Prince of PIECE or the Prince of PEACE?

[stone space]

Georgia’s Sweeping Gun Law Sparks Religious Backlash



Some churches are advising members not to pack heat, after passage of a bill that critics call the "guns everywhere" law.


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.”

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http://news.msn.com/us/georgia%e2%80%99s-sweeping-gun-law-sparks-religious-backlash?gt1=51501

[JNelson6563]

1. Do you pack heat when you go to church?

[stone space]

3. Well, I only go to church on rare occaisions, but when I do I never carry a gun.

It's against my religion.

If somebody really feels the need to carry a gun to church, they might want to re-evaluate their religion, IMNSHO.

[cbayer]

2. As I understand it, the law states that guns are allowed in churches only if the church

itself specifically permits it.

If people want to go into a church full of gun toters, I guess they have the right to do so.

But hopefully people will vote with their feet on this and choose churches that just say no.

[stone space]

5. If the church disallows guns, it's a $100 fine and no arrest.

I've gotten library fines larger than that.

[cbayer]

7. How the hell did you run up such a library fine!?!?

Let me be clear. I don't think guns belong in churches

or schools

or shopping centers

or theaters

or libraries

or pretty much anywhere.

But trying to legislate it by one particular type of building at a time makes no sense to me.

[stone space]

12. Oh, I have my ways.

How the hell did you run up such a library fine!?!?

It helps to run up the fine in parallel, with large numbers of books. Doesn't take long.

These days, as a faculty member, I have extended loan, so I rarely run up a fine any more.

I had 143 books due yesterday from the university library, but I just went online and renewed them all for another year with a single click.

[cbayer]

13. I once kept two books on purpose because I really liked them.

I felt really guilty about it after a while though and bought them new copies of both books in lieu of my fine.

This was before the ability to renew over the internet, which has probably had a significant impact on library funds.

[AtheistCrusader]

10. The church also has the option of barring the individual while carrying

and if they keep it up, THEN it's a trespassing charge.

[stone space]

14. OK, I know it's more tragic than funny, but damn!

trespassing charge

[AtheistCrusader]

15. That's what happens when you disobey conditional access to private property.

[cbayer]

16. Pssst…. It's a lord's prayer joke.

[stone space]

19. "and forgive us our tresspasses, as we forgive those who tresspass against us"

Actually, I never made the connection with the Lord's Prayer.

I had to go to YouTube and pull up an old video to check out the words in it to see what you were referring to.

[cbayer]

20. Oops, totally misread you there.

I thought you were making a joke.



Can't watch videos, btw. Sorry.

[stone space]

17. I'm quite familiar with tresspass. I've been busted for it on multiple occaisions.

Never with a gun, though.

Just nonviolent CDs.

The nonviolence guidelines strictly prohibited weapons of any sort.

Do you really see gun crimes as a simple private property issue?

Apparently, the GA legislature does.

[AtheistCrusader]

18. I'd be open to having a firearm on your person being an amplifier for a trespassing charge into

something more serious. Sure. It is for most criminal activity, but I'm aware of no states that explicitly do so.

I think it would be a good idea.

[trotsky]

6. Well, Jesus did tell his disciples