Apparently some people have not learned anything from the Bible - most notably the passion week descriptions of the Garden of Gethsemane. "Those who live by the sword, die by the sword."
I am not one of these liberal gun nuts who thinks we ought to abolish the 2nd Ammendment to the Constitution. In fact, I am all for the requirement of every household having a gun - like they do in Switzerland (where violent crimes are very low, perhaps because the criminals know that every household has an automatic weapon ;) However, I don't think I could ever own a gun, because I'm 99.99% certain that I would never want to use a gun on a fellow human being.
I'd make a terrible soldier. When confronted with a frightful situation where it was literally life and death, one of two things would happen - I wouldn't be able to pull the trigger, and therefor be killed, or I would pull the trigger, and therefore wish I was dead. I just couldn't handle the knowledge that I had ended someone else's life.
In the Navy I provided intelligence to an aircraft that did the dirty work for me. I still regret to this day the knowledge that some action on my part ended the lives of two or more young men - even if they were about to shoot a missile at our ships. This to me is not a win, this is a loss with an asteriks.
My point is that Jesus was very straightforward about this subject - do not give in to violence, no matter what the situation. It is something we have forgotten as a religious body, something that we have completely ignored many times. When it comes to death, the ends never justifies the means. What are we afraid will happen if we can not easily shoot or stab or kill our enemies?
I will never own a gun. Ever. And I'd wish you'd make the same decision.
3 comments:
Ditto on that !!!!
Will, I respect your take on this very, difficult moral issue.
I re-read the Sermon on the Mount this last week, the purpose of which was to show how we violate God's Law, even when we're smug about not doing so. (That is where the "turn the other cheek" stuff comes in.) I'm not sure that Christ was telling us to be wholly passive in the face of evil either.
For example, if you had means to stop an horrific crime, even by lethal means, would you not take it? What if God put you there for that purpose?
Or, do you rely on the police or others to do the work for you? Would you call 911 if you were being attacked by a mugger?
Stated differently, what is the alternative to being here in this place?
I agree that wanton destruction of a human life/soul is never a "good." But there may be times when it is not an "evil."
Anyway, thought provoking post and I don't mean the tone to sound confrontational.
Cheers.
Assuming that God put me in that position, I'm assuming that He would provide for me a way to stop evil as well. Since I refuse to own a gun, by your hypothetical situation one would be provided for me. In that case, I would do whatever it took to stop evil. But I would sure do my best to try and prevent the taking of life - even evil life - if it could be avoided (shooting someone in the leg will often work just as well... ;)
I don't think anyone can be a complete pacifist. And I'm not saying that I am one. I recognize the need for violence, I just don't want to participate or put myself in a situation where I might be forced to participate. I used to carry a baseball bat in my car for protection which I suppose could be just as lethal as a gun, but baseball bats don't tend to go off on accident and it'd be really hard to commit suicide with one (not that it couldn't be done). I'm not trying to set myself up as some idealistic ultra righteous person. I just saw 300 and I loved it. But, honestly, I dropped out of my beginning karate class because I felt sick the first time I knocked someone over. And every time I touch a gun I can't help but think it'll be the last time I touch a gun (which isn't to say that it isn't fun to shoot a target at a gun range).
Its hard to take a moral stand when the issue is more personal than ideological.
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