Tag Archives: murder

Mar 30 2013

this went thru my mind (on violence)

 

V-for-violenceBackground checks, gun control, & legislation: President Obama: We Have Not Forgotten What Happened in Newtown

“Right now, 90 percent of Americans — 90 percent — support background checks that will keep criminals and people who have been found to be a danger to themselves or others from buying a gun. More than 80 percent of Republicans agree. More than 80 percent of gun owners agree.”

Churches of Christ, military service, pacifism, Restoration Movement & war: Alexander Campbell, Tolbert Fanning, David Lipscomb: A Nineteenth-Century Anti-War Triumvirate [required reading]

“Alexander Campbell, Tolbert Fanning, and David Lipscomb had three things in common. They all lived during the nineteenth century. They were all ministers in the Church of Christ … And they were all vehemently anti-war. … All wrote well before the horrors of World War I, with Campbell and Fanning writing their anti-war works even before the carnage of the so-called Civil War. … I shall present Campbell’s anti-war views from his famous ‘Address on War’ that was originally delivered in May, 1848, in Wheeling, Virginia, published in the Millennial Harbinger in July the same year … I shall present Fanning’s anti-war views from his March 1847 article in the Christian Review titled simply ‘War.’ … I shall present Lipscomb’s anti-war views from his 1889 book, Civil Government: Its Origin, Mission, and Destiny, and the Christian’s Relation to It, which was originally published as a series of articles in the Gospel Advocate from 1866 to 1867.”

Fear & war: Threats of Annihilation Normal for South Koreans

“Nowhere is there the slightest inkling that anyone in this second largest metropolitan area in the world — is fearful or even anxious about the stream of threats emanating from North Korea.”

Guns & statistics: Children’s Defense Fund: Protect Children, Not Guns The Truth About Guns [essential reading]

“A gun in the home makes the likelihood of homicide three times higher, suicide three to five times higher, and accidental death four times higher. For every time a gun in the home injures or kills in self-defense, there are 11 completed and attempted gun suicides, seven criminal assaults and homicides with a gun, and four unintentional shooting deaths or injuries.”

Holocaust: Explaining the Holocaust to Our Nine Year-Old Daughter

“This is part of the beauty and the tension we experience as an interfaith family. We have two beautiful traditions, with rich spiritual practices, that do much good in the world. At the same time, we share a tragic history, in which the Lutheran theology to which I’ve dedicated my life in ministry was twisted in order to justify killing my wife’s ancestors. I am constantly aware of it, especially when I preach and teach, and at times find it difficult to reconcile.”

Shootings: One Nation Under The Gun: Thousands Of Gun Deaths Since Newtown

“The Huffington Post has tracked gun-related deaths in the United States since Newtown. Click here for an interactive map of those who have died.”

Feb 16 2013

this went thru my mind (on violence)

 

V-for-violenceDrones: White House Defends Drone-War Killing of Americans by Olivier Knox

“These strikes are legal, they are ethical, and they are wise.”

Ex-military experience: * ‘Nightmare’ at Home for SEAL Who Shot Osama bin Laden by Jamie Gumbrecht; * The Shooter by Phil Bronstein

“‘They spent, in the case of the shooter, 16 years doing exactly what they’re trained to do, which is going out on these missions, deployment after deployment, killing people on a regular basis,’ said Bronstein, executive chairman of the Center for Investigative Reporting. ‘They finally get to the point where they don’t want to do that anymore.’”

“‘I remember as I watched him breathe out the last part of air, I thought: Is this the best thing I’ve ever done, or the worst thing I’ve ever done?’”

Faith, gun control, logic & theology: * Toward a Theology of Guns: A Christian’s Perspective by T. Michael Halcomb [eight-part series; required reading]; * Guns and Jesus in America by Rich Little

Links to parts one, two, three, four, five, six, seven & eight of Halcomb’s posts.

* “… is living in this type of fear good, healthy, or even responsible? The Christian’s answer to this should, echoing Jesus’ views, be a resounding ‘No!’” (T. Michael Halcomb)

* “It’s difficult to vigorously defend rights to own semi-automatic weapons while simultaneously sending a message of love, hope and peace to the world and expect the world to not see a conflict in this message. … One isn’t considered liberal because they support sensible restrictions on the first amendment, in fact great support for these restrictions has come from the Christian community, so it seems perhaps somewhat dishonest to hear Christians arguing that any restrictions to the second amendment is an ‘attack’ on the second amendment when they have never considered reasonable restrictions to the first amendment an ‘attack.’ However, when we come to the second amendment a different logic and argument is employed by many.” (Rich Little)

Desensitization, entertainment, media & murder: Murder Shows and the Lamp of the Body by Dan Bouchelle

“‘Are you going to watch another one of your murder shows?’ asked my 5th grade daughter as she was trying to decide whether to watch TV with us or go upstairs and read. … hearing my baby describe one of our principle TV genres as ‘murder shows’ hit me between the eyes like a sledgehammer. Do we really feast our eyes on human slaughter for entertainment? Has our family living room turned into the Roman coliseum?”

Pacifism & pacifist: When “Top Gun” Becomes a Pacifist by Kurt Willems [required reading]

“Not only in time of war or combat, but in any other type of aggressive conflict our first and natural reaction to any offender who seeks to harm is to retaliate.  How can I reconcile this with the words of Jesus who tells us to actually turn and offer our other cheek to them? As a soldier I could not do this since I was commanded to retaliate against any kind of aggression. … My weapon is not an M16 or .38. My weapon is not an AR-15 or 9mm. In fact, God tells me that none of my weapons are of this world. So, what am I doing practicing my shooting skills aiming to hit the silhouette of a human target at the gun range? No, as disciples of Christ our weapons are of divine origin, incapacitating our enemies not with bullets, but with truth, righteousness, peace, faith, the Word of God, and prayer.”

