if it takes co-opting religion then he will do so until he gets his way, then he’ll just come after said religion later.

      How these people you speak of, simply ignore the direct attack on their faith by the communist… I just don’t understand that. Perhaps as you said they’ve been beaten into submission already.

      • The People’s Republic of China despises Christianity, but couldn’t snuff it out because it went underground to “home churches.” The PRC decided to allow Christians to meet in public, but only if they joined the PRC’s “Three Self Church.” They then banned religion to be taught to anyone under the age of 18. Parents could not bring their children to church. They also limited the number of Bibles, so there aren’t enough copies to put one in each member’s hands. All this was supposed to extinguish the Christian faith, but it hasn’t.

        There are new moves now by the PRC against the faithful. Authorities are engaging in a track and apprehend program based on the movements of Three Self Church members. It should have been obvious that the PRC was using the public church to find everyone in the underground “home churches.”

        Chairman Mao used a similar tactic to round up dissenters. It was called, “Allow a Hundred Blossoms to Bloom.” The PRC staged “town hall meetings,” and encouraged the people to give the government ideas from which to adapt their policies. Over time, authorities were able to identify dissenters and build dossiers on them. Eventually the government had collected all it needed to arrest dissenters and “send them down” to education work camps. Many internees were never heard from again.

        Mao was responsible for the elimination of 80 million of the country’s citizens. Unrepentant domestic terrorist, college professor, and political advisor to “President” Obama met with his Weather Underground terrorist leaders to discuss the progress of their Communist insurrection. It was said that in order to ensure the success of the Communist Revolution they would have to eliminate all the die-hard Capitalists. They estimated it would be 10% of the population, which at the time would have amounted to 23 million citizens.

        Know this: the Leftists now stealing key 2020 election contests will try to kill 10% of the American population to ensure the success of the Communist Revolution. That amounts to 32 million of us! Are you ready to use the firearms meant by the 2nd Amendment to be applied in times like this?

    • Well shire…First show some respect and Cap the the first letter in God otherwise those you claim to disdain applaud you. I suggest you find other ‘friends” who can sense their surroundings doesn’t feel quite right and leave…Like all of us your time will come…and at an atheist’s funeral the deceased gets all dressed up and goes nowhere.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5z-jjWyAJQ

      • I am a Non Believer for I have not seen the light so many speak of and yet I follow the tenets based within many religions. There are many who “believe” and yet live a life of sin. There are many who do not believe yet live a life of good. Who among these have chosen the better path. If your God is all forgiving would It allow the wicked who “believe” to ascend into heaven while damning all who lived a good life to “Hell”? I was once ask many years ago by a group of Jehovah’s Witness if I wanted to go the “Heaven”? My answer was simple then as it is now. Why would I want to go to someplace where I may not know anyone. Any “God” who requires belief in It over a life of good to enter into Its domain. Seems to be a spiteful deity with an ego to match. Peace Be With You.

        • The wicked will not ascend into heaven and nor shall they that don’t accept Jesus as their savior. If you truly believe you will turn your back on evil ways, otherwise you don’t truly believe. There are hypocrites and liars in this world and you better believe that.

        • Well said, Darkman, I’ll see you there, if there is a there. Meanwhile, Debbie, any suits of mine will go to charity and I will go up the chimney, there will be no pagan “ceremonies” over my leftover meat. How totally disgusting.

          And, I’ll be quite satisfied to go where all my friends and the rest of the fun people are, and I’ve always liked it warm. Does anybody actually believe that prehistoric nonsense anymore?

        • Remember…all of these” rules” have been made up by men. Most of the time said rules serve to make followers join a specific denomination. Joining a particular religion also served to enrich those who administer that religion. Like politicians…most start out full of good intentions but “the root of all evil” takes many. BTW “love of money” is the root of all evil, just ask any senator or congressman, their staff and leading the parade…lobbyists.

