It's the UMC. I don't like to church bash, but their pastors have been getting worse over the years. The pastor at our local UMC is aloof at best and a stark raving mad she-bitch at her worst. Which option you get depends on her chosen disposition that day. They seem to be scraping the bottom of the barrel.
As an atheist for four decades and an Objectivist for three decades i would have to answer any reference to the alleged will of God with a single word: Who?
Even if I wasn't an atheist I would still have to question the validity of the translation of the 5th Commandment. Is it homicide in general or actually the specific act of murder that is forbidden? In any case the prohibition of the use of deadly force in the defense of self or an innocent bystander gives the advantage to those who are not in compliance. Thus it is not practical in material reality.
It's why I haven't gone to church in years. Between hiring and sheltering every illegal alien they can find, and coddling the homosexuals into their bosom, they found lots of time to keep anyone in the congregation from bringing a gun into church, as a licensed concealed carrier. They yak endlessly about the Bible, and don't follow it. Oh, yeah, and the endless appeals for money, and financial reports that show them millions in debt. Ichabod.
It doesn't matter. Should they attempt to "ban" firearms/ammo, a vibrant "underground" distribution system will fill the demand. Remember Prohibition and its repeal. Only this time, many more prohibitionists die. III
Overall, I agree with Mr. Smith's analysis. I do disagree with his characterization of the primise as being "childlike". It is not childLIKE - i.e. innocent, trusting, unfeigned, pure - but childISH - i.e. infantile, immature, silly, juvenile, foolish.
Re Leslie Bates' query: The injunction is not against homicide in general but MURDER. Creator God many times ordered His champions to kill in battle and He specified capital punishment for various offenses. He even, on at least one occasion, ordered what amounted to GENOCIDE against one of the Canaanite tribes; ordering the frst Israelite king to kill every man, woman, child and suckling babe of that tribe. He even ordered King Saul to destroy all the tribe's livestock. Failure to fully comply with the order cost Saul his kingdom and even his dynasty.
If homicide were wrong then Creator God was even more wrong for ordering it. Even in the New Testament the Christians were admonished that "[R]ulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer." (Note: They were also to “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. And give to God what belongs to God.” That has been interpreted to mean that we are to obey the law of the land but if the law of the land conflicts with God's law then the latter takes precedent.
6 comments:
It's the UMC. I don't like to church bash, but their pastors have been getting worse over the years. The pastor at our local UMC is aloof at best and a stark raving mad she-bitch at her worst. Which option you get depends on her chosen disposition that day. They seem to be scraping the bottom of the barrel.
If Hillary is elected president in 2016, the eight years we'll have spent fighting off gun grabbers under Obama will seem like a cake walk.
As an atheist for four decades and an Objectivist for three decades i would have to answer any reference to the alleged will of God with a single word: Who?
Even if I wasn't an atheist I would still have to question the validity of the translation of the 5th Commandment. Is it homicide in general or actually the specific act of murder that is forbidden?
In any case the prohibition of the use of deadly force in the defense of self or an innocent bystander gives the advantage to those who are not in compliance. Thus it is not practical in material reality.
It's why I haven't gone to church in years. Between hiring and sheltering every illegal alien they can find, and coddling the homosexuals into their bosom, they found lots of time to keep anyone in the congregation from bringing a gun into church, as a licensed concealed carrier. They yak endlessly about the Bible, and don't follow it. Oh, yeah, and the endless appeals for money, and financial reports that show them millions in debt. Ichabod.
It doesn't matter.
Should they attempt to "ban" firearms/ammo, a vibrant "underground" distribution system will fill the demand.
Remember Prohibition and its repeal.
Only this time, many more prohibitionists die.
III
Overall, I agree with Mr. Smith's analysis. I do disagree with his characterization of the primise as being "childlike". It is not childLIKE - i.e. innocent, trusting, unfeigned, pure - but childISH - i.e. infantile, immature, silly, juvenile, foolish.
Re Leslie Bates' query: The injunction is not against homicide in general but MURDER. Creator God many times ordered His champions to kill in battle and He specified capital punishment for various offenses. He even, on at least one occasion, ordered what amounted to GENOCIDE against one of the Canaanite tribes; ordering the frst Israelite king to kill every man, woman, child and suckling babe of that tribe. He even ordered King Saul to destroy all the tribe's livestock. Failure to fully comply with the order cost Saul his kingdom and even his dynasty.
If homicide were wrong then Creator God was even more wrong for ordering it. Even in the New Testament the Christians were admonished that "[R]ulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer." (Note: They were also to “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. And give to God what belongs to God.” That has been interpreted to mean that we are to obey the law of the land but if the law of the land conflicts with God's law then the latter takes precedent.
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