The conquest of Canaan, genocide & God: How Could God Command Genocide in the Old Testament? by Justin Taylor

“In the book of Joshua God commands Israel to slaughter the Canaanites in order to occupy the Promised Land. It was a bloody war of total destruction where God used his people to execute his moral judgment against his wicked enemies. In moving toward an answer it will be helpful to think carefully about the building blocks of a Christian worldview related to God’s justice and mercy.”

Feb 2 2013

this went thru my mind (on violence)

 

V-for-violenceAbortion: What if Roe vs. Wade Went Away? by Timothy Archer

“… as society has decided that these lives aren’t worth saving, we need to back up and begin speaking for all lives. If we try to pick and choose, society can ignore us easily. We speak up for the unborn. We speak up for foreigners. We speak up for those who die around the world from hunger, thirst and disease. We speak up for life. We become truly pro-life and not just pro-life on one topic.”

Football: Are NFL Football Hits Getting Harder And More Dangerous?

“One thing is for certain — football players have gotten much bigger and faster. And the laws of physics tell us that the force of a hit depends on three factors: body weight, speed and how quickly the players stop moving.”

Funerals, grief, ministry & murder: Preaching After the Unthinkable by Stuart Briscoe

“… in the aftermath of traumatic violence, what can a preacher say?”

Genocide & Holocaust: International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2013: Victims Mourned At Auschwitz and Beyond

“The United Nations in 2005 designated Jan. 27 as a yearly memorial day for the victims of the Holocaust – 6 million Jews and millions of other victims of Nazi Germany during World War II. The day was chosen because it falls on the anniversary of the liberation in 1945 of Auschwitz, the Nazis’ most notorious death camp and a symbol of the evil inflicted across the continent.”

Gun control: * Gun Control: A Biblical and Theological Case by Matthew L. Kelley; * Of God and Guns by Dan Bouchelle

* “… I believe that the biblical witness and our theological heritage give us reason to support restrictions on firearms such as those currently being debated by the President and Congress. … here is what I believe to be a biblical and theological case for gun control: I have the freedom to do anything, but not everything is helpful.”

* “I wonder why we hear so little reflection on the ubiquitous emphasis throughout the Old Testament regarding not trusting weapons to protect us.”

Human trafficking: Human Trafficking Information by Darrel Bock

“This is not a pleasant subject but the opportunities exist to do something that truly delivers people out of personal hell. There are three types of trafficking: sexual trafficking, labor trafficking (which is often harder to trace), and forced soldering (something very common in Africa).”

Military service & pacifism: From Soldier to Pacifist by Matt Young

“A key Bible verse for me when I enlisted was, John 15:13 . I felt that by laying down my life for my fellow soldiers, or if need be other innocent people around the world, that I would be showing the most possible love for them. …

“The key reason I have become a pacifist, or believer in non-violence… whatever technical term we want to call it, is this. I was confronted with the words of Jesus.”

Jan 25 2013

we can, and must, do better, my brothers and sisters; much better

 

CursingOver the course of the past few weeks I’ve kept a running list of the some of the words I’ve commonly heard or seen used as folks of adult age discuss gun control in our country today.

In order to make the list, I had to have heard or seen the same word used more than once, expressed on at least two different occasions, by the same person. I kept no record at all of who said what, but I did keep record of the precise words that were chosen and used to describe others with whom the individual disagreed.

I stopped keeping the list when I hit the twenty mark. Why? Quite frankly: because I was sick of it. Are you curious as to contents of the list? If so, here it is, in alphabetical order.

  • a__holes
  • bast____
  • bitc___
  • boneheads
  • degenerates
  • dic__
  • fools
  • idiots
  • jackasses
  • jerks
  • low lifes
  • morons
  • nutjobs
  • retards
  • sh__heads
  • sh___
  • sickos
  • son of a bitc___
  • wack jobs
  • wackos

Now what grieves me most is what I didn’t mention before: all of these words were spoken or typed by my brothers and sisters in Christ who quite commonly make their way through church house doors. And I don’t mean they’re guests; I mean they wear the name of Christ, our Lord and Savior, and have for at least several years. In fact, in many cases, for decades.

To be sure, we all sin, and in many ways. Christians are no exception. God have mercy on us all! And put me at the head of the line of those who need to repent daily of the way I word things at times, whether silently in my head or aloud in print or in audible speech. But make no mistake about it: a world is watching and listening closely to our witness of the Christ we claim to believe and follow … and they are not at all impressed, but only repulsed, when we speak and act so. When they hear and see such they call us hypocrites, and rightly so, and become hardened all the more in their unbelief.

Which brings a Scripture to my mind. John tells us there are three kinds of sin in this world: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2.16). I dare say the preceding list can proceed from only one source: pure, unadulterated pride. Hmmm.

And so, may we all hear again the words of our Lord and Savior. May we hear them like never before. May we write them on our heart. May they cause us to become thoroughly disgusted with our speech. May they cause us to change our perception of others and go on to change in every way; to repent. May our speech be brought to complete submission to our Lord. To his glory and praise. For it is our Lord who speaks pointedly to us still when he says:

“You’re familiar with the command to the ancients, ‘Do not murder.’ I’m telling you that anyone who is so much as angry with a brother or sister is guilty of murder. Carelessly call a brother ‘idiot!’ and you just might find yourself hauled into court. Thoughtlessly yell ‘stupid!’ at a sister and you are on the brink of hellfire. The simple moral fact is that words kill.” (Matthew 5.21-22, The Message)