    • Shire-man,

      Suppose for a moment that God exists and the Bible is accurate/true. Now consider these overarching and immutable principles spelled out in the Bible:
      1) Satan is evil and suckered all mankind into sin which disconnects all mankind from God.
      2) The “debt” of our sin is too great for us to ever fix it ourselves.
      3) That sin/disconnect therefore means that we will spend eternity in Hell disconnected from God unless we put our faith in God’s Son, Jesus, to absolve us of the eternal debt/consequences of our sin.
      4) God sent/directed His church to teach these simple truths to the world.
      5) If churches are corrupted, these simple truths will not reach the world and countless people will spend eternity in Hell disconnected from God.

      If those simple concepts are true, where do you think Satan would concentrate much of his efforts to keep mankind suckered into sin and forever disconnected from God? Answer: the church. That is why you see a lot of “badness” coming from church leaders and church bodies.

      • “That is why you see a lot of “badness” coming from church leaders and church bodies.”

        I concur. To be honest, there are many “religions” and faiths, but in the US, at least prior to obama, we mainly considered ourselves “Christian” in nature and our body of law came from the Judeo-Christian foundation. As per the normal, large “Christian” churches of the past, only, perhaps, the Baptist faith is still sending the same message as when I was a kid growing up in the 1950s/60s. Today, the Presbyterians (in which I was once baptized), many of the Lutherans, esp ELCA, Methodists, Episcopalians, Congregationals and as always, the Catholics have chosen progressive tenets over actual Biblical instruction as a model for personal living and guidance. All now accept, among other things, gay marriage- some especially seeking gay ministers, personal disarmament, basic acceptance and “tolerance” for nearly anything one can come up with, and will allow the ruling government to speak for their ever-diminishing congregations to maintain their tax status. As per LDS/mormons, I’ve always considered them more of a sect, not Christians.

        It is extremely difficult for anyone to accept, by blind faith, that which we cannot see or hold in our hand. Unless someone undergoes some sort of life-altering process, it usually never comes until one is lying in a hopeless foxhole, the hospital bed with tubes running in and out, or finds some semblence of sense in a hospice. I would offer, however, that one take some time away from the keyboard, TV or local watering hole and sit down and actually read the Bible. I’d suggest for the majority of us, myself included, we choose either the NLT or NIV versions which are written in modern, easy to understand and relate to language. If for no other reason, one will gain a new sense of history from the OT and throughout both testaments one will very soon discover that nothing we do to each other, nor what our rulers/governing bodies attempt are new, such is a part of human nature and have been going on since someone started drawing pics on cave walls. Man, if you want to read about some real war and killing without mercy or quarter, dig in.

        As a suggestion should you want to take up the reading and consider yourself tied in some manner to Christianity, I suggest reading Luke first, then the Acts of the Apostles. If you get no further you should soon gain some sense that these men who were followers of the Son of God gave everything: life, limb, wealth, even honor for some in trying to teach the New Covenant and Gospel. Without the internet, Facebook and social media they spread The Word to most corners of the known world in mere decades without monetary assistance or prodding other than their own faith and knowledge, many of whom had known and witnessed the life of the Christ. People don’t just go around doing things like that without some good reason and these men knowingly went to horrible deaths for what they had witnessed and believed. Even if one doesn’t believe in God or Christ, it is generally accepted that the Bible of today is a pretty accurate account of history in the areas in question.

        As for the “creeps” and sinners being used to promote the gospel, I’d present Paul of Tarsus. For years, he, of the finest Jewish blood and stature went around persecuting Christians unmercifully until God chose to use him- one of his worst foes- as the primary author of the letters and doctrine explanation found in the NT. As with the others who actually followed Christ while he walked as a human on earth, he had no sane reason to follow this path to his long imprisonment and death other than his faith.

        I hope some of you will take up my challenge to read the Bible. Even if you do not believe afterwards you should have a better sense of why you don’t.

