According to Enlightened Visions, the Christian organization behind this video and 13 others like it, “In 2014, 2,160 black men were killed at the hands of unnecessary violence. We wanted to challenge the stereotypes associated with black men, in America. The Shots Fired Campaign features 28 unarmed, black, men describing the various ways that they defy the stereotypes.” According to this project . . .
an armed black man is a negative stereotype. Which may well be true, in that many if not most black Americans support gun control laws and/or the politicians who promote gun control laws. Leaving law-abiding black Americans like Mr. Adams disarmed against criminal predation. And government tyranny, under which the African-American community suffered in no small measure.
All Americans have a natural, civil and Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms. Short of the draft, there is no legal method to compel a citizen to exercise that right. Nor should there be. But lauding unarmed Americans as somehow “special,” seeking to demonize lawful armed self-defense, is not the answer to “gun violence.” It is, in fact, a way to increase it.
Some of the hardest people I’ve ever met are black. Some are female and black. They’re people I would trust to have my back in a bad situation far more than any operationally operating OFWG.
Armed or not armed is a personal choice but by lauding unarmed black men you are, intentionally or not, effectively denouncing the upstanding and law abiding black citizens of this nation who choose to go healed.
It’s not a race thing. It’s a ability and willingness to handle your business thing. When in a bad situation the skin color of the person next to you doesn’t matter. Their constitution does.
I agree completely.
I went to the group’s website. It appears to be a black empowerment group. As a Christian, I’m not aware of any Biblical teaching that requires to us to be defenseless or foolish.
It’s not race it’s culture. I’ll take a good person of any race over a bad person of any race any day. Like you said, having your back covered is far far more important.
You won’t see this Christian give up his God given rights. The history of humanity over the last 100 years points to our cultural rot and the danger of ignoring reality. As Jefferson said carrying a firearm gives one peace of mind. You may not win against evil doers but at least you have a chance.
From what I read here, he is not talking to me anyway, since I am not black. The entirety of his (racist) assertions are to dictate that BLACK Christians should go about unarmed. If they are stupid enough to listen to his crap (and send him money), that is not my problem. But I certainly would not endorse his idiocy.
An unarmed black man can be just as much of a stereotype as homie with a GLOCK. As in large and intimidating…I’ve had black men(mainl at the gym) tell me they don’t trust themselves armed. As far as being “righteous” I’m commonly among Christian men who have no problem being armed. More idiotic SJW garbage. It can get you killed too. As in having a church in North Carolina with NO security…
One of the few black men in my church (rural northern PA) is armed every day, at church or not. As am I. Of course, he’s also head of the security team as well as the community outreach director.
Christian gun control? Must’ve forgot about Luke 22:36.
Also, if you read Matthew 26:52 (at his betrayal, one of his diciples cuts off a person’s ear), you may notice what is not there to be noticed. Jesus doesn’t say “why do you have a sword? you shouldn’t have that.” He says (paraphrasing), “put them away, I have to do this.” If being armed was such a problem, why did he let his diciples even have them in the first place?
More to the point, Jesus told his disciples to be armed.
“He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.”
Gee, I didn’t know eschewing arms was part of Christian doctrine.
(In before anyone quotes Luke 22:36. Jesus was being sarcastic.)
“… Luke 22:36. Jesus was being sarcastic.”
I don’t think so Cisco. If you have evidence to support that assertion, I am all ears.
Evidence? About the *bible*? If you don’t have a video of jesus saying it, it did not happen.
I’ll admit to being stupid. I looked at this site and I don’t get it. Most of what’s on there is at least a couple of years old. Galleries of pictures with no explanations. A place to donate to further their cause but no explanation as to what that cause is. The only thing that seems to have been posted since 2015 are the videos. I watched the first two. Very engaging young men. But what is the real message and to whom is it directed? Some young black men don’t carry guns? Yea, so? I guess I assumed that without giving it much thought. That’s it? That’s the fix? God help you.
It appeals to religion, I can tell you the message without even looking. “Send me money!”
