Why are many right wing Christians nuts about guns?

[Gift_from_God]

I live in Canada and many Canadians love guns, but we’re not as nuts about it as many Americans are. Now, I hear many Christians yell “GOD AND GUNS!!!” two words that don’t belong in the same sentence in my opinion. Now, if you have a gun because of the defense ideology or 2nd amendment, alright, I may disagree, but you’re entitled to your own opinion. Now my question to Americans on this site is why are many Christians so obsessed with having guns and believe God wants you to have guns and Satan wants to take them away? I know it’s not all of them obviously, I’m just curious about the ones that do scream about God and guns

 

[tjfitz]

I think some of the answer is that the United States is a republic born as a result of a revolution in arms, in contrast to Canada, although Canada has some history of rebellion (the Metis, for example, followed by the hanging of Louis Riel) that involved citizens with arms and military action to put down their rebellion.

The United States Constitution was written to insure that citizens’ rights cannot be overturned by government action, and that was done more than 220 years ago by creating a right to have and bear arms so that the states can form militia from their armed citizens.

The United States is a hugely diverse population, and now mostly urban, and has a history of racial separation which has probably resulted in a very large “underclass” who are seen by many in the rest of the population as a threat to their safety. (Not many white people in America willingly walk or even drive, in urban black ghettoes, day or night.) It is probably now become the same in large cities where there are significant recent Hispanic immigrant populations with numbers of unemployed young men who have become part of that underclass, and have adopted gang culture as their lifestyle.

All that doesn’t explain why Christian people, as such, would advocate owning and carrying arms, but it might go a little way to explain why an American might be rather assertive about his or her right to possess a gun for self-defense.

Getting back to Canada for a moment, I recognize that Canada’s population is also diverse and mostly urban. In fact most of Canada’s population lies south of the 49th Parallel border between the United States and Canada (I live north of most Canadians, and I am in one of the “lower 48” states.) I think there might be quite a different reaction to the question of gun ownership if it were asked of someone living in a city like Ottawa or Toronto compared to someone living in a small town in Alberta or Saskatchewan.

 

[Zatzat]

I think there might be quite a different reaction to the question of gun ownership if it were asked of someone living in a city like Ottawa or Toronto compared to someone living in a small town in Alberta or Saskatchewan.

Absolutely.

Divide it further.

Rural / Urban and there’s your true split.

Rural Canadians, guns are a tool.

Urban Canadians, guns are dangerous and there’s no place for them.

 

[Sir_Knight]

I live in Canada and many Canadians love guns, but we’re not as nuts about it as many Americans are. Now, I hear many Christians yell “GOD AND GUNS!!!” two words that don’t belong in the same sentence in my opinion. Now, if you have a gun because of the defense ideology or 2nd amendment, alright, I may disagree, but you’re entitled to your own opinion. Now my question to Americans on this site is why are many Christians so obsessed with having guns and believe God wants you to have guns and Satan wants to take them away? I know it’s not all of them obviously, I’m just curious about the ones that do scream about God and guns

I refer you to Luke 22:36-38 where Our Lord commanded His followers to purchase a sword even if they had to sell their cloak to do it. The “sword” (Greek: maxairan) is a dagger or short sword that belonged to the Jewish traveler’s equipment as protection against robbers and wild animals. Pretty much the equivalent of what a gun is today.

 

[1WATCHER]

I refer you to Luke 22:36-38 where Our Lord commanded His followers to purchase a sword even if they had to sell their cloak to do it. The “sword” (Greek: maxairan) is a dagger or short sword that belonged to the Jewish traveler’s equipment as protection against robbers and wild animals. Pretty much the equivalent of what a gun is today.

Knight,

kudos to you and I came across this as and informative christians and guns ownership.mouseguns.com/cba.htm I have not read all of it or most of it so HERE YOU GO … Gift from God… it may help you understand in a different light…

 

[vera_dicere]

Perhaps Christians who are mad about guns tend to fall in with the extreme conservatism and those who wish to limit guns tend to be of the liberal mind. And we all konw how most right wing Christians feel about liberals.

But to be honest, I think the whole thing is a bit insane, people don’t need guns to kill other people. If you take away guns or make it harder to get them, people who would have committed crimes with guns will simply find other weapons with which to do the killing.

For me, the gun is a tool, just like a tractor or a sheep. Its how we use the tool that determines it danger. Anythign could be used to kill, used as a weapon.

Come to NZL, here we dont’ have drive by shootings, we haave “drive by, get out of your car, and beat the living snot out of some one you don’t like with a cricket bat”.

 

[Sir_Knight]

Knight,

kudos to you and I came across this as and informative christians and guns ownership.mouseguns.com/cba.htm I have not read all of it or most of it so HERE YOU GO … Gift from God… it may help you understand in a different light…

I’ve known the owner of that website for a number of years and he often posts on my pro-gun discussion board.

 

[srlucado]

The United States Constitution was written to insure that citizens’ rights cannot be overturned by government action, and that was done more than 220 years ago by creating a right to have and bear arms so that the states can form militia from their armed citizens.

Also, we tend to forget today that religious freedom meant a great deal to our ancestors. For those who were forced from their homes for religious reasons (like my Huguenot ancestors), the ability to defend one’s way of life and faith was very important.

Defending yourself with a gun against a hostile government is tough enough; without a gun, it’s impossible.

 

[Bluegoat]

I think in many cases, people are equating their religious stance with a political one. This is very very common in the US - look at the number of threads on CAF asking “Can one be Catholic and liberal” or some such thing.

Canadians often don’t realize how deeply ingrained this seems to be in modern American culture, because we don’t have much that compares with it in our political life. There was some religious aspect in the Reform Party, but that had to disappear before they became a real national party. The Bloc is about Quebec nationalism which is aggressively secular, and the NDP, Liberals, and Greens haven’t any real religious affiliation these days. All the parties have members of many religions.

It just doesn’t compare to a place where you can ask for a person’s religious views on a particular issue and they will quote the declaration of independence to you. Nationalism and religion seem very connected for some, even to the point of a kind of manifest destiny POV, and they tend to be those who are big on gun rights.