The UmBlog

In the ongoing internet debates in America about gun control, gun ownership advocates frequently like to compare gun owners to car owners. The common factor being that cars are just as capable as killing people as guns are. However, assault rifles and high capacity magazines and pistols are designed exclusively to kill humans. Cars are designed to protect humans, airbags and such. Other than the Ford Pinto , I don't know of any car designed exclusively for killing humans. In fact, car manufacturers do respond to complaints of deaths and injuries and will bend under pressure to improve their product. Gun manufacturers, however, despite technology to improve the safety of their products , do not. Even if James Bond makes it cool, by preventing  his own gun from being used against him in this summer's movie. In driving school, drivers are taught to avoid humans. At shooting ranges, life-size silhouettes of humans are optional targets, as well as faces of people. Not everyo...

As an ambassador of Jesus, driving around my assigned territory of Connecticut yesterday, ;-), I heard an interesting piece on NPR yesterday about the incredible impact that wise giving can make in the world. I've talked about wise giving recently . The British group, Giving What We Can , founded by an Oxford ethics professor, Toby Ord , strips away all the  feel good aspects of charity and looks at what charities save the most lives per dollar. As an ambassador of a kingdom whose founder's basic premise for all our interactions is to love our neighbor as ourselves, and not someone who's primary concern is the 2nd amendment of the USA, I'm really interested in how I can help more of my neighbors with the stipend granted me. Other kind-hearted and well meaning ambassadors feel that possessing personal firearms, that they could use against those who would visit evil upon us, like at an elementary school Newtown, CT , 26 killed, or on a family in Cheshire, CT , three k...

I'm not speaking of anyone pejoratively in the title, because I am the dumb Christian. I've seen many insensitive Christians on my Facebook feed make sure the world knows where they stand on the 2nd amendment in light of the Newtown massacre. Insensitivity is not stupidity, though. I'm wondering though, as a citizen of another kingdom, an ambassador of Jesus, how I am to represent Him in these times, in this country I was born in, the USA. I keep thinking of Jesus' statement in Matthew, which I tweeted yesterday, because it seems to throw a monkey wrench in the 2nd amendment argument. When Jesus is arrested in the garden of Gethsemane , at night, by a cohort of soldiers, one of his closest friends, Peter, whips out his sword and manages to clip the side of a servant boy's head, taking off the poor boy's ear. Jesus miraculously reattaches his ear and tells Pete, "Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword."...

This isn't a joke but a legitimate issue. Christians want to balance "turning the other cheek" with protecting the weak and vulnerable. After the recent Colorado shootings some of us supported the church security guard using bullets and some of us were appalled and thought volunteers should absorb all bullets. One force is active and one is passive. What if a combined response was possible? Is there something that could actively hinder a shooter while also capable of taking on some lead? There is something that police departments are already using. And they are expensive. Guns are cheap. Humans lives are priceless. What about trained guard dogs? They are trained to subdue identified threats non-lethally, some wear body armor, and if they die to save a life it would be a worthwhile trade. There are plenty of retired, cheaper police dogs for smaller churches.

This article was printed in Slate after the Virginia Tech shootings. It assumes you don't have a firearm yourself, which in no way am I advocating. To disarm a gunman, you'll need to take his focus off his weapon and his plan of attack. To do this, you might throw chairs, laptops, or fire extinguishers at him, or set off the sprinkler system or fire alarm. Then, you'd want to pick up a desk or some other shield and charge right at the killer. There's a chance you'll be killed in the process, but if two or three people rush at once, there's also a chance that somebody will take him down. (Unarmed civilians who band together have a much better chance of surviving an attack.) If you're already within a step or two of the gunman, you might be able to grab his weapon . If he's facing you, quickly reach up and take hold of the barrel, and then aim it away from your body. The move should be as clean and economical as possible. The gunman will reflexively pull...

An interview in CT Matthew was in the building for half an hour talking with students, and then he asked to spend the night. Tiffany was called to the front because she handles hospitality. Normally, we would not have someone spend the night without knowing them or arranging ahead of time. After that, Matthew said, "Then this is what I've got for you," pulled out a gun and began shooting. How much more do the pacifists want? As I wrote before , Matthew Murray was committed to violence. It was an act of God that he was quickly locked out of the building. After firing a few shots, he had his foot in the door, and at some point his foot slipped and he fell back. The door slammed shut on him and automatically locked so he could not get back in again. I contend it was also God's hand the next day that left him wounded from multiple gunshot wounds. His suicide was a continuation of his rampage against all that bear the image of God. The pacifists at Witherington's blo...

I'm continuing the discussion with the pacifists at Ben Witherington's blog . The monkey wrench in this proposal [ approaching a killer with a song or a prayer or a command in Jesus' name ] was that Jeanne Assam had been fasting and praying for the past 3 days. We don't know how she engaged him. Is it proper to assume she engaged him with her gun aimed at him? On the other hand, she might have seen someone try to engage Murray and seen Murray respond with heavy fire. She might have presumed Murray just murdered someone before her eyes, someone without a weapon, just like the 2 the night before, and the 2 in the parking lot. Is the assumption being made that the Arvada missionaries did not engage Murray with love? My presumption is that Murray was engaged with love by 4 people before encountering the one who had been praying and fasting for 3 days who had a firearm and the training to use it and engage people like him. He demonstrated a commitment to violence regardless...

Ben Witherington, whose blog I enjoy, advocates the non-bullet method, tackling would be OK though. In the comments, I've tried to advocate the position that the security guard's use of non-lethal, high velocity lead was as effective as a tackle. A couple other commenters were friends of those in Arvada. my first comment reads I support dying so that others may live, that is indeed Jesus's example. But even if Jesus took a few bullets from Murray, Murray would have had plenty more for more people who were not willing and not necessarily believers either. return fire prevented any further opportunities for Murray. Waiting for a blind corner to tackle Murray with a chance of success gives him more time to shoot and kill others. i attempt a brief syllogism-like argument at http://umbl0g.blogspot.com /2007/12/shooter-killed-by -church-security-guard.html i don't think this is a situation one can ask what would Jesus do, because he'd probably pull a Neo from the Matrix a...

Philip Crouse, 24, was one of the victims at the YWAM Arvada base. He was a teenage skinhead who had a dramatic conversion to Christ at age 18. His life was changed by Jesus. Matthew Murray, also 24, killed him. Matthew was home schooled, grew up in a church where family members served on staff or volunteered . He even attended the Arvada Discipleship Training School but didn't finish due to unspecified health reasons 5 years ago . One had nothing spiritual and received a great inheritance. The other had a great spiritual inheritance and threw it away. God always welcomes the repentant. As reported by his prophet Ezekiel 18:21 “But if the wicked person turns from all the sin he has committed and observes all my statutes and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die. 18:22 None of the sins he has committed will be held against him; because of the righteousness he has done, he will live. 18:23 Do I actually delight in the death of the wicked, declares the sove...

UPDATE: The last bullet was his own . But the security guard still deserves credit for stopping the rampage with her deadly force. Here is the quote . The black-clad gunman who attacked worshippers at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, initially killing one and wounding four, was killed by “a courageous security staff member,” Colorado Springs Police Chief Richard Myers said. update: Security guard is Jeanne Assam, see post for more info. Conflicting emotions well up when I read this. The first is "Whew." The second is "who?" The third is "why?" Then guilt, for being glad someone was killed, then justice, for being glad a random murderer was stopped forever, then satisfaction for the innocents that were protected. It is a fact that some churches have security teams that carry concealed weapons for protection. Large churches, especially, are an attractive location to pychopaths who want to go down in infamy, just like malls and school are. And like mall...