“an armed black man is a negative stereotype…”
I dunno, maybe it’s because I spend plenty of time around armed black men, but it’s not a negative stereotype to me…
I think they might do more to bust any negative stereotypes by being Black, armed and righteous.
I’m a Christian and I’m armed to the teeth. Literally; I have miniature handguns mounted on my teeth.
Some believe they have to suffer to prove their faith and this gives them higher moral authority. Since these people don’t trust themselves with firearms, by extension and projection they don’t trust any one else with them either.
But in reality those who beat their swords into plowshares end up plowing for those who didn’t.
An additional dimension, tweaking your words slightly:
Some believe they have to suffer to prove their faith and this gives them higher moral authority. Since these people believe that God calls them to be unarmed, by extension and projection they expect that God has called everyone else to be unarmed.
Anyone who wants to be unarmed, that’s their business. Imposing that value on others…well Christians can help themselves wanting to bring wayward sheep into the fold.
I prefer my armaments and liberties over the herd.
Respectfully- please don’t lump all Christians in with these cowardly, backwards, modern-day Quakers. I’m a born-again, Spirit-filled, tongues-praying, Bible-believing, heavily armed, gun-totin, Tank-ridin Christian. I’m the sort that wears a cross on his dog tags, blesses his tank before gunnery, hides crosses in his camo patterns, and wears cross patches on his body armor.
Well, they are wrong, then. God has definitely NOT called upon me to be unarmed! Perhaps because I am good, and they are evil!
To quote Mr T, “I pity the fool” who comes to our church with evil intent. There are many armed people at our church every time the doors are open.
There is Power in the blood and FirePower with the people my Brother!
“Now there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, ‘Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears.’ But all the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen each man’s plowshare, his mattock, his ax, and his sickle;…So it came about, on the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan.”
“In 2014, 2,160 black men were killed at the hands of unnecessary violence.”
Strange, the FBI reported that 5,209 black men were homicide victims.
https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2014/crime-in-the-u.s.-2014/tables/expanded-homicide-data/expanded_homicide_data_table_1_murder_victims_by_race_ethnicity_and_sex_2014.xls
I have no idea what they were trying to convey in that video.
Sadly, many people — Christian and non-Christian — portray universal disarmament as a virtue.
While it is wise for some peaceable people to be unarmed, it is foolish for ALL peaceable people to be unarmed.
When people claim that they don’t have to be armed because police or God will take care of them, ask them if they don’t ever have to brush their teeth or floss because their dentist or God will take care of their teeth.
That is a VERY good analogy; I’m gonna have to use it sometime.
This is yet another reason I love my home Pastor- he carries a Glock. (Which is one of the few places he and I disagree- I prefer my Arex or something more along those lines) If we’re supposed to be unarmed, then explain to me why Christ told his followers to buy a sword? God gave me the Mind of Christ. I’m an intelligent Believer and although I have zero doubt He can and will protect me, this is a hostile world. Not to be fully prepared and capable of defending yourself is the height of foolishness.
Christ told his followers to buy a sword because John Browning and Gaston Glock had not yet been born.
There are only two things that have ever made me doubt the veracity of the Bible.
1. It says that King Solomon had 1,000 wives. It says that King Solomon was the wisest man to walk the earth. Which one of those facts is true?
2. At no point does the Almighty directly reference the M2. That’s just hard for me to believe.
I always figured they were just marriages of political convenience and he just stuck his wives in a separate building for the duration of the time.
“Short of the draft, there is no legal method to compel a citizen to exercise that right.”
If passing a law made something illegal by default there would be no need for the Supreme Court. It only makes something illegal until the law can be struck down or repealed.
I contend that the draft violates the 13th Amendment (Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted shall exist in the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.) just as thoroughly as all the federal and state gun regulations violate the Second Amendment.
Whatever happened to “sell your cloak and buy a sword”? I’d like to think the modern equivalent would be “sell your coat and buy a rifle with a bayonet.”
I am a Christian. I believe my life is a gift from my creator. I will defend that gift with everything I have to do so. My modern sword (Glock) and longbow (Ar 15).
