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Introduction
On the afternoon of February 14, 2018, a mass shooting occurred at Marjory Stoneman
Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in the Miami metropolitan area. Seventeen
people were killed and fourteen more were taken to hospitals, making it one of the
world's deadliest school massacres.
A mass shooting occurred at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, about
30 miles (48 kilometers) east of the city of San Antonio, on November 5, 2017. The
gunman, 26-year-old Devin Patrick Kelley of nearby New Braunfels, killed 26 and injured 20
others.
Unfortunately the list of insensible and meaningless shootings and massacres goes on and on to the point that the nation is getting immunized to this
terrible social reality: Violence is escalating to levels never seen in the United States in recent history.
Here you have a brief listing of violent events in the land!
Shootings
USA 2017 Violent Acts
Politicians, social leaders and television experts keep talking about strict gun controls and better background checks failing to stop for a moment to
reflect, to meditate, trying to find the root cause of the problem, this is, what is the reason or reasons an escalation of violence is taking place in the
nation? What elements are moving our social fabric that some of our youngsters are now acting as plane assassins? What influence people to this radical
behavior?
Is the solution to remove all guns from the people or perhaps a constitutional changed to the 2nd amendment?
The frequency and the quantity of shootings inside places of worship are of the most terrific.
An article on The Gospel Coalition website revealed some insightful statistics. It cites the Center for
Homicide Research, which analyzed online newspaper articles to document all cases of shootings on
church property within the United States from 1980 to 2005. According to the data, there was a total
of 139 shootings on church property, resulting in 185 deaths. During that 25-year period, an average
of six shootings occurred on church property each year.
This brazen, cold-blooded crimes stunned everyone. People flocked to the crime scene to mourn.
Reuters described a group of pastors praying across the street. One asked, “Why, God?”
This query helps introduce the purpose of this article: the tension between whether faith or firearms
protect people.
Other incidents intensify the clash between two fundamental tenets:
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The worship of God and reliance on Him to protect, or
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The responsibility of one to protect himself from hurt, harm or danger.
February 26 2018
As for shootings that occur within church buildings, The Gospel Coalition reported that from 2006 to June 2015, 24 church shootings occurred including
the Sutherland Springs incident. This averages to 2.7 shootings per year. Factoring in the total number of churches in the United States (this article cites
378,000 congregations) along with the number of services held per week, the probability of being shot in church is astronomically small—0.00000015
percent. This is a probability even more remote than being struck by lightning!
Although the percentage of potentially becoming a victim of a shooting inside a church is astronomical small, the question whether one is responsible for
one’s own protection against reliant upon God’s protection is a fare question.
Is There An Answer to this Question?
As off today , religious institutions are one of the last segments of society without widely accepted security protocols . We are sure that recent events are
changing this as this article is being edited . Churches are recognizing that intervention is needed . But the main questions are:
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what should or
•
could be doing ?
Security protocol including technology and human resources can certainly be helpful in
either deterring an attack or limiting the lethality of the attack. However, all security
protocols have a limit. There is no perfect solution.
How church security can “make sure” that people are safe is less doable than making
people feel safe. Armed officers can make people feel safe. But do they guarantee that
they will be safe?
Even making worshippers feel safe often requires violence—sword against sword. But
this defeats the entire principle that churches are considered sacred—a place of
protection and worship.
Depending on where you look in the Bible for God’s answer, you can find support for either option: faith or firearms. The Old Testament is bursting with
examples of violence and warfare. People point to the old adage “an eye for an eye” (Lev. 24:20) to summarize this approach. On the other hand, there is
the non-violent “turn the other cheek” teaching from Christ’s Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:39).
Other hard questions: Where do you stand?
The essential question is even more basic: Where do I put my trust, in firearms or in God?
Other Questions
In addition to these questions directed to our personal level, there are a few questions directed to all of us as a society, questions that may be harder to
answer because answering them may bring concepts such as spiritual values and the declination of national moral standards. Conversations that the
nation has abandoned decades ago; consider for example the following questions?
•
What is happening to the nation that school shootings and pointless massacres are happening with more and more frequency in the nation?
•
What is at the center of all this phenomena bringing terror a lack of safety and security across the land?
•
Are our movies, television series, violent song lyrics, sanguinary video games and other ways of entertaining affecting our social fabric, serving as
inspiration to our children?
•
Is the family cell no longer a safety place for the education of our children?
And more…
Do you have any answers to these questions?
Faith Versus More Firearms in America
What is at the center of all shootings and pointless massacres?
PuraVidaCommunity
If you want to offer us your opinion, click on the button labeled My Opinion. Thank you.
