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Why This Pastor Preaches the Right to Keep and Bear Arms

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McCain

By Paul McCain

Over the past few months I’ve noticed a sort of pattern. TTAG finds and quotes a guy or gal wearing preacher-duds and inevitably it’s some left-winger spouting off on gun control, demonizing firearms and firearm owners, and excoriating the right to keep and bear arms. Worst of all recently was a so-called “Lutheran” bishop honking off about how churches should be places where guns aren’t necessary, they are bad, bad, bad and blah, blah, blah. At that point I decided I’ve had enough and decided to write up this little piece . . .

Allow me to respond not as simply a firearms enthusiast but a man who also happens to be a Lutheran pastor. I’ve been one coming up on twenty-five years now. I can stomach all the anti-Christian rants that these kinds of posts engender in the comments, but for the record and in the interest of fair play, I’d like to offer a different perspective from the clergy-persons highlighted by TTAG.

I won’t try to go into all the theology and interpretation involved in discussing particular texts in the Bible regarding self-defense and turning the other cheek. Needless to say, there are horrendous distortions of the meaning and intention of various Bible passages commonly quoted and while I could sustain a long, detailed conversation on these points, it would only bore most to tears. Let’s just put it this way: there is no valid argument on the basis of the Biblical text — either Old or New Testament — to justify a pacifist opposition to self-defense and consequently the use of firearms to defend oneself and one’s family, neighbors or community.

I’ll simply reflect my own particular faith-tradition, that of conservative orthodox Lutheranism and cite our core text for explaining the whole Bible: Martin Luther’s Small Catechism. In the Small Catechism, Luther has beautiful, short, memorable explanations for each of the Ten Commandments.

And here is where I take my stand.

Luther explains the meaning of the commandment, “Thou shalt not kill” this way, “We should fear and love God that we may not hurt nor harm our neighbor in his body, but help and befriend him in every need and danger of life and body.”

So, let’s keep this simple. If this is what “Thou Shalt Not Kill” entails — and note that in the original Hebrew of the Old Testament, the word here for “kill” is “murder” — then it’s very plain that if in fact I am to do what I can, not merely to avoid hurting or harming my neighbor, but to act to help him in every need and danger of life and body. This means that yes, as a Christian, it’s not merely a right but a duty to protect and defend those whom I love, and even those in my community, if and when their life and body is being threatened with harm. A firearm is one tool that can be used to accomplish this.

Clear? Simple? You bet it is.

But let’s also take a look at how Luther explains the commandment, “Thou shalt not steal.” Here he says, “We should fear and love God that we may not take our neighbor’s money or property, nor get them by false ware or dealing, but help him to improve and protect his property and business, so that his means are preserved and his condition is improved.” Again, quite simple. A firearm may be used to help my neighbor to preserve his condition and protect his property.

So, when you see or hear a cleric spouting off on social issues with a leftie bent, please be aware  that there are a lot of conservative, more orthodox Christians, like me and others, who quite thoroughly disagree with them. People who thoroughly reject the “theological” arguments underlying their positions. Carry on.

0 thoughts on “Why This Pastor Preaches the Right to Keep and Bear Arms”

  1. I have some sympathy for the notion that churches shouldn’t be places where guns are necessary — if we put appropriate emphasis on “shouldn’t” and “necessary.” My home should also be a place where guns aren’t necessary. Downtown Boston should be a place where guns aren’t necessary. Central Park at night should be a place where guns aren’t necessary.

    I don’t, however, have much sympathy for the idea that we should behave as though the world is as we would like it to be, rather than as it is. God may have told us “thou shalt not steal”, but He didn’t stop us from inventing locks.

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  2. “…churches should be places where guns aren’t necessary” I’d like that to be true, I’d like that quote to be true for the rest of the world. But people are idiots to think that bad things cant happen to them just because i’m in “x” place.

    Sad to say it: but no where, not even in a church, is my safety guaranteed, thats why we carry.

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  3. I always thought the purpose of covering anti-2A left-leaning religious types was to point out something that was outside the norm. It may not be the case on this site alone but as a whole it seems like more often than not God and guns go hand in hand.

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  4. That’s interesting. I didn’t realize there was a nuanced difference in translation, kill vis-a-vis murder, from the original Hebrew. That alone is hugely important. Nevertheless, Luther doesn’t appear simply to interpret the Commandments, but to extend them. I can’t accept that at face value.