        • I met a girl in Taiwan in 1983. It was a Saturday, the day of a big dart tournament in which my team was competing. I was in a deserted pub, tossing darts to warm up, when this lovely lady came in to wait for a friend, who it turned out had stood her up.

          We started a polite conversation, and I learned that she was a Buddhist who had just graduated from Fu Jen Catholic University in the capital city of Taipei. She earned a BA in English Literature, which engaged me fully, because I had myself immensely enjoyed English Literature in college.

          After deep discussion about books and their authors, she brought up the Bible. Naturally a Catholic university would include the Bible in its Literature program. That woman, a Buddhist, knew more about the Bible than I, a boy raised as a Roman Catholic, ever knew. It was embarrassing, and I asked her if we could meet again on the following Saturday. She said yes.

          I then went home immediately, completely forgetting about the dart tournament. I picked up the Catholic Bible my mom had given me when I first went overseas. I had held onto it, unread, for 12 years. But here I was, resolved to reading it cover to cover.

          I read the Bible as though it were just a novel. I didn’t study it verse by verse, but enjoyed its author(s) sense of style. The Bible revealed a God that I felt had grown, just as any main character in a novel grows. I soon came to realize that God hadn’t grown, but that His chosen people had grown with each revelation. God was constant, at times severe, at times hilarious. It was a good read, but it took me another 12 years before I actually studied the Bible verse by verse, book by book.

          Anyway, I had read the entire Bible in a week’s time. Mind you, the Catholic Bible is longer because it includes some Books that are not included in the New King James Bible. Yes, I read the whole thing, barely sleeping, and was ready to discuss it with this sweet girl on that following Saturday.

          That chance meeting and love of books brought us together, and we dated for seven years. We bought a house together and lived together, until one day I saw a grandfather walk his grandson into a park across the street from our home.

          It had been 20 years passed since I first went abroad. Twelve years in the Air Force (Vietnam), and eight years as an expatriate living in Taiwan, and I had never once felt homesick in all that time. That day, I was struck hard, and I knew I had to go home.

          “How would you like to go to the States?” I asked my girlfriend, Gail.

          “I don’t have any vacation time left, do—“ she said, and I reframed the question, “No, I mean how would you like to move to the States?”

          She asked, “Wouldn’t we have to be married to do that?”

          “I guess so,” I answered.

          “Wait,” she said, “Are you asking me to marry you?!”

          “I guess so,” I said, shocking myself perhaps more than her.

          Then she hung me on a thread, saying, “I have to think about it.”

          What?! We’ve been together for seven years. We’ve shared everything about ourselves. We had been open books to each other. What’s to think about?

          I suffered two agonizing days waiting for her answer. Finally she said, “Yes. But you have to honor my mother by asking for my hand in the traditional manner she expects.”

          I said okay, and that was the beginning of our 32-year marriage. Gail has since gotten born again in a church that is known as a “word” church. The words of the Bible are central to the message of the church. We each have Bible in hand, to follow the pastors as we explore the Word of God.

          God guided me to this faith-filled woman, and He guided us to adopt two beautiful girls from China. The PRC’s “One Child” policy had orphaned thousands of girls, but God had plans for us and for them. They are now in college, but we had limited their tube time and they found literature instead of Leftist-inspired television programming, and they were able to fight off indoctrination in grade school and high school.

  4. Religious people have never been the only ones who supported gun civil rights. Especially those that have actually read the bible and all its pro “gun” quotes. But its non believers who are the ones most hard at work, trying to disarm the civilian population. Religious faith and gun ownership have always gone together.

    The atheist chairman Mao said “power flows out the end of a gun barrel”. But he only wanted the government having that kind of power. Most atheists still think that way. Or they think by legalizing drugs the gangs will put down their guns. No the criminal gang will never give up “the power that flows out the end of a gun barrel”.

