Immediately following the Parkland, Florida, shooting there was a call for – get this – gun control. A fury was led by Parkland students David Hogg and Cameron Kasky, who were given expert status by the media simply because of geography. (They were in a school while a shooting took place, apparently giving them unassailable wisdom. By this logic the entire city of Chicago is genius.) That fury was directed:
- Against the shooter who actually killed the people? No.
- Against the FBI for ignoring tips that the shooter was going to shoot? Ridiculous.
- Against Sheriff Israel, who lied about how much contact his department had with the shooter, his weapons, etc., while talking about his own “amazing leadership,” (which coincidentally led to the deaths of 17 people)? Try again.
- That the shooting took place in a “gun-free” zone, where 98 percent of ALL mass shootings take place? That’s some Einstein thought calling a place “gun-free” would repel rather than attract shooters?
No no no. The fury is against the NRA, a Second Amendment civil rights group of 5 million citizens. The NRA had no part in the shooting. Its members have never committed a mass shooting, but an NRA member did use his AR-15 to stop the Sutherland Springs shooter.
Most significantly, there is a lot of talk about “gun” violence and “gun” control and “gun” deaths. What’s missing? The language of “murderer” control and “criminal” violence and “terrorists caused” deaths.
Why? Why propose limiting the power of the citizenry instead of expressing anger at a government that can’t follow its own rules to stop a killer? Where is the rage at the mass shooter and his blood lust? What’s behind this thinking?
The answer is this: Gun control is a spiritual issue based on a spiritual worldview.
Let’s consider two views in light of what God says about this issue in the Bible.
The two views are:
- The weapon makes the person do bad things. If people didn’t have guns, everyone would be safe.
- The person is the problem and responsible for all his or her actions.
Let’s examine both from a Biblical perspective.
1. The weapon is the problem. It makes people do bad things – or global warming does, or Christian football players kneeling in prayer (may provoke ISIS), or whatever is “out there” that might trigger someone.
What does God say about this? Nothing.
God NEVER, EVER says a condemning word about spears, javelins, rocks, arrows, axes, clubs, whips or other tools used to kill. (Guns weren’t invented until around 1364). That is remarkable. There are many, many many words in the Bible. It’s incredibly wordy! Over 807,000 words! But God doesn’t use one word to condemn weapons used in an actual murder!
The first murder in all of creation is recorded in Genesis 4: Cain kills Abel. But God doesn’t even name the weapon! If the very first murder weapon in the world was to blame, seems like God would name and condemn it. What a great opportunity for God to ban the weapon. Instead, He will later famously say, Thou Shalt Not Murder.
Which only makes sense if it’s not the inanimate object that causes the problem.
2. The person is the problem.
Short summary for those who like to skip ahead: This is the view of the entire Bible.
God always and only blames individuals for evil done in the world. He claims that it’s a heart problem, not an inanimate object problem. He sent His Son to die on a cross to deal with the problem in the heart of every person.
To further demonstrate, while God never says, “ban the weapon” He does say “punish the wrongdoer.” He says good government is put in place to do (Romans 13) “terror to those who do bad” and that the government “does not bear the sword in vain,” and “carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.”
No wrath against the sword! No terror against the knife or gun! Instead we see actual wrath and terror against the wrongdoer (God’s Words not mine). That’s scary stuff! And, by the way, the only thing criminals fear.
Rather than banning the weapon, in a very real way God commands banning the murderer.
He says,”If anyone takes a human life, that person’s life will also be taken by human hands. For God made human beings in His own image” (Genesis 9:6). God is pro-capital punishment, no ifs, ands or buts (read more here).
It’s not about weapon control. It’s all about murderer control and armed robber control and wife beater control and child killer control and rapist control and terrorist control.
Our Founding Fathers, (not all Christian but shared Biblical values) never feared an armed citizenry. They did fear an unchecked, armed government and the criminal. So, they enshrined in our Constitution the God-given right of a free press and the right to bear arms to protect everyone against criminals and tyrannical government.
Weapons don’t make bad guys do bad things. They do bad all on their own. So, they should be met with force, punished forcefully and yes – kept away from guns. But never at the expense of the liberty of the law-abiding.
Amen and amen.