    It isn’t that I disagree with there being Biblical justification for defense of self, others or property, just that I’m not seeing it here. Luther’s short, memorable explanations may be too short, after all, if they’re predicated on a much fuller understanding than could be conveyed in brief. I’d have to become more familiar, myself, with both the Bible’s teachings with regard to defense, as well as with Luther’s interpretations, before I could weigh in.

    Even then, it’s an extremely large and complex body and lends itself to varied interpretations. This is par for the course with the Bible and, to the pastor’s point, contributes to it likely being referenced the most by those who’ve read it the least.

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  5. Rev. McCain, thanks for that! Often, I think in our zeal to prevent the government from doing so, we Christian conservatives forget the “building up our neighbor” that is implicit (and sometimes explicit) in Jesus’s commands.

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  6. Historically, it was common for war, bloodshed and even torture to have religious blessing. If it was important to reconcile religious beliefs with desired actions, a way was usually found.

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    • You’re supposed to surprise your enemy by showing kindness and compassion instead of retaliating in kind. I do not interpret that to mean you should instruct and aid your enemy to double their assault on you. When you show kindness and compassion instead of retaliation you may stir them to change their ways and defuse violence instead of escalate.

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  7. Nick,

    It would be a very interesting discussion to have just on the topic “what is a 5 star AR” in abstract. You’d probably have to constrain the judgement to specific applications, competition, hunting, defense, combat, etc.

    What accessories are a must for each application? What accessories are junk for each application? What are the ways to best implement accessories, what are common mistakes (like mounting VFG too far back)?

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  8. Just bought-
    2,000 10mm brass(starline, Winchester and top brass)online
    1,800 10mm bullets(xtp, nosler and precision delta)online
    600 .50ae brass(starline) and 600 bullets(400 grain win and 300 grain xtp)local
    3,000 lake city once shot brass local
    Endless lapua .223 brass online a bit expensive but great for long range reloading-online and local
    800 .223 vmax 52-60 grain, 1,000 sierra 69-77 grain-local

    Endless primer

    Tough items are .308 brass and good powders. I can’t find bluedot, x800, r15, A9 ect anywhere.

    Shelf ammo? lol Don’t care. But for 10mm folks underwood is back in near full stock in most grains.

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  9. Strange to see supposed gun rights supporters not support the sale of a LEGAL and UNREGULATED 80% lower on any site.
    While if I want a lower not registered in my name I will hit the private sale market and buy a 100% or 80% locally, I still support one’s right to buy a LEGAL and UNREGULATED firearm part online without being flagged by gov or chastised by fellow gun people.
    The 80% lower by federal and state gun laws does not meet the requirement of being regulated. What’s the problem?

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  10. Your church, sir, would have my attendance. Where might it be?

    And, if as an orthodox Lutheran you can stomach someone raised in the LC-MS…

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  11. Wow, Paul-I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a picture of you in uniform. You clean up real nice!

    All snark aside, that was well done. Thanks for putting it out there.

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  12. I was under the impression that 1:7 was best for the heavier bullets (75gr +). Perhaps 1:8 isn’t enough to sufficiently stabilize the 77gr bullets you tried.

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  13. Oh you tricked us. You made us think it was the mag on FB.

    Sneaky sneaky.

    You could find some of the pws rifles for $1600 late last year on certain websites if you…AIMed hard enough.

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  14. Let’s also not lose sight of the fact that she is not just a little girl. She IS an accomplished shooter whose rights are being violated.

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  15. Look at 1st Timothy 5:8…But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an infidel. Pretty clear admonition to feed,clothe,shelter,PROTECT TO THE DEATH my family. If your conscious won’t allow you to defend life & limb us gun totin’ Christians will step up. Without 10000 hours of theological instruction.

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  16. I am a big PWS fan, and I own two Mk114’s – both an older Mod 0 and a current Mod 1 as shown in this review. They are both fantastic rifles – accurate, reliable, and LIGHT. The new Mk114’s are 6.5 pounds. I bought my first one to replace my Robinson XCR – a beautiful gun, but pooor factory support and HEAVY – 8.5 pounds before putting a scope on it. I bought my first Mk114 for $1600 and never looked back. Are there cheaper options? Sure. But make no mistake, this is a top tier rifle, and it is worth the price.

    Remember, the price you are looking at is MSRP – street price will generally be about $300 less.