    • I appreciate the sentiment, but I must point out that not you, nor I, nor anyone else knows who is a believer and who is not. I have a friend for 35 years now who told me once she doesn’t believe any of that nonsense anymore, yet she still attends Catholic services every week and drags her family along, because of the power of the brainwashing she was forced to endure as a child. A casual observer would classify her as a believer, but would be totally wrong. There are many, many reasons to fake it, and precious few benefits to stating plainly that you are awake to the lies. And that is by design, it is a feature, not a bug.

      You might want to look at what happened to the gang wars after Prohibition was repealed, I don’t think Jack Daniels regularly kills deliverymen for Crown Royal. Of course the drug wars will disappear if drugs are legalized, claiming otherwise is simply stupid, or a bald-faced lie. And if you really believe that, why not try it for a decade, after 6 decades of a war on drugs which has accomplished exactly NOTHING??!!

      • Thanks for a reasoned response. I would say your friend can’t admit to herself, that the church provides a moral foundation for her children. That she can’t find in any other social setting. Atheists are forever trying to tear down Christianity. But then will make an alliance with Muslim terrorist’s. In fact the Taliban has offered advice to the American atheist’s, on how to better tear down monuments. I assume the American atheists took them up, on using that advice. Because they have decades of history trying to tear down monuments.

        Our culture is unique in the world. You can’t compare American rum runners and Al Capone with the cartel’s down south. That’s the problem with Libertarians. They think everyone in the world is the same. I think That’s why they support open borders. Capone and others like him where very violent evil men. But they weren’t nearly as violent as the drug cartels.
        The governments guns didn’t defeat Al Capone. Tax laws did. And its tax laws that have forced the California pot businesses to move to low tax states. But sadly they also took their progressive socialist politics with them. And they are destroying states Colorado, Washington State, etc. But you can do legalized drugs there now.

        I will never say its ok to do drugs. But Libertarians require people to support drug use. I don’t support drug use at all. But I think you have every right to do stupid things that destroy yourself. But that doesn’t mean its ok. Libertarians give away their cover when they don’t support shooting addicts when they rob, rape, murder, steal, and or vandalize private property. Also they don’t support shooting looters.

        But still laughingly claim they support private property rights. They even produced a film about the Kelo case. Libertarian’s putting up a great fight to stop the government from taking a woman’s home. And then give it to a big private developer.

        But if a mob comes to your home to take it away. The Libertarians don’t support shooting looters and vandals, so you can keep and protect your home.

        The bible says I can under the right circumstances, kill to protect my property. Most atheists don’t believe that. If you Take the bible out the equation we killed all the time to protect what we had in this country historically. Now the atheists, who don’t live in major cities. But live off the main roads, back in the woods, miles away from where a mob would go. They say let the criminals take what you have. Don’t fight back.

        • Btw
          As the public school system becomes a sh*thole. The atheistic Christian hating parents are flooding Catholic and other religious schools with their children.

          It seems religion is very useful to some atheists after all. Also it was christians who started the homeschool movement. To now where over a million christian children are homeschooled. And atheists parents are now using home schooling materials developed and published by christians.

  5. the nauvoo nitwits are specifically why my doorbell is disco necktied.
    so if she gets in a shootout with a jehova’s witness will they both bleed out from .22short wounds due to lack of medical attention?

    • Are you an Idiot or just Stupid? The Church of Jesus Christ of latter-Day-Saints is not the Jehovah’s Witness. The people of Nauvoo that live just a few miles East of me are a fine group of people who attend their faith with respect to all people. Having been to their community many times over the last 60 years I can attest to their politeness and sense of community. They also do not and have ever pushed their religious beliefs on me or any other person I know. Keep in mind that this is coming from a NON Believer that still is willing to respect the beliefs that other people hold and polite enough to allow them their time to express those beliefs even in public. May You find the Peace all Search for. Even those who do not Believe.