Everybody knows the story of Peter in the garden cutting peoples ears off and selling coats to buy swords to show believers that the right to defend yourself and others from harm is God given, but I always prefer the story of Jesus and the Centurion.
In Matthew 8 a Centurion’s servant was paralyzed and suffering and the Centurion, essentially a Roman soldier/warrior, asked Jesus for help. Jesus asked if he wanted him to come to his house and heal his servant. The Centurion replied that he was not worthy to have Jesus come to his house, and furthermore, that he understood the authority that Jesus has since the Centurion also commanded men and trusted them to do what he commanded. He replies to Jesus “Lord, just say the word and my servant will be healed”. Jesus replies “I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.” Jesus heals his servant right there.
If indeed Jesus did not approve of the Centurions chosen line of work as a soldier or warrior or if he disapproved of his use of arms I am sure he would have corrected him, as he did Matthew who was a tax man in Israel before being called to follow Jesus.
Eric,
While I do agree that the bible does not offer any prohibition to defending ones’ self, I would reply to you by saying that your statement is a bit of a weak argument.
Jesus came primarily to preach to the Jews and to make it known to them that their Messiah had come in accordance with all of the Old Testament prophecies. He didn’t come to rebuke the Romans although Rome is most definitely described as a “beast” later in the book of Revelation . So to conclude that being a soldier in the Roman army or a warrior is a legitimate profession is a bit of a stretch to say the least. In fact, Jesus’ basic refusal to stand up to or do anything about the Empire is what caused most of the Jews to resent him…they wanted their Messiah to come in and destroy the Romans and return the Kingdom back to Israel…and all Jesus kept doing was talking about this silly “Kingdom of God” thing and peace…
Matthew OTOH, was a Jew who was working with and for the Roman government, it was a completely different situation. It is quite clear from reading the Old and New Testament that God is not primarily concerned with nor an advocate of human governing institutions of any stripe.
People make the same argument about the Kings of Israel being God’s idea or having God’s stamp of approval when in fact the bible is clear that his own people rejected him as their God/King and wanted to be ruled and lorded over just like the gentile nations. See 1 Samuel 8 for all the explicit details.
However, saying all that is not to say that God does not use human institutions…again the scriptures in both Old and New Testament make clear that God uses evil human governments as tools of wrath/judgement…and then he typically will judge the instrument itself as well. It is clear from the teachings of the New Testament and Jesus’ own prophecies that he did not endorse nor approve of Rome or it’s brutal methods of empire but instead was using it as an instrument of judgement against Israel, which of course came to pass in AD 70 when Rome sacked Jerusalem and destroyed the temple.
The biggest problem with Modern Western Christians isn’t these guys above…it’s basic biblical illiteracy and taking any and all manner of texts out of context and using as proof texts for whatever pet doctrines they may have. That and not knowing a shred about the historical/political milieu in which the various books, especially of the New Testament, were written.
It’s the gun control cult’s “game preserve” theory of the Black community.
To them, we’re just antelope on a game preserve. And on a game preserve it’s perfectly “normal” and expected for the “lions” to take a certain number of “antelope”. The antelope don’t get a vote.
On the other hand, when the antelope develop fangs and claws, and start disemboweling the lions, they consider it “unnatural” and are horrified.
At BEST, the anti-gun cult views Black people as inferior humans. In many cases, they seem not to view us as humans AT ALL.
Chris, I’m pretty sure that’s Democrats/liberals in general, not simply gun control advocates. They believe blacks in particular (but not exclusively!) are incapable of taking care of themselves and must have the guidance and control of their betters in order to simply survive. And blacks in general seem to agree, since they continue to vote for those who are enslaving them.
I’m a liberal but not a Democrat.
The Democrat Party is the party of slavery, secession, Jim Crow, lynching and racial concentration camps.
It’s now returning to its roots of racialism, segregation and anti-Semitism. Racially invidious gun controls are just one manifestation of that.
OK even if I bought into this . . . How does this apply to the rest of us who are not black?
Nehemiah 4 has a lot to say about righteous men, protecting, preserving and rebuilding their society whilst being armed…
It is within living memory that a black man sitting at the front of the bus was a negative stereotype.
The Lions agree.