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  17. I’m incredibly disappointed that neither the redhead nor the Finland link actually linked to a Finnish redhead competition. Or any Finnish competition involving women for that matter.

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  18. If the cops are so worried about officer safety, then don’t be a cop. Being a lumberjack is very dangerous also, but I’m still going to build a home! Since when do people give up rights because the cops are worried about their dangerous job? Don’t be a cop if you can’t handle the danger and don’t ask us to give up more of our rights or register our guns. Nobody made a cop choose that profession.
    They themselves wanted to go into an exciting, well paying dangerous profession where they can drive real fast, beat people up, have authority up the ying yang and virtually be immune from laws and then they want to take away more of our rights so they can have enhanced officer safety?
    Is there any part of EAT ME they don’t get? I’m not making it easier for the government just to appease the cops.

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  19. To all the defense attorneys that save some poor, stupid, unlucky sap from the malevolent machinations of the state and its agents, I say this: thank you for your service.

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  20. While I fully understand the esprit de corps that causes those exceptional people who aspired to and became U.S. Marines to hold onto that accomplishment as a badge of honor for their entire lives, I really need they, and possibly the Marine Corps itself, need to establish some formal procedure whereby certain deserving individuals could be officially and publicly declared “Ex-Marines.”

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  21. Careful there, Dean. Carrying ten rounds of .22LR ammo in sandwich bags is enough to put an otherwise law-abiding, peaceful person behind bars for a long time in some parts of this country!

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  22. “One is filed by a former Marine, Jaqueline Lader who states that she and her husband (also a former Marine) were present at the Aurora theater at the time of the mass shooting there…”

    I think these two should be considered ex-marines, not former marines. An oath to support and defend the constitution doesn’t stop for a former marine. I can understand if you went through a traumatic affect to have issues, but the actively seek out a place with restrictive gun laws is idiocy at it’s finest and shows you lack critical thinking skills. To use a bit of logic, the Aurora shooter was not a CCW holder and also did not break any laws prior to his spree. He could have done the same thing in CA. CCW holders are more law abiding than the police so any argument that they are more dangerous is invalid. The Aurora shooter spent time planning the attack so no amount of waiting period would have prevented anything. Additionally they were in a gun free zone, yet he brought guns into that zone. Imaginary lines and words on paper don’t stop people with guns, just ask Ukraine.

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  23. Okay all you OC Gunnys….let’s not blow this by OC your AR-15 or Glock and post photos on your FB page (if it’s not banned yet by FB) like was done at Fourbucks…I mean Satrbucks….and…we don’t need “I Love Guns and Staples” t-shirts either…leave well enough alone, and just let it be…celebrate in our own, quite (and well concealed) way…

    Reply
  24. The long-term result of the NSW Firearms Registry has been to provide a shopping list for criminals after copies of the registry data were left on the unsecured intranet for operational convenience. The Deputy Commissioner who authorized this should have been fired, tarred, and feathered for gross incompetence.

    Registry data is used by/for police. Listening on a scanner and you wil here that owner of car registration ABC123 is a licensed firearm owner. In responding to domestic incidents the officers will be told that there is a licensed firearm owner in the street along with the owner’s address.

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  25. HB875 will also repeal a stupid GA law that violates the 1st & 2d Amendments by telling churches they must either prohibit guns on their property or insist that the gun-toting attendees surrender them to be locked up for the duration of the service.

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  26. Criminals in Detroit need to realize that hospital stretchers are awaiting when you break in someone’s home or business. The same applies with conceal carry. Just look at the dumb kid who try to taze a parent waiting for his daughter coming from school. 40 cal bullet is what he got.

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  27. When our Sheriff Clark speaks someone should really be there to carve it in stone. He hates crime, loves law abiding citizens, we got lucky in Milwaukee.

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  28. I’ll cop to being a Merkel drilling: two 12 ga. and a .30-06. Not quite sure what to make of it, somewhat resembling what you’re used to, except more and better, with panache and a flair for the dramatic.

    Hey, you asked.

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  29. Funny anecdote: walking down Sunset Blvd today, a bystander gave me the thumbs up for my Endo Apparel T shirt. Could the facade be cracking on The Disarmament Culture?

    Reply
  30. I think this site can be helpful: favoritewords.com, I am new to it but I believe it has a great potential to move forward in the future as a new wave in social networking.

    Reply

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