Did you receive a copy of my latest book, "Finding Your Bearings: How Words that Guided Jesus Through Crisis Can Guide Us"? If not, I'll be happy to send you a copy.
I'm a social historian and as I've watched the R party and the gundamentalists arm, I've come to realize that the R party is/has created a well armed militia for our next Civil War...the one that no one wins.
Thank you for this. As a former Marine and a Christian, I am saddened to see that my patriotism and religion have been co-opted by people who don’t seem to reflect the true values of either institution. I appreciate your effort to reclaim the conversation.
Guns are antichrist. We really need the calm of John in the face of many antichrist and " be in the Spirit on the Lord's day" and pray for the healing of the nations
Jun 16, 2022·edited Jun 16, 2022Liked by Richard Bass
Thank you for writing this. For awhile I've been having difficulty to retain my faith and it's your words and those of other Christians like yourself that help me to perhaps stay with the faith. Knowing that more than 40 commented here helps me to know that maybe I can be a follower of Jesus and still stand against what I see as injustice in our world. Since April I've been in a weekly on-line bible study with two friends who are evangelicals (yet they did not vote for the last president) so it can be challenging at times. Thus, your words and your history in evangelicism helps to ground me, which I appreciate so much.
Well said, Diana!! We don't have a "God and guns" problem. It IS a "Guns are God" problem. What we teach to and how we model for our Children is so important right now - and always has been.
There is a four letter word that seems to be stalking through much of the world right now. It is fear. And what gives me pause is how having come through a period of fear with Covid I see only more vestiges of it. I pray for you folks in the US that this doesn't devolve into rocket launchers in every home and us vs. them being the way life is run. Scott
If you have other so called Gods that are GUNS, and these guns are AR Rifles that shoot hundreds of rounds of ammunition against innocent children OVER AND OVER, you have clearly broken the First of the Ten Commandments and cannot call yourself moral or ethical. I AM THE LORD THEY GOD YOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME. I believe God means this.
Thank you for this post, and for calling out the idolatry of the gun fetish. Nothing seems further from Jesus' message of peace and non-violence than trigger-happy paranoia.
Take it easy and recover! Be vigilant for possible later complications too--a friend who had COVID in January is now being treated for blood clots in her leg.
I have been thinking a lot about Jeremiah since Uvalde: guns have become the Baal of our society. Diana’s comments on Jesus are both moving and right for those of us who call ourselves Christian. But, primitive as it may be, I think we are also entitled - theology entitled - to the rage of Jeremiah! Idolatry has never served a society well.
First, I enjoyed your voice of reason at Southern Lights.
Second, so what is the answer to "guns for God?" Is there a way to move, at least some of, the gun toting Christians from Zealot to a more moderated position? Or is it a lost cause?
Did you receive a copy of my latest book, "Finding Your Bearings: How Words that Guided Jesus Through Crisis Can Guide Us"? If not, I'll be happy to send you a copy.
I'm a social historian and as I've watched the R party and the gundamentalists arm, I've come to realize that the R party is/has created a well armed militia for our next Civil War...the one that no one wins.
Thank you for this. As a former Marine and a Christian, I am saddened to see that my patriotism and religion have been co-opted by people who don’t seem to reflect the true values of either institution. I appreciate your effort to reclaim the conversation.
Thank you Diana!
Keep on wearing that Wonder Woman suit, Girl!
This is your best yet.
Thanks for speaking the ugly truth of our "guns are gods" culture!
And the gun god demands regular human sacrifices. Often of children, but constantly a diet of black and brown folks.
Guns are antichrist. We really need the calm of John in the face of many antichrist and " be in the Spirit on the Lord's day" and pray for the healing of the nations
Thank you for writing this. For awhile I've been having difficulty to retain my faith and it's your words and those of other Christians like yourself that help me to perhaps stay with the faith. Knowing that more than 40 commented here helps me to know that maybe I can be a follower of Jesus and still stand against what I see as injustice in our world. Since April I've been in a weekly on-line bible study with two friends who are evangelicals (yet they did not vote for the last president) so it can be challenging at times. Thus, your words and your history in evangelicism helps to ground me, which I appreciate so much.
Well said, Diana!! We don't have a "God and guns" problem. It IS a "Guns are God" problem. What we teach to and how we model for our Children is so important right now - and always has been.
Keep up your wonderful messages.
There is a four letter word that seems to be stalking through much of the world right now. It is fear. And what gives me pause is how having come through a period of fear with Covid I see only more vestiges of it. I pray for you folks in the US that this doesn't devolve into rocket launchers in every home and us vs. them being the way life is run. Scott
If you have other so called Gods that are GUNS, and these guns are AR Rifles that shoot hundreds of rounds of ammunition against innocent children OVER AND OVER, you have clearly broken the First of the Ten Commandments and cannot call yourself moral or ethical. I AM THE LORD THEY GOD YOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME. I believe God means this.
Thank you for this post, and for calling out the idolatry of the gun fetish. Nothing seems further from Jesus' message of peace and non-violence than trigger-happy paranoia.
Take it easy and recover! Be vigilant for possible later complications too--a friend who had COVID in January is now being treated for blood clots in her leg.
I have been thinking a lot about Jeremiah since Uvalde: guns have become the Baal of our society. Diana’s comments on Jesus are both moving and right for those of us who call ourselves Christian. But, primitive as it may be, I think we are also entitled - theology entitled - to the rage of Jeremiah! Idolatry has never served a society well.
Gundamentalism Asks:
What would Jesus carry?
He carried empathy.
He carried passion.
He carried compassion.
He carried the whole cosmos.
He carried the eternal essence of the divine.
When the gundamentalists came for him,
he said, "Put away your sword."
and he restored a severed ear,
so that a gundamentalist's servant
would be able to hear the good news
when it was proclaimed to him.
He carried a cross.
He carried the pain of the world.
He carried love.
He carried resurrection.
What are we carrying?
© 2022 Todd Jenkins
Diana,
First, I enjoyed your voice of reason at Southern Lights.
Second, so what is the answer to "guns for God?" Is there a way to move, at least some of, the gun toting Christians from Zealot to a more moderated position? Or is it a lost cause?
Tony