THE STORY IN OUR HEADS
4 days ago
Friday, December 21, 2012
Wayne LaPierre and Jesus
Wayne LaPierre, head lobbyist for the NRA, held a press conference in Washington today. He said, "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun."
Jesus of Nazareth, is said to have been a carpenter like his daddy. One day he sat down in a field of weeds near a lake and said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, ‘Do not resist an evildoer. If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also.’ You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, ‘Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.’”
One of those guys makes an annual salary of $970,000, by the way. The other one was killed on a cross near the town dump and tossed in a borrowed grave.
Two different visions for life.
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Rev. Tutt, I was lead to your post via a Facebook friend. I comment in hopes you might offer something more about this. Am I correct in reading that your interpretation of Jesus' message is that a Christian should not use force to reduce the chance of serious injury or death when faced with an attack by firearm? I think my initial reading of your post is short of your intended message and so I ask to know more about your belief.
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Ryan Larkin
Ryan: Thanks for your comments. I think the call and example of Jesus is one of non-violence. Ethicists and theologians far wiser than I have debated for centuries how we live that out. I think Martin Luther King embodied that call by not responding with force when confronted with armed opposition. I think Gandhi reminded us that that call is beyond any one faith tradition when he responded without force with confronted with armed opposition. Jesus, of course, didn't know anything about guns, but he did willingly, gracefully, without force, submit to death by a "legal" instrument of torture and death. Each of us -- guided by scripture, reason, tradition and community-conversation -- must decide what that means to us.
ReplyDeleteIf Jesus and the disciples had had assault weapons with large clips, this would have turned out differently. There's a lesson there. Somewhere.
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