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Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin

(107,987 posts)
Mon May 5, 2014, 05:44 PM May 2014

Georgia’s Sweeping Gun Law Sparks Religious Backlash

This has to be a duh moment.

Robert Wright, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta, sent an open letter last week to the 56,000 members that make up the dozens of Episcopal churches throughout north Georgia with a simple message: Don’t bring guns into the house of God.

The week before, Gov. Nathan Deal signed into law one of the most sweeping gun bills in recent memory. The Safe Carry Protection Act of 2014, which goes into effect July 1, allows Georgia residents with concealed carry permits to bring guns into churches that give express permission, while lowering the fine for bringing a gun into a place of worship to $100. It permits guns in bars, school zones, government buildings and certain areas inside airports. It says the state no longer has to fingerprint law-abiding gun owners to renew their licenses, and that dealers won’t be required to keep sales records for state purposes (federal government record-keeping laws still apply). The NRA has called it “the most comprehensive pro-gun bill in state history.” Opponents have derided it as the “guns everywhere” bill.

But those guns won’t be everywhere. The new law has largely split the state’s Christian denominations between the Georgia Baptist Convention, which supports the bill, and Episcopal and Catholic leaders in the Atlanta area, who have strongly come out against it and expressly told their congregants to leave their guns out of the pews.

“Jesus did not preach a gospel of self-protection, a gospel of live by the sword, die by the sword,” Wright says. “Quite the opposite.”

Wright says that while he understands the need for Second Amendment protections for those wanting firearms for self-defense or for sport he sees the very idea of guns in church as blasphemous.

“Weapons in a place of sanctuary seem to me to be inconsistent with a God of love,” he says. “The prince of peace isn’t spelled P-I-E-C-E. It’s P-E-A-C-E.”

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta issued similar guidelines last week for its parishes, which encompass 69 counties throughout Georgia. “The last thing we need is more firearms in public places, especially in those places frequented by the children and the vulnerable,” Archbishop Wilton Gregory wrote in the May 1 issue of the Georgia Bulletin.

The Georgia Baptist Convention, made up of 3,600 Baptist churches throughout the state, lobbied on behalf of the bill largely because it gives its churches more autonomy, allowing each to determine on their own whether to allow firearms.


http://news.msn.com/us/georgia%e2%80%99s-sweeping-gun-law-sparks-religious-backlash

40 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Georgia’s Sweeping Gun Law Sparks Religious Backlash (Original Post) Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin May 2014 OP
My church which belongs to the "liberal" Lutheran tradition in America Swede Atlanta May 2014 #1
I will never fly into Atlanta again. upaloopa May 2014 #3
Thanks for the idea The Blue Flower May 2014 #5
endanger your family by flying through Atlanta? ProdigalJunkMail May 2014 #9
I don't support expanded gun rights and I don't upaloopa May 2014 #31
personal boycotts are fine... ProdigalJunkMail May 2014 #32
excellent idea. nt okaawhatever May 2014 #11
Well, forget Texas, Oregon, and Washington airports. (You can carry in the non-secure areas of all.) X_Digger May 2014 #22
Well maybe some day common sense upaloopa May 2014 #30
So until then, are you boycotting those 40+ states? lol. n/t X_Digger May 2014 #33
Well I am going to the Big Island of Hawaii upaloopa May 2014 #34
Well, Hawaii allows concealed carry in the non-secure part of the airport. X_Digger May 2014 #35
Well maybe we will fix that in the future. upaloopa May 2014 #36
So the personal boycott only extends to states you weren't likely to travel to anyway? X_Digger May 2014 #39
I wish you luck....... Swede Atlanta May 2014 #27
I don't care to learn more gunner lore upaloopa May 2014 #29
Cover your ears and close your eyes.LALALALALALALALALALALALALAALAA!!! oneshooter May 2014 #37
Glad to see this. Too many racists/bigots among Baptists to expect Hoyt May 2014 #2
Is this acceptable? Open_n_Shut May 2014 #13
How much experience do you have with southern, white Baptist congregations? Hoyt May 2014 #14
Quite a bit. DeadLetterOffice May 2014 #16
I'm definitely bigoted toward white Southern Baptists who support hatred against minorities. Hoyt May 2014 #18
Fair enough, at least you own your prejudice. n/t DeadLetterOffice May 2014 #20
Prejudice from experience and disappointment. Klan members were quite welcome in Baptist churches Hoyt May 2014 #24
Not to mention their prohibition Le Taz Hot May 2014 #38
Having lived and worked in South and North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Florida.... Open_n_Shut May 2014 #26
The curve is shifted far to the right. Hoyt May 2014 #28
The point of the law was to allow churches to decide themselves. aikoaiko May 2014 #4
No, the laws were enacted by the bigoted right/white wing legislature with help of gun fanciers. Hoyt May 2014 #12
I support the new law because I believe it should be up to the church to decide. aikoaiko May 2014 #15
So was this guy. Hoyt May 2014 #17
I'm with Jason Carter on this one. aikoaiko May 2014 #21
I'm not. It shows he's willing to pander to gun fanciers to win. I'll still vote for him, but Hoyt May 2014 #23
Why shouldn't each church be able to decide for themselves? pipoman May 2014 #6
Am I arguing otherwise? Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin May 2014 #7
Who's arguing? pipoman May 2014 #8
the church IS able to decide... ProdigalJunkMail May 2014 #10
Only with the new, not yet enacted law allows them to choose.. pipoman May 2014 #19
It sounded as though they did not have that choice before... Open_n_Shut May 2014 #25
Applying SCOTUS LOGIC If one does not like it TS move from GA PubsFU May 2014 #40
 