      • and then the big one flew by.
        hint: they’re not in nauvoo anylonger. update: joe was killed.
        i’m thrilled you get along with your neighbors, but they ain’t mormons.
        both factions mentioned in the silly scenario above are averse to modern medicine, along with the christian scientists. so while i admit to being a stupid idiot (as charged) you might want to get trepanned as you may be dense.

  6. btw

    It was Jesus of Nazareth who carried a very useful weapon. When he needed one. Most of you have not read the story of Jesus and the Money Changers. You have only seen a movie about it. Not read what really happened.

    The son of gods weapon was left on the cutting room floor of the Hollywood editing room. But go look up nearly all the old paintings of Jesus and money changers in the Temple. The artists did not edit out his weapon.

    • Yup, very good observation. John 2:15. Jesus “made a whip of cords” and drove the money changers out of the temple courtyard, telling them they had “made His Father’s house into a den of thieves” due to their corruption.

      If even the good Lord took up a weapon to drive the bad actors out of the financial system, then…

      • That was always the image I was raised with, Jesus kicking ass with a cat ‘o nine tails looking device.

        • Not a whit of evidence says that story is a bit more accurate than the ones invented in Hollywood 2 or 3 centuries later, still thousands of years after the fact. Even the Bible was written 300 years after the fact, nobody has an iPhone video of any actual occurrence, arguments such as this are really silly.

        • “Even the Bible was written 300 years after the fact, nobody has an iPhone video of any actual occurrence, arguments such as this are really silly.”

          Actually, the Bible was not “written”, it is a compilation of historical documentations and scrolls/letters from various prophets in the case of the OT (Torah) and Gospel Writings and letters, dating from the late 40s AD to the 70s AD, with the writings of John being the latest, perhaps into the very early 90s AD. Perhaps you might be interested in actually reading them. No one is really arguing other than, perhaps, you.

        • “Actually, the Bible was not “written”, it is a compilation of historical documentations and scrolls/letters from various prophets…” “and other men of prominence” was inadvertently left out the first time. Sorry, I could not edit.

  8. I have a slightly different read on faith in God and self-defense.

    Many/most Communists and Progressives reject God — either directly (aetheists) or indirectly (refusing to accept/follow God’s precepts revealed in both nature and the Bible) and go wherever their feelings take them. Needless to say, feelings are quite often at war with truth and reality. That being the case, Communists and Progressives come up with all manner of “reasons” to ignore/reject self-defense and hence ignore/reject firearm ownership.

    Many/most people of faith in God accept/follow God’s precepts revealed in both nature and the Bible. That being the case, they hold the sanctity of human dignity and life in the highest regard, they recognize that there are “bad” people in the world who will violate their dignity and life, and they therefore want effective self-defense tools/strategies to uphold the sanctity of human dignity and life. Helping that mindset is the fact that God overtly (and graciously) allows people to use deadly force when necessary to defend against attackers.

  9. Quoting a pseudo Christian cult menber to get a “gist” of defending good vs evil?!? What would GOD the SON do? Rule with a rod of iron. And smite the wicked with great fury and violence. Have a swell day…

    • former water walker,

      Now THAT is an interesting way of looking at things. For several years, I have been solely focused on Bible verses which support human enacted self-defense and never even considered God’s own position/imagery of opposing/responding to evil.

      • What is the definition of a “Christian”? Answer: Small Christ. Never let the enemy define you…

        • Then why would you ostracize another group that believes in the Atonement? The right of belief itself is under attack, and you’re all going to need to hang together, or we’ll all hang separately.

        • Ing,

          You raise a fair question and the explanation is fairly simple. Note that I am not disparaging Latter Day Saints. I have close contacts with Latter Day Saints and I cherish them as wonderful people. Regardless of my personal feelings or affections for Latter Day Saints, the facts are the facts and clearly show that core Latter Day Saint doctrine rejects the atonement.

