Bang! Bang! You’re Dead!

What do you think? Should a believer own a gun? I guess that ultimately depends on what kind of god that person believes in, doesn’t it. “By their fruits you shall know them.”¹

For what purpose do people own guns? “For sport,” some would say. Ok. Would that be target practice? Learning to hit a target with precision? Training one’s eye-hand coordination and gaining effective muscle memory? Sure; why not? However, doesn’t that actually beg the question? People don’t practice the piano to train their minds and muscles; they do so to play music. Why, then, do people spend time, energy, and money in target practice? Evidently to enable them more effectively to use the weapon for its primary purpose: to kill.

If the primary purpose of a weapon is to kill (a somewhat obvious inference), then we should ask what the intended target of this sport might be. The answer is rather clear: sport hunters use guns for killing animals. Is this killing for survival? Not really. It is, as I mentioned above, “for sport.” There’s a thrill in tracking something down and watching it die. Often, for an “ethical” hunter, the prey is dressed and used for food. Otherwise, it may either become a trophy or worse — be left to rot in the wild. What about this “thrill of the kill”? Somehow, this seems to fulfill some sort of desire in those who pursue it. But, how does the satisfaction of blood lust nourish the spirit of a believer? What kind of a god (except, perhaps, Shiva the Destroyer²) delights in the satisfaction of a desire to kill?

Let’s get real. Sportsmen (and women) aside, people own guns to kill other people. They need this capability because of their deeply-held belief in fear, in guilt, and, ultimately in death. Regardless of the name they give their (theoretical) deity, their worship — where weapons serve as a sort of talisman or sacramental — shows that their god is the satanized god of death, accusing mythical “others” of plotting to deprive them of their desires and, ultimately, of their lives. The very concept of “self defense”³ belies a belief in their own vulnerability as much as the guilt of their supposed attackers. Who are these “others” that are not members of their own family? They are “evil” “foreigners” “unbelievers” “marauders” or whatever other moniker one would like to use to justify relegating these people to a sub-human status that justifies their slaughter. And, just as significantly, classifying fellow humans as “other” serves to confirm me as “righteous” over and against them.

The culture of death and that culture’s satanized god demands the sacrifice of the guilty and impious in order to justify the righteous and guarantee their reward: the satisfaction of their holy desires. Yet, does the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — the living God — know death? Does the Eternal, Who is, Who was, and Who is to come — need defense? Who are the enemies of the Living God? Where are God’s weapons? Who follows the God of Love in fear?⁴

Oh, come, our Dayspring from on high,
And cheer us by your drawing nigh,
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!

Oh, come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Oh, bid our sad divisions cease,
And be yourself our King of Peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!

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