Swede Atlanta

(3,596 posts)
1. My church which belongs to the "liberal" Lutheran tradition in America
Mon May 5, 2014, 05:49 PM
May 2014

is poised to take a vote on this matter very soon. All indications are we will prohibit guns on church property and discourage members from bringing their guns onto church property or in their vehicles except in extreme circumstances.

upaloopa

(11,417 posts)
3. I will never fly into Atlanta again.
Mon May 5, 2014, 05:57 PM
May 2014

I think it would be a good idea if we boycotted the state of Georgia and the Atlanta airport. I am letting Delta know why I won't be buying my ticket from them next month.

The Blue Flower

(5,442 posts)
5. Thanks for the idea
Mon May 5, 2014, 06:40 PM
May 2014

I just wrote to Delta to tell them I won't endanger my family by flying through Atlanta. I reminded of them of fatal shootings at LAX last year.

ProdigalJunkMail

(12,017 posts)
9. endanger your family by flying through Atlanta?
Mon May 5, 2014, 06:50 PM
May 2014

while I don't support the bill either, it sounds like you are not familiar with what it says. This for two reasons : 1) the shootings in LA were carried out with a weapon in a space where it was illegal to have one... if this law had not passed that could still happen at ATL (or in any airport in the USA). 2) The law only permits weapons pre-TSA checkpoint... connecting passengers do not leave the TSA-checked area. The only time you enter the area where weapons would be allowed is if your flight terminates in ATL.

sP

ProdigalJunkMail

(12,017 posts)
32. personal boycotts are fine...
Tue May 6, 2014, 10:37 AM
May 2014

you never mentioned 'endangering' your family as did the poster to whom i was replying.

sP

X_Digger

(18,585 posts)
22. Well, forget Texas, Oregon, and Washington airports. (You can carry in the non-secure areas of all.)
Mon May 5, 2014, 07:24 PM
May 2014

And Texas leaves it up to each house of worship as to whether to allow or prohibit concealed carry.

Actually, on doing some research, there are 40+ states where you can carry in the non-secure area of airports.

upaloopa

(11,417 posts)
34. Well I am going to the Big Island of Hawaii
Tue May 6, 2014, 10:55 AM
May 2014

in July for a week.
Most likely I would avoid states that are right leaning.

X_Digger

(18,585 posts)
39. So the personal boycott only extends to states you weren't likely to travel to anyway?
Tue May 6, 2014, 12:54 PM
May 2014

And states that you were likely to travel through, well, "maybe we will fix that in the future."

How conveeeeeenient.

 

Swede Atlanta

(3,596 posts)
27. I wish you luck.......
Mon May 5, 2014, 09:50 PM
May 2014

While Georgia may have a law that alleges to permit gun carry in airports, this is far from being new. Many states permit concealed carry in places including airports.

