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Originally Posted by Daniel_
The problem is it's NOT "their" rules It's "Jesus' rules".
Carrying a gun is the ultimate symbol that you will not turn the other cheek, that you will not be humble in the face of adversity, threats, and violence.
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Meh. Christianity is as violent as any other group of people. From the Crusades to the Inquisition to W's "God told me to do it" war with Iraq, Jesus's religion has been used as an excuse to kill people since not long after people killed him.
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For a pastor of any denomination to encourage (or even tacitly allow) the congregation to come into the house of God armed with a lethal weapon is totally contrary to specific guidance given in the gospels by Jesus himself - not interpretation, not commentary by the authors of the gospels, but the actual recorded words of the man the pastor claims is his saviour and the son of God.
I would go so fr as to say you cannot be a Christian (as I was taught it is defined) if you go armed, or if you advocate the carrying and use of deadly weapons.
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Jesus also told us not to judge people, and to love our neighbor, yet it is the Christians who are so eagerly persecuting gays. If you're saying that guns in church means the church and its congregation is hypocritical, you might be right. . .But it's not like Christians haven't been hypocritical long before the gun-in-church issue came up.
For my part, I think it's pretty silly that we supposedly have a right to bear arms, yet can't actually take the gun anywhere practical. Stores, churches, government buildings, all ban guns. What's the point of having one for personal protection if you have to rely on violence only being done to you in the city park? If a criminal goes after you inside or on a sidewalk (where you won't be carrying your gun because you'll have nowhere to store it when you get to whatever building you're going to that doesn't allow guns), then you're just as screwed as if you didn't go to all the time and trouble to legally acquire a gun in the first place.
Additionally, you seem to be saying it's ok for people to carry guns as long as they don't carry them into church, because the church teaches them to turn the other cheek. In effect you're saying we only have to follow church teachings while we are actually in the church, which means it's totally fine for me to cheat on my wife as long as I do it at a seedy motel and not in the rectory.
And finally, I really don't think "turn the other cheek" is a suicide pact. I have trouble believing that Jesus would want us to just let a crazed gunman mow us down.