God's Love: Don't leave home without it!
"Why? Why would Doug post a picture of a gun?"
I'm guessing that that might be your first thought on seeing the post.
I'm not advocating violence. I'm not making a political statement.
I'm not calling for Christian jihad. But with the abortionist doctor being murdered in church, and a security guard being killed at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, it seems that hatred and anger are moving some sick individuals to action.
And not just individuals-though it only happened a week ago, do you recall that a terrorist plot in New York was foiled? Synagogues and our military had been threatened? Four men are in custody?
We don't like to think of such hate, so we play golf, watch TV, go about our daily lives as if we are not connected in any way to the troubles happening in our world.
But why a gun, Doug?
Because we are all connected. Even if such violence and hatred never causes anyone in your little community to act, the fact that it happens somewhere affects us. The gun symbolizes the violence/hatred we don't want in our lives.
Yes, a gun was used to kill the security guard at the Holocaust museum. A terrible, hateful act. But another gun was used to stop the murderer from killing any more innocent people.
For the record, I am a fair enough shot, but I don't own any guns. I don't expect to ever buy a gun, though I'm grateful to live in a country where my right to own guns is protected.
So...if you would, share your thoughts, what you felt when you saw the post. How did you react?
Uncomfortable. Guns are dangerous, even in the hands of trained users. Too many kids die every year from gun-related accidents because their nitwit parents don't secure them properly.
That being said, I've considered owning one, simply to protect myself in the event of a late-night intrusion. I would only shoot if I thought my life was in imminent danger: things can always be replaced.
I generally support the right of people to own guns, but I think groups like the NRA are a bit much in their insistence that there should be no legal restraints on anyone, anywhere or on any gun type.
Guns are dangerous, but only because people are dangerous.
Here's a tidbit from a wiki about when ammunition wasn't available for the genocide desired:
"The executed were buried in mass graves. In order to save ammunition, the executions were often carried out using hammers, axe handles, spades or sharpened bamboo sticks. Some victims were required to dig their own graves; their weakness often meant that they were unable to dig very deep. The soldiers who carried out the executions were mostly young men or women from peasant families.
The Khmer Rouge regime arrested and eventually executed almost everyone suspected of connections with the former government or with foreign governments, as well as professionals and intellectuals. Ethnic Vietnamese, ethnic Thai, ethnic Chinese, ethnic Chams (Muslim Cambodians), Cambodian Christians, and the Buddhist monkhood were the demographic targets of persecution."
Charming? Sharpened bamboo sticks are only dangerous because people are dangerous. My point is:Cain only needed a rock.
All of this does end, though:
"And He will judge between many peoples And render decisions for mighty, distant nations. Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they train for war." Micah 4:3, also in Isaiah.
Rocks are part of nature, knives are used to cut celery and carrots (and steaks), baseball bats are supposed to be used to hit baseballs: all of these CAN be used to kill, but that is not their primary function. When I see a rock, I think of whether it would make a nice border for a grouping of trees.
So, while what you say is true, of course, the visceral and negative reaction to guns is, I think, because guns exist ONLY to kill. They are not very useful for preparing dinner, although I'm not sure how your household chooses to mash your potatoes!
Guns also helped populations survive, by making food available-shooting from a safer distance rather than having to get close to bears, for example, made more hunters survive, cleared areas for advancement of societies, helped peoples progress, even though they would often regress and start shooting at each other.
In America, how far west of the Mississippi would we have advanced (as quickly)without the rifle?
Guns are dangerous, but only because people are dangerous.
Yes, absolutely this is true. Unless the gun goes off accidentally. So I guess guns are only dangerous because people are either dangerous or incompetent. But whatever, the point is that guns make people *stunningly* more effective at being dangerous. I'm fairly against that.
Hi Jake-I just took a quick spin through your blog-sounds like you are keeping busy-I hope that you have a good Summer.
I wouldn't like to live in a country where the government is armed and the population isn't. When one side has an advantage over the other, the weaknesses in Man's character cause the ones with the advantage to exploit the others. The Khmer Rouge used bamboo sticks, as I mentioned above-if their adversaries hadn't been defenseless, they wouldn't have been slaughtered. Weapons on both sides don't always mean War-sometimes it brings about Peace.
Hi Doug, yeah I've hardly been blogging at all lately. I'm doing a summer research project! Very exciting, career-wise (also just very fun).
The argument that an unarmed population is vulnerable to an armed government is a compelling one, but I think we're looking at some cultural differences that make that argument more important to you than to me.
Both of our countries are truly democratic and I think Canadians, for the most part, recognize that, and recognize how much non-violent power that gives us over our government. Basically, we don't need guns when we have elections. It may sound naive, but all that's required is for people to be paying attention, and the government (which is of, by, and for the people) will never turn its guns on the people. In a democracy, where we have the power to change a government that's getting too authoritarian, use of force by the people would have to be the result of a truly remarkable failure of the process, by which point, guns or no, we'd all be in deep water.
I feel like a lot of Americans seem to forget the amount of power they have over their government, and see the government as an adversary of the people, rather than a *tool* of the people. This attitude leaves you feeling like you need to defend yourselves against your government, and maybe makes you forget that if a majority of people have a problem with the government's actions, well, you can easily change the government without guns. And if those who have a problem with the government are in the minority, well, having an armed populace isn't going to help anyway, you'll be outgunned by your fellow citizens.
Jake, you seem to have more trust in human nature than I do.
"I feel like a lot of Americans seem to forget the amount of power they have over their government, and see the government as an adversary of the people, rather than a *tool* of the people. This attitude leaves you feeling like you need to defend yourselves against your government, and maybe makes you forget that if a majority of people have a problem with the government's actions, well, you can easily change the government without guns."
Do the people of North Korea have power over the government of Kim Jong Il?
Or Iranians over the government of the Mullahs?
Did the Iraqi people have power over Saddam Hussein's government?
Do the people of Venezuela have power over the government of Hugo Chavez?
Or the Cuban people over the Castros?
My point is this: We, the People enjoy great freedoms in the United States and Canada. Our governments would not have to listen to us if there were no threat, no power imparted to the peoples to keep a check on the ambitions of those in power. The voting booth is very powerful, but in countries where the right to vote has been taken away from the peoples, the voting booth is not enough.
Saddam Hussein didn't worry about being voted out of office, and neither does Hugo Chavez.
Jake, if you say, "It can't happen here." please remember that it happened in Germany, and in Italy. I don't fear that my Government will become a dictatorship; while I may lack faith in my fellow man, I do have faith in God. Germany and Italy returned power to their peoples-I see God working in that.
I like it. A Colt .45, one of the greatest handguns ever produced. I own one and have never used it illegally. It is fun to shoot. I enjoy shooting firearms. But be careful with them! They can be dangerous, especially in the hands of someone untrained in their use.
Commenting by HaloScan