What is different about the Georgia law is it alleges to allow you to attempt to go through airport security and if you are found to be attempting to transport a firearm you cannot be arrested because attempting to take the gun through security is lawful in Georgia.

So this means that Atlanta police officers cannot arrest you if you attempt this. But what the nuts in the Georgia legislature failed to understand is once you approach the TSA secure area you are under federal jurisdiction. So the feds have all kinds of camera surveillance. They will ID you and they will send federal marshals to arrest you.

upaloopa

(11,417 posts)
29. I don't care to learn more gunner lore
Tue May 6, 2014, 10:29 AM
May 2014

There is already too much intrusion into our lives by the gun culture

 

Open_n_Shut

(32 posts)
13. Is this acceptable?
Mon May 5, 2014, 07:03 PM
May 2014

Is it OK to broad brush entire religions?

IOW could we say " Too many racists/bigots among Jews"?

DeadLetterOffice

(1,352 posts)
16. Quite a bit.
Mon May 5, 2014, 07:14 PM
May 2014

That still doesn't give me the right to make sweeping negative statements about them in the aggregate.

Bigot: one who regards or treats the members of a group (such as a racial, religious, or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance.

You get the irony, yes?

 

Hoyt

(54,770 posts)
18. I'm definitely bigoted toward white Southern Baptists who support hatred against minorities.
Mon May 5, 2014, 07:17 PM
May 2014

And the majority do, or they'd leave the Southern Baptist Convention congregations.
 

Hoyt

(54,770 posts)
24. Prejudice from experience and disappointment. Klan members were quite welcome in Baptist churches
Mon May 5, 2014, 07:29 PM
May 2014

where I grew up. It was open then, not much better now.

Le Taz Hot

(22,271 posts)
38. Not to mention their prohibition
Tue May 6, 2014, 11:42 AM
May 2014

against women ministers. Just as they did with slavery, they use their holy book to justify all kinds of abominations.

 

Open_n_Shut

(32 posts)
26. Having lived and worked in South and North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Florida....
Mon May 5, 2014, 09:50 PM
May 2014

A fair amount...

They seem to follow the same bell curve of asshole to saint as everyone else...

 

Hoyt

(54,770 posts)
12. No, the laws were enacted by the bigoted right/white wing legislature with help of gun fanciers.
Mon May 5, 2014, 06:58 PM
May 2014

Just more Stand Your Ground, bigoted gun legislation enacted by the white wing afraid of minorities.

aikoaiko

(34,170 posts)
15. I support the new law because I believe it should be up to the church to decide.
Mon May 5, 2014, 07:10 PM
May 2014

And I'm just a regular Georgia Democrat.

 

Hoyt

(54,770 posts)
17. So was this guy.
Mon May 5, 2014, 07:14 PM
May 2014



Not saying you support folks like him, but a lot of the legislators supporting the gun legislation aren't far removed from him.
 

Hoyt

(54,770 posts)
23. I'm not. It shows he's willing to pander to gun fanciers to win. I'll still vote for him, but
Mon May 5, 2014, 07:27 PM
May 2014

disappointed in him. Of course, his granddad was expedient as well. Fortunately, he moderated a lot of the views he espoused when running for governor.

Michele Nunn, on the other hand, has some real guts. I admire her stand.
 

pipoman

(16,038 posts)
6. Why shouldn't each church be able to decide for themselves?
Mon May 5, 2014, 06:41 PM
May 2014

Never did understand why someone could legally carry in a grocery and not at a church....assuming that both allowed such things...

 

pipoman

(16,038 posts)
19. Only with the new, not yet enacted law allows them to choose..
Mon May 5, 2014, 07:18 PM
May 2014

Previously guns were prohibited in churches.

 

PubsFU

(34 posts)
40. Applying SCOTUS LOGIC If one does not like it TS move from GA
Tue May 6, 2014, 01:49 PM
May 2014

In this case the logic is sound, liberals or progressives should just leave or become a victim.

GA is not all that and there are much better places that are gun free and far more enlightened then that place.

For me the choice is easy I just will not go to GA, others are free to do what they want.

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