\u201cThe real problem is the human heart. Until we fix that, there is no point in passing gun laws\u201d is, in fact, a profoundly anti-Christian statement. What the Church teaches and has always taught is that it is utterly delusional to believe that the human heart will be \u201cfixed\u201d in this life and that it is wildly imprudent to think that all, or even the majority, of human beings are likely to have progressed in holiness to sanctity in this life.<\/p>\n
Accordingly, the state exists, not to fix the human heart, but to try to limit the means by which evil people can slaughter lots of people at once and to encourage those things by which virtue at least has a fighting chance. So it is absolutely the state\u2019s job to limit access to the technology of mass slaughter since the state actually has the duty and power to do such things. That\u2019s why the same \u201cprolife\u201d people who constantly lie that the state should do nothing about access to gun technology have spent 30 years saying the state must outlaw access to abortion technology.<\/p>\n
The state is not good at all at fixing the human heart. But it is reasonably practiced at gathering up goods it does not want bought and sold and punishing manufacturers and sellers of such goods and making their purchase so impractical and expensive that they are difficult to obtain. All other civilized countries have done this with guns. We alone have not. That\u2019s not because we are godless and mentally ill. There are godless and mentally ill people aplenty in Canada, the UK, Oz, and Europe. It\u2019s because have chosen to elect politicians who are owned by the arms industry who will not create the laws these countries enjoy here. And we have done so because we continue to regurgitate the lies of the arms industry, which are typically fed to us by Christianist liars who trust their gun and not God to keep them safe and whose sole selfish reply to every single slaughter is \u201cYour dead kids don\u2019t trump my constitutional rights.\u201d<\/p>\n
Me.\u00a0 My rights.\u00a0 My gun.\u00a0 My liberty.\u00a0 Me. Me. Me.<\/p>\n
St. Paul told the Corinthians who were struggling over the question of eating meat sacrificed to idols:<\/p>\n
Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. Only take care lest this liberty of yours somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if any one sees you, a man of knowledge, at table in an idol\u2019s temple, might he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak man is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food is a cause of my brother\u2019s falling, I will never eat meat, lest I cause my brother to fall. (1 Co 8:8\u201313).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Paul understood that he had a perfect right to eat meat. But for the sake of his brother\u2019s tender conscience, he willingly abandoned his rights.<\/p>\n
If guns are the cause of your brother\u2019s death<\/em>, then the obvious Christian response to gun slaughter is not \u201cI HAVE MY RIGHTS!\u201d but, \u201cDear God, what can we do to stop this?\u201d and if stopping this means abandoning your precious rights then a Christian will willingly do so. A Christianist\u2019s only response is \u201cScrew you! Don\u2019t touch my gun!\u201d<\/p>\n
As long as that remains the sole response to the slaughter, the slaughter will never ever end.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cThe real problem is the human heart. Until we fix that, there is no point in passing gun laws\u201d is, in fact, a profoundly anti-Christian statement. What the Church teaches and has always taught is that it is utterly delusional to believe that the human heart will be \u201cfixed\u201d in this life and that it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[594],"class_list":["post-102268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-gun-violence-is-a-prolife-issue-too"],"yoast_head":"\n
A Christian approach to Gun Rights and the State<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\""The real problem is the human heart. Until we fix that, there is no point in passing gun laws" is, in fact, a profoundly anti-Christian statement. What\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/02\/christian-approach-gun-rights-state.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Christian approach to Gun Rights and the State\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\""The real problem is the human heart. Until we fix that, there is no point in passing gun laws" is, in fact, a profoundly anti-Christian statement. What\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/02\/christian-approach-gun-rights-state.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic and Enjoying It!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-02-20T07:57:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-02-20T16:39:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark Shea\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark Shea\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/02\/christian-approach-gun-rights-state.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/02\/christian-approach-gun-rights-state.html\",\"name\":\"A Christian approach to Gun Rights and the State\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-02-20T07:57:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-02-20T16:39:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5\"},\"description\":\"\\\"The real problem is the human heart. Until we fix that, there is no point in passing gun laws\\\" is, in fact, a profoundly anti-Christian statement. What\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/02\/christian-approach-gun-rights-state.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/02\/christian-approach-gun-rights-state.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/02\/christian-approach-gun-rights-state.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Christian approach to Gun Rights and the State\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/\",\"name\":\"Catholic and Enjoying It!\",\"description\":\"Mark Shea's Blog: So That No Thought of Mine, No Matter How Stupid, Should Ever Go Unpublished Again!\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5\",\"name\":\"Mark Shea\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mark Shea\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/author\/markshea\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Christian approach to Gun Rights and the State","description":"\"The real problem is the human heart. Until we fix that, there is no point in passing gun laws\" is, in fact, a profoundly anti-Christian statement. What","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/02\/christian-approach-gun-rights-state.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Christian approach to Gun Rights and the State","og_description":"\"The real problem is the human heart. Until we fix that, there is no point in passing gun laws\" is, in fact, a profoundly anti-Christian statement. What","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/02\/christian-approach-gun-rights-state.html","og_site_name":"Catholic and Enjoying It!","article_published_time":"2018-02-20T07:57:33+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-02-20T16:39:25+00:00","author":"Mark Shea","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mark Shea","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/02\/christian-approach-gun-rights-state.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/02\/christian-approach-gun-rights-state.html","name":"A Christian approach to Gun Rights and the State","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-02-20T07:57:33+00:00","dateModified":"2018-02-20T16:39:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5"},"description":"\"The real problem is the human heart. Until we fix that, there is no point in passing gun laws\" is, in fact, a profoundly anti-Christian statement. What","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/02\/christian-approach-gun-rights-state.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/02\/christian-approach-gun-rights-state.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/02\/christian-approach-gun-rights-state.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Christian approach to Gun Rights and the State"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/","name":"Catholic and Enjoying It!","description":"Mark Shea's Blog: So That No Thought of Mine, No Matter How Stupid, Should Ever Go Unpublished Again!","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5","name":"Mark Shea","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mark Shea"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/author\/markshea"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102268\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}