Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammo
Category: Faith... Firearms... Thinking Allowed...
Posted Friday, February 17, 2006 at 10:16 PM [GMT-6]

I realize that we've had quite a few recent posts on the Gazette dealing with guns, but I hope you'll indulge me at least one more.

Someone who I consider to be a friend, even though I've never met him, sent me an email last week in which he commented on the potential inconsistency between my faith in God and my plans to get a concealed handgun permit for protection, primarily while my wife and I are riding our tandem bike in remote areas. He described his satisfaction at how he'd successfully relied on God's protection while working in various hostile and hazardous environments.

I didn't take his observations in a negative way, nor did he mean them to be. Friends can raise questions like this without damaging relationships. And I have to admit that I have occasionally engaged in some introspection about my motivation and about what kind of message I might be sending to others. But I've never really felt that I'm either lacking in faith or betraying it by owning firearms and having them available for protection.

Perhaps this is a clumsy analogy, but I carry a spare tire in my Durango. I would never set out on a long trip without it, yet I've never used it in all the years I've owned the car. If I left it at home, went on a drive and had a blowout, I'd feel pretty dumb. We could argue until the cows come home about whether the flat tire was due to my lack of faith or something else, but I'd still be hitching a ride back to town to retrieve the spare.

That's how I view carrying a handgun in certain situations: it's a precaution that I likely will never need or use, but I'd feel pretty silly (or worse) if the need arose and I was without it. This goes double when I consider that I'm responsible not only for my own safety but also for that of my wife.

In any event, I think it's important to understand that I grew up around and with guns; I understand and respect them, but I don't revere them. A firearm is a tool, albeit a very powerful one. Consequently, my decision to buy a new one for concealed carry purposes carries about the same psychic weight as deciding to buy a new lawnmower. I realize that this attitude will be completely alien to some who are reading this, but that's more than likely due to the differences in our upbringings rather than a chasm between our respective moral, ethical or religious outlooks.

I do think it's important that each person work this out for themselves. For Christians, it's also important to consider the words of the apostle Paul, found in his letter to the Corinthian church, where he observes that while "all things" are lawful, they're not all edifying...some can be stumbling blocks to others. This, too, needs to be worked out with God, but the thinking about it is a good first step.

In closing, I'm reminded of the old joke about the guy who appeared before God after drowning in a flood. The guy had waved off a helicopter, then a boat, stating that he was relying on God to save him. He was ticked off, accusing God of ignoring his prayers for a miraculous rescue. God asked, simply, who do you think sent the helicopter and the boat?