"Pastor" Steven Anderson: Every Christian Should Own A Weapon<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\""Pastor" Steven Anderson has a long, long history of saying awful and sometimes insane things from the pulpit. In his latest abomination,\" \/>\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\/zackhunt\/2014\/12\/pastor-steven-anderson-every-christian-weapon\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""Pastor" Steven Anderson: Every Christian Should Own A Weapon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\""Pastor" Steven Anderson has a long, long history of saying awful and sometimes insane things from the pulpit. In his latest abomination,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2014\/12\/pastor-steven-anderson-every-christian-weapon\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Semi-Official Blog of Zack Hunt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-12-12T14:46:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/941\/2014\/12\/Screen-Shot-2014-12-12-at-9.25.38-AM.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"439\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Zack Hunt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Zack Hunt\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2014\/12\/pastor-steven-anderson-every-christian-weapon\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2014\/12\/pastor-steven-anderson-every-christian-weapon\/\",\"name\":\"\\\"Pastor\\\" Steven Anderson: Every Christian Should Own A Weapon\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-12-12T14:46:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-12-12T14:46:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/#\/schema\/person\/92d888feb798c511bc3c9cb2fc4a4226\"},\"description\":\"\\\"Pastor\\\" Steven Anderson has a long, long history of saying awful and sometimes insane things from the pulpit. In his latest abomination,\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2014\/12\/pastor-steven-anderson-every-christian-weapon\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2014\/12\/pastor-steven-anderson-every-christian-weapon\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2014\/12\/pastor-steven-anderson-every-christian-weapon\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"“Pastor” Steven Anderson: Every Christian Should Own A Weapon\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/\",\"name\":\"The Semi-Official Blog of Zack Hunt\",\"description\":\"Zack writes about the intersection of faith and politics\u2026and sometimes BBQ.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/#\/schema\/person\/92d888feb798c511bc3c9cb2fc4a4226\",\"name\":\"Zack Hunt\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7a3db085a35a483a38418a4937abcd6?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7a3db085a35a483a38418a4937abcd6?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Zack Hunt\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/author\/zhunt\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"Pastor\" Steven Anderson: Every Christian Should Own A Weapon","description":"\"Pastor\" Steven Anderson has a long, long history of saying awful and sometimes insane things from the pulpit. In his latest abomination,","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\/zackhunt\/2014\/12\/pastor-steven-anderson-every-christian-weapon\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\"Pastor\" Steven Anderson: Every Christian Should Own A Weapon","og_description":"\"Pastor\" Steven Anderson has a long, long history of saying awful and sometimes insane things from the pulpit. In his latest abomination,","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2014\/12\/pastor-steven-anderson-every-christian-weapon\/","og_site_name":"The Semi-Official Blog of Zack Hunt","article_published_time":"2014-12-12T14:46:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":439,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/941\/2014\/12\/Screen-Shot-2014-12-12-at-9.25.38-AM.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Zack Hunt","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Zack Hunt","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2014\/12\/pastor-steven-anderson-every-christian-weapon\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2014\/12\/pastor-steven-anderson-every-christian-weapon\/","name":"\"Pastor\" Steven Anderson: Every Christian Should Own A Weapon","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-12-12T14:46:43+00:00","dateModified":"2014-12-12T14:46:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/#\/schema\/person\/92d888feb798c511bc3c9cb2fc4a4226"},"description":"\"Pastor\" Steven Anderson has a long, long history of saying awful and sometimes insane things from the pulpit. In his latest abomination,","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2014\/12\/pastor-steven-anderson-every-christian-weapon\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2014\/12\/pastor-steven-anderson-every-christian-weapon\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2014\/12\/pastor-steven-anderson-every-christian-weapon\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"“Pastor” Steven Anderson: Every Christian Should Own A Weapon"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/","name":"The Semi-Official Blog of Zack Hunt","description":"Zack writes about the intersection of faith and politics\u2026and sometimes BBQ.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/#\/schema\/person\/92d888feb798c511bc3c9cb2fc4a4226","name":"Zack Hunt","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7a3db085a35a483a38418a4937abcd6?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7a3db085a35a483a38418a4937abcd6?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Zack Hunt"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/author\/zhunt\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3437"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13380\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":13380,"date":"2014-12-12T09:46:43","date_gmt":"2014-12-12T14:46:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theamericanjesus.net\/?p=13380"},"modified":"2014-12-12T09:46:43","modified_gmt":"2014-12-12T14:46:43","slug":"pastor-steven-anderson-every-christian-weapon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2014\/12\/pastor-steven-anderson-every-christian-weapon\/","title":{"rendered":"“Pastor” Steven Anderson: Every Christian Should Own A Weapon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u201cPastor\u201d Steven Anderson has a long, long history of saying awful and sometimes insane things<\/a> from the pulpit.<\/p>\n

In his latest abomination, Anderson\u00a0preaches on the \u201cneed\u201d for every Christian to own a weapon.<\/p>\n\n

Now, let me be clear: I\u2019m not anti-gun.\u00a0I\u2019ve been hunting and I\u2019ve been to the gun range. I enjoyed both and would happily do both again in the future.<\/p>\n

But there are 2 key things going on in Anderson\u2019s message that make it utterly appalling (and that doesn\u2019t include the gun he\u2019s carrying on his hip while he preaches).<\/p>\n

The first is the context of this sermon.<\/p>\n

At the beginning of the video he mentions protesters. That\u2019s not a casual remark or some sort of joke. There were actual protestors outside<\/a> of his church the Sunday morning this clip was filmed. Why? Because the previous Sunday\u00a0 he said we should execute homosexuals<\/a> in order to rid the world of AIDS because that\u2019s what God recommends in the Bible (and that was after declaring that \u201cno homos will ever be allowed in this church\u00a0as long as I am the pastor\u201d because \u201call homos are pedophiles\u201d).<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, he was met by a crowd of protesters when he showed up to church this past Sunday, presumably with more than a couple of LGBT folks in the crowd.<\/p>\n

Which means \u201cPastor\u201d Anderson brought a gun to face down the very people he said he had a divine mandate to execute.<\/p>\n

The second important thing to catch in this video is a bad joke(?)\u00a0he makes while rattling off potential low cost weapons for members of his congregation on a budget: \u201cGo get a lead pipe for crying out loud\u2026somebody killed somebody with that in the game Clue<\/em>, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

Sure, he\u2019s trying to make the point that even cheap things can be used as weapon, but he\u2019s also making it clear to\u00a0his congregation that they should be prepared to kill other people with the\u00a0weapons he wants them to buy.<\/p>\n

Other than his previous sermon on AIDS, this has got to be one of the most absurdly awful things I\u2019ve ever heard preached inside the walls of a church.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s worse is how\u00a0disturbingly popular\u00a0this sort of violent rhetoric\u00a0has become<\/a> in American Christianity, ushered in under the guise of \u201cprotecting the innocent\u201d and a tragic misreading of Luke 22:36<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But as follower of Jesus,\u00a0our calling is clear whether we like it our not.<\/p>\n

We are to love our enemies, not beat them to death with a lead pipe.<\/p>\n

Is that easier said than done? Absolutely<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

But\u00a0the pulpit is a place to imagine how a non-violent\u00a0calling can be lived out in a violent world.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a place to sanctify our bloodlust.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"