May
12
As a follow-up of sorts to my last post, I have a guest post from my friend, Jamie Davis, of “Durable Faith” blog.
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Was Jesus a Sword Toting Conspiracy Theorist?
Replica of ancient Roman sword (gladius)
Jesus was actually pretty clear on self-defense, telling his disciples: “If you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one…” Many Christians wonder, why would he say that? Doesn’t he know that a child could get ahold of that sword and hurt him or herself? Shouldn’t Christians and well-informed citizens want to control dangerous weapons so that our society stays civil?
Short answer, no! Christians should advocate the moral responsibility of civil citizens to arm themselves and to teach proper gun (or sword) handling to their children. Consider that the states with the least restrictive gun laws in the US, North Dakota, Vermont, also have the lowest crime rates. Consider the drop in violent crime in Florida when gun laws were loosened.
Florida adopted a right-to-carry law in 1987. Between 1987 and 1996, these changes occurred:
| Florida | United States | |
| homicide rate | -36% | -0.4% |
| firearm homicide rate | -37% | +15% |
| handgun homicide rate | -41% | +24% |
http://www.justfacts.com/guncontrol.asp
Consider that Switzerland mandates arms training for its adult male citizens and has them keep their assault weapons at home. Not only do they have a low crime rate, they have managed to avoid significant impact during the past two world wars, even though the wars were fought on their very doorstep.
How, then, can anyone with intellectual honesty even suggest that gun control makes anyone but criminals or governments with criminal intent safer?
Take a moment to consider the Historical Human Cost of “Gun Control”:
The Genocide Chart (abbreviated)
(For full version of “The Genocide Chart”, go here.)
In closing, I’ll just mention Jesus clearly taught that people are evil. In fact, Jesus was a conspiracy theorist, as is clear in this passage from Mt 22:18 → ”But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me?”
I think we should reject the feel good label “Gun control”, so that the debate is more clear and more honest; instead, let’s just call it victim disarmament, because that is what it is.
