(commented on August 8th, 2014 @ 9:41 am)Your last comment sums up quite well what I make of it. Jesus was no coward, when the time was appropriate, He used violence in righteousness. Then, again when the time called for it, He was compassionate and spoke against unnecessary violence. The only complexity of the issue is when to use use violence righteously, and when to avoid it. If violence was immoral in and of itself, and the weapons of violence also, we would not have Law Enforcement, the Military, or any other defense against physical evil; so long as we desired to be moral people. The question is less "would Jesus carry a gun," and more "when would righteous men use a gun."
(commented on August 7th, 2014 @ 9:58 am)Gene, what you are trying to accomplish is shaming people into not defending themselves from harm by holding them to an impossible standard. Jesus did not have to "stoop" to carrying a gun (Thanks Mr. Deatherage, for joining the shaming) because He was the Son of God. The rest of us are mere mortals living in an evil world, in the world but not of it. I encourage you again to take a look at .
(commented on July 28th, 2014 @ 10:29 am)Thankyou, Gene. I know we all, well most of us, want to live in a safe world where morality and reason guide the actions of young men, but that world does not exist. If our world today is The Wild West, with mothers hanging long-irons on their hips, it is the criminals that make it that way, not those who would protect themselves from crime.
An openly carried gun certainly gets attention, but that is the point. A concealed weapon may be used to protect oneself once a crime has been initiated, but an openly visible gun may prevent the crime entirely.
I think it's good that she kept a 'clean' appearance while carrying. This helps set a good impression of 'responsible gun owner' instead of 'gun rights nut militia-psycho.' When I see someone in torn jeans, with an untucked t-shirt spouting needlessly aggressive patriotism, and a scowl as mean as the handgun strapped into their 'tacti-cool' thigh holster, I immediately think 'Danger, hothead, avoid.' However, someone in slacks with a collared shirt, a clean haircut and a recently shaved or trimmed beard makes me think of them as law abiding and 'socially acceptable,' even with their gun in full view. Image matters a lot with open carry, I believe.
As for Jesus, I won't parse scripture, but He did command his apostles to arm themselves. Why would he do that if he believed that defense wasn't necessary? He argues against Paul's cutting off the Roman soldier's ear because He knew that what was going to happen had to happen. Paul acted when he should have accepted.
Check out where people far wiser than I explain the Biblical foundations of personal self defense.
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