          When you take the deep dive — and I am talking super-duper deep — into Latter Day Saints doctrine, you discover that their objective is becoming good enough to become gods themselves and have their own eternal kingdom complete with their own spirit children who refer to them as their god. That radically deviates from classic orthodox Christianity in three ways since Latter Day Saints claim/promote:
          1) multiple gods
          2) attaining their own god status and their own kingdom
          3) spending eternity separate from God

          And the biggest problem of all: the Almighty God of orthodox Christianity and Judeism is actually just a god that used to be a human before achieving god status and we are all his/her spirit children.

          Finally, sprinkle in the fact that Latter Day Saints ultimately rely on a “burning in the bosom” (e.g. feelings) as the final arbiter of truth and you come to realize that Latter Day Saints effectively reject the entirety of orthodox Christian dogma/doctrine. Thus, Latter Day Saints do not share in the Atonement of orthodox Christianity.

          Once again, I repeat that I am not disparaging Latter Day Saints: I do not dog them either face-to-face or online and I respect their choice of doctrine even though I do not share their doctrine.

        • I was actually referring to FWW, I thought…but since you brought it up…

          Although I hold no faith now, I do know quite a bit about the LDS faith, having been raised in it (even earned a four-year seminary certificate in high school and was ordained in the priesthood).

          So I do know what I’m talking about when I say that anyone who claims Mormons reject the Atonement in any way is flat wrong. Everything in the LDS religion revolves around belief in Christ as the redeemer.

          The other theological aspects you mentioned (except for the “burning in the bosom,” which is no final arbiter, but merely a personal witness of faith) are definitely a thing, though, and I do agree that in most ways — except for the only one that truly counts — Mormons do reject orthodox Christian belief, and are emphatically not a mainstream Protestant faith.

          But…so what? It just puzzles me that so many people just can’t accept that Mormons truly do believe in God and Christ or that they’re allies in this battle against a very real evil.

        • Ing,

          I appreciate your perspective and comments. And I believe that the overwhelming majority of Latter Day Saints are genuinely kind and caring people who mean well. I also believe that Latter Day Saints are/can/should be excellent allies in the fight for our rights.

          For reference I want to highlight the fact that LDS doctrine does not believe in the same Christ and Heavenly Father that orthodox Christians believe in. Christians believe that Christ is God the Son of everything and our Heavenly Father is God the Father of everything — which absolutely excludes any possible inferior/junior or superior/senior gods. That being the case, LDS supporters do not share the same Atonement.

        • For near 6000 years, men have been inventing and reinventing superstitious crapola in order to gain control over the inattentive or weak minded. There is no one story which could be considered “true”, by any stretch of the imagination. And those resulting groups have REPEATEDLY killed each other by the tens of millions in order to demonstrate the power of their “gods”, while of course stealing the lands and possessions and raping the women of those conquered by their god. The discussion is pointless, each believes what he was trained to believe, none of which are related to any manner of “truth”.

        • Eh…we could argue about whether it’s the *same* atonement or not forever. Where it all comes together for me is that Mormons accept the Bible as truth, and believe in God, the Son, and the Holy Ghost just like everyone else — and their interpretation of the nature of the trinity is just as valid as anyone else’s.

          LarryInTX makes a good point about nobody having an absolute monopoly on truth. Any religion that’s worth following MUST believe that it has a handle on ultimate truth, otherwise it’s not worth following at all. And yet there are so many different versions of it that it only makes sense to conclude that nobody on this earth can ever possibly know that truth.

          The death toll of religion, though… People have killed each other en masse forever, and religion is far from the biggest driver of it. Religion actually gives large groups of people more reason to get along with each other.

          There’s good evidence that if you remove religion, you get MORE mass killing, not less. In the past century alone, the explicitly godless ideology of Marxism has killed and starved more people than there were on the entire planet when Jesus walked the earth.

  10. How come there aren’t studies regarding leftism, atheism and mass murder? Religion is a powerful force and the right to life is fundamental. Government is not the answer. Government only takes. It will take your lives if it deems it to be necessary. Leftist governments and media view religious beliefs as cancerous.

