Saturday, April 23, 2011

In Glock We Trust


I found an interesting item in the Washington Post the other day. It seems some Christians in northern Virginia don't really expect God to keep them safe, even when they're in church. So, they're helping him out.

By bringing weapons to church.

Here are some excerpts from the article:

Parishioners carried Bibles in embroidered cases, babies with ribbons in their hair, and flutes, violins and sheet music into Immanuel Bible Church for Palm Sunday services.

And a few carried guns, tucked into waistbands, hidden under suit jackets.

- snip -

Philip Van Cleave, of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, said people have been carrying concealed weapons to church for years because of the threat of terrorism and church shootings across the country.

“Al-Qaeda has been our reason, as well as many of the recent church shootings around the country,” he said. “Think of it this way: If saving your own life isn’t a ‘good and sufficient reason’ to carry a gun, then what else could possibly qualify?”

- snip -

“Guns in a church? Why?” said Samy Youssef, a member from Alexandria. “God is our protector. He is our savior.”

- snip -

“The real sad thing for all of us in this is it’s an indication of where our culture is — that public meeting areas, churches, schools, town halls, malls are threats for terrorism,” Holley said. Two years ago, he said, a preacher in Illinois was gunned down in the pulpit.

The Rev. Tom Joyce, a fellow Immanuel pastor, said there was a case in Colorado in which a gunman began spraying bullets in a church but was shot and killed by someone in attendance.

“We rely 100 percent, before any weapon, in the power of the Holy Spirit to protect us,” he said. “It’s also good to have some people here on campus” who are trained and armed.

I hate to break it to the Rev. Joyce, but that last statement is utter nonsense. If the Holy Spirit's protective powers need to be supplemented by firearms, then trust in him is not 100%, as claimed.

2 comments:

Dave said...

Paranoia is hard to fight as no matter what happens, it is taken as justification. They are saying that we have faith, but we are more confident in trusting our own hands and guns.

Barbara said...

that doesn't sound like Faith to me in any sense of the word.