GOD, GUNS, & GUTS

“Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.” (Matthew 12:29)

I’ve made the road trip between the Boston, MA area and Springfield, Missouri so many times that I’ve lost count on how many times  it has been.  In recent years, it’s been trips related in one way or another to my daughter Amy who was attending Evangel University in Missouri and who is now married and living and working in Springfield, MO.  In the distant past, it was commuting between home and school when I was a student at Central Bible College.  I know the route so well I could practically make the 1400 mile trip in my sleep!  For someone from the congested northeast, I think one of the most pleasant parts of the trip is the farm country between Columbus, Ohio and St. Louis.  I have noticed in the past few years that many of the farms along Interstate 70 are being sold and developed into housing subdivisions and strip malls, and that’s especially true of western Ohio.  I feel sad about that. There’s something else I miss along Interstate 70. In the 1970s there was a large handpainted sign on a farm in either Ohio or Indiana (I THINK it was Indiana) which read, “God, Guns, & Guts made America great”.  I think of that sign when I make the trip, and I miss seeing it.

I can just imagine liberal suburban Bostonians snickering at that sign, and picturing some old wild-eyed white-beareded redneck painting it.  I don’t expect to win a popularity contest from the Jim Braudes of the world for this posting, but I happen to AGREE with the sentiments on that sign.  God, Guns, & Guts DID make America great!

Speaking of guns, there was an important 5-4 Decision of the United States Supreme Court late last week which went in favor of the rights of gun ownership.  The Supreme Court overturned a forty-year-old District of Columbia law which did not allow private gun ownership in D.C.  As could be expected, the N.R.A. is ecstatic about the decision, and the “bleeding heart liberals” are, well, bleeding in their hearts about the Decision.

Some of my conservative friends have been disappointed with me in the past few years, fearing I’ve gone “soft” and “liberal” because I’m no longer a 100% hard-line right wing conservative.  On THIS issue (guns), however, I happen to be a 100% hard-line right wing conservative.  The left considers the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to be confusing, ambiguous, and hard to understand.  It’s not!   Just read it, word for word.  It’s crystal clear IN CONTEXT that every American citizen is supposed to able to own guns.  I know, I know, that wording about the “militia” is what throws everybody off.  Liberals interpret that to mean that only police officers and soldiers are free to keep firearms in their homes and to have farily easy accessibility to guns.  That’s NOT what the Second Amendment says.  Rather it’s pointing out that one of many benefits of guns being plentiful and found in almost every American home is that when it’s time to “call out the militia” the guys (or gals) can just grab their guns and go!  Would I be frightened if every (mentally competent person who has not been convicted of a felony) U.S. citizen age 18 or older in Framingham had licensed firearms, not only in their homes but on their persons?  I would not be a bit frightened about it!  In fact, I think it would be a great idea.  Statistically, the municipalities in the U.S.A. that have the most “gun friendly” laws and policies have the LOWEST crime rates in America.  WHAT criminal in his or her right mind would want to take on a community where people are armed to the teeth and ready to shoot if necessary?!

I know this piece is “blowing a lot of my friends away”.  I know there’s the argument that Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace, and so HOW can I write something like this?  Well, keep in mind that Revelation chapter 19 describes Jesus Christ returning to Earth wielding “a sharp sword to smite the nations”!

The U.S. Constitution is definitely pro-guns and pro-gun ownership.  I know I’ve made my conservative friends very happy with this posting, but now I’m going to make my liberal friends happy.  Justice Scalia says the U.S. Constitution is NOT “a living document” (as liberals declare).  Well, sorry Justice Scalia, and sorry conservatives, but OF COURSE THE U.S. CONSTITUTION IS A LIVING DOCUMENT!  Unlike God’s Word (The Bible) which cannot be changed, the U.S. Constitution CAN be changed and can even be discarded entirely IF done legally and correctly.  RIGHT NOW, the Constitution absolutely backs up a hard-line right wing viewpoint on guns (which I support).  If liberals disagree, they can go through the legal channels to amend the Constitution. If someday the liberals succeed in accomplishing that,  well I’ll be disappointed, but I’ll have to give them credit where credit is due for their hard work.

I guess I’ve probably made no one happy with this posting, but that old farmer on Interstate 70 WAS right:  God, Guns, & Guts made America great! Think about that this 4th of July!