    • God said knew several people while they were still in the womb, I wonder if he considers abortion murder? If you are a politician and push for abortion are you pushing for murder in Gods eyes. I honestly wonder how many politicians will make it to heaven anyway. Bet hell’s full of them, any takers. I wonder what God thinks about “christens” who vote for these politicians. The Bible does state not many will make it into heaven, hope I’m one. I do hunt and enjoy deer meat immensely, especially in chilly. Elk is fantastic and antelope is king. Never thought about shooting another person except for the time I was in the army.

        • “You’d do better to wonder if a god exists, than what philosophical viewpoints it might hold.”

          Pascal’s Wager
          “The wager uses the following logic (excerpts from Pensées, part III, §233):

          God is, or God is not. Reason cannot decide between the two alternatives
          A Game is being played… where heads or tails will turn up
          You must wager (it is not optional)

          Let us weigh the gain and the loss in wagering that God is. Let us estimate these two chances. If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing

          Wager, then, without hesitation that He is. (…) There is here an infinity of an infinitely happy life to gain, a chance of gain against a finite number of chances of loss, and what you stake is finite. And so our proposition is of infinite force when there is the finite to stake in a game where there are equal risks of gain and of loss, and the infinite to gain.

          But some cannot believe. They should then ‘at least learn your inability to believe…’ and ‘Endeavour then to convince’ themselves.

          Pascal asks the reader to analyze humankind’s position, where our actions can be enormously consequential, but our understanding of those consequences is flawed. While we can discern a great deal through reason, we are ultimately forced to gamble.”
          (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal's_wager)

  12. I don’t think the Almighty wants his people to be at the tender mercies of others, especially the current crop of elected folk we have now.

  13. FYI
    A Firearms and Religion mixture can be found at the following:

    1. God And Guns podcast. On the Firearms radio network.
    2. Armed Lutheran Radio. Part of the Self Defense Radio Network.
    3. The Black Man with a gun podcast By the Rev. Kenn Blanchard.

    4. The ‘Gun Rabbi’ Teaches Torah of Self-Defense. video 8 min long.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ouuPS–RDI

  15. From the article:
    “She related this back to the idea of the supernatural, ‘I guess it goes back to good and evil.’ ”
    Implied in the article statement is a huge difference in world view between people of faith and the left. Christians and Jews, even Muslims and Latter Day Saints believe that God is good and defines good behavior and that there is evil which is against God, and finally there will be an accounting to God after death. I’m not going to discuss the differences in what is defined as good or evil by the different religions. Implicit in the above article quote is that for the author there is no good or evil. Any atheist would understand that. To Marxists, it’s not good vs evil, it’s in power vs out of power. There are no restraints on how others are treated, the only goal in life is seizing and holding on to power. Think about BLM and Social Justice Warfare in this context and they’re not crazy at all. You should instead find them dangerous and frightening.

    • Communist governments kill hundreds of thousands of their own people keeping control. Defiantly going to spend eternity burning in hell, stupid fools. A few years of power on earth for eternity in a lake of fire, what a bad trade.

    • Interesting. I do not believe in the supernatural, but I definitely do believe in good and evil, the two are not related. Your post sounds like you don’t think that is possible, if that is correct you have been deceived.

  16. All religions have an element of goofiness about them. Mormons have their “magic” underwear. Orthodox Christians believe that bread and wine turn into flesh and blood. Some religions have multiple deities. Some religions incorporate getting stoned as a means of achieving enlightenment.

    These elements of orthodoxy let the Founders to reject classical religion. Jefferson, for example, made his own bible — the King James version with all references to miracles removed.

    The Founders accepted that most religions try to teach and persuade us to act like better, more decent people. We are now taught that only atheists are decent. I’ll believe that when I see them building hospitals and schools. Until then, their hubris is astonishing.

    • “I’ll believe that when I see them building hospitals and schools. Until then, their hubris is astonishing.”

