From the Statesville Record & Landmark newpaper’s Community Forum section, 30 March 2007:
God wants us to have guns and use them to carry out his will
The debate on guns has a long history. The debate continues. I am writing to state again the evil of anti-gun laws. Anyone holding to such laws is showing an evil character. I say that because it is true and such souls need reformation. To deny one’s right to keep and bear arms is hell instigated. The record shows that God uses the means of weaponry to carry out his will. We must not deny what God confirms.
But are guns the invention of man? Warring is conducted by man. What weapons are used, even bare hands, is not the point. God did bring guns into existence for His own glory.
God has a purpose for wars. Everything does bring glory to God. Man conducts wars justly or unjustly.
The gun is a part of the scheme of things. Each person or nation must choose the use thereof and will be judged for that choice.
Jerry Allie
Statesville
It astounds me that real people say and think things like this. Scary.
Jerry Allie is an open-air evangelist. I can remember him standing on the corner near a local bar and pool hall I used to frequent when I was younger. He would shake his bible at passers-by, calling them sinners and screaming out biblical platitudes. He was good for a laugh after leaving the bar and feeling a little tipsy. Other than his annoying ranting, though, he seemed harmless. Now I have an idea how dangerous such a person can be.
I want to say, first, that an omnipotent god – one that actually exists – can do anything it wants. That includes creating guns for humans to carry out its will for a glorious outcome. However, like gun laws, the debate over claims that various gods exist has a long history. This issue hasn’t been resolved for a whole list of gods, except by those with faith in them. This is why his position is so insane. His certainty mirrors that of religious people all over the world in many other religions. If he is right… then so are they.
Everything that Mr. Allie has said is based on the assumption that his particular notion of god exists, and that his particular version of his particular holy book contains the accurate information about it. It’s a safe assumption that the Muslims who hijacked planes back in 2001 for use as weapons felt the same way. Their actions perfectly fit Jerry’s idea for using weapons of all kinds for carrying out the will of a god, and yet he likely considers their actions to be evil. He isn’t different from them except that he hasn’t yet received his orders to kill. I hope he nevers does.
Why does an all-powerful god need humans to carry out its will, and why are guns necessary to do so? The modern age of science has crippled the gods so greatly that they can’t get along without their followers. After such feats as creating mountains and oceans, planets and stars, and even existence itself, the gods have become impotent. Without the ignorance of nature’s workings to disguise divine manipulation in our world, it’s hard to get things done. Any evil that needs irradication must be carried out by a naive, faithful gopher instead. And why guns? In short, expedient justice.
A common idea among religions is obedience to the ultimate divine authority over all else. God comes first, and everything else is secondary. It’s not a big deal to break the law if a god says it’s okay. Such devotion has nasty implications if the devotees have mistaken natural phenomena for metaphysics. The contradictory claims of a number of religions guarantees that, at least, most of these gods don’t exist. So what happens when a person uses a weapon to carry out the will of a nonexistent god? An expedient dose of justice becomes a hasty mistake, and humanity suffers.
He was right. The gun is part of the scheme of things and every man must be judged on his usage. I am judging you, Jerry Allie. You fail to see that you are part of the problem rather than the solution.
