Friday, June 6, 2014

Author: 2nd Amendment Made Civil Rights Movement Possible

In his new book, This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed: How Guns Made The Civil Rights Movement Possible, journalist Charles Cobb shows how important guns were not only to leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. but also to many black Southerners who "believed in both nonviolence and self-defense."

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Iv been been telling people this for years but all they do is look back at you with a blank expression and say "how can having guns be non violent?" And it is not a matter of the government using excessive force either. It is about whoever disagrees with what you are trying to do.

Anonymous said...

I think that the proverb made famous by Teddy Roosevelt expresses the principle nicely. The proverb goes "Speak softly and carry a big stick." This proverb advises the tactic of caution and non-aggression, backed up by the ability to do violence if required. Non-violence does NOT mean the complete and total elimination of violence. Rather it retains violence as a tool IF ABSOLUTELY NEEDED! Jesus told (commanded?) His followers to "turn the other cheek" and to forgive "seventy times seven times". Speaking through the Apostle Paul, Creator God commanded us "If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all." (Rom. 12:18) But Jesus warned His disciples that when they saw a certain calamity approaching, "The person who doesn’t have a sword should sell his coat and buy one." So the "Prince of Peace told His disciples to buy the 1st Century equivalent of a gun - even if they had to sell their coat to do it!

The principle is clear. Do not start a fight. Avoid one if you can. But it you MUST fight then be prepared to win - with deadly force if necessary.