      We use to have Lutheran hospitals, Baptist hospitals, Catholic hospitals etc. Medical care and the education of doctors and nurses was a religious issue. The only government hospitals were for battle wounded soldiers and sailors. The atheists destroyed it all. Obama Care is what they gave birth to. A devil baby.

      • “Devil baby” weirdness aside, your points are good ones. St. Jude’s is one of my favorite charities.

        • I’m much less concerned about the souls of atheists. That’s between them and god. I’m much more concerned that they don’t support the 1st amendment. And they support government take overs of once private industries.

          The less religion we have in society. The more and bigger government we have in our private and public lives.

        • Patent bullshit. I am an atheist for the past 60 years and I ABSOLUTELY support the 1st Amendment, to the death. Where do you fools get these stupid ideas, that you somehow think you know what an atheist believes?

        • Nobody knows what *an* atheist believes, except that he believes there’s no god, otherwise he wouldn’t be an atheist.

          What atheists *as a group* believe in is obvious if one observes the fruits of their labors — and about that, Chris and Ridge Runner are absolutely right.

    • I don’t know about bread and wine turning into flesh and blood, where did you hear this? I know when they take communion they use bread and wine but they use it for a symbolism to Jesus’s blood and flesh. I think he used it as a sybolism himself when he ate his last meal with them. As for killing evil with a gun, you can’t do that. You can kill an evil person with a gun but I wouldn’t advise it unless you were saving your’s or other peoples lives, you may have a hard time accepting what you did after it’s all over.

  17. I still can’t believe there are such dumb asses out there that have to ask people “Why do you own a gun” Anyone that ask that is no doubt a F’ing liberal!

  18. Personally, I don’t care what anyone in any religious denomination’s uneducated opinion has to say about Gun Ownership. I am an American, who has the God given right to defend myself from all evils. The Bill of Rights merely enshrines and enumerated that right as intrinsic. Whether the Pope, or any other religious leader believes that is irrelevant.
    From a biblical standpoint, Defending the Faith is merely an extension of Defending Your Life, because they are intimately tied together. Defending the Faith is often tied to Conversion by the Sword, but the bible and Christ sever that tie. Forcing your beliefs isn’t condoned in any scriptural reference (unlike Islam which condones conversion through force in many of its verses).
    For me, the pagan blood of my Norse ancestors flows through me. I may have a veneer of Christianity, but in my heart I will take the fight to my attackers, defend my hearth and home, and whether it”s Heaven or Valhalla that waits for me matters not.

  19. “Why would you own a gun?”

    It’s legal and an inalienable right to do so. For the simpletons who can’t understand that concept “because I can” would be sufficient.

    • And I’ll enjoy a fresh bowl of deer chilli on a cold winter day and laugh at you ignorant people who don’t think I have the right to hunt on my own property. by the way I hunt with a 308 not toothpicks.

      • “And I’ll enjoy a fresh bowl of deer chilli on a cold winter day…”

        You bring up an interesting point. Chilli is not an “American” dish. Do we know if the originators uses meat other than beef?

        • one popular tale tells of a Spanish nun, Sister Mary of Agreda, who supernaturally appeared to Native Americans in the early 1600s and returned with the first recipe for chili: chili peppers, venison (deer meat), onions, and tomatoes. Where ever it came from the ancestry of todays chili probably did not contain beef…

          • “Where ever it came from the ancestry of todays chili probably did not contain beef…”

            Interesting. Thanx.

        • My bet is that it came from whoever discovered the peppers, and the beans, that is what chili is about! You can toss in several meats and some chicken, just avoid the fish! But if you don’t have beef, where are you gonna get the cheese?

  22. I’ve always been curious about the level of religiosity in the gun community and just why that is. I’m glad to see someone delving into that connection.

    • Well, I just read their study. Looks like I’ll be waiting awhile if I expect to find some unbiased research on this. Disappointing.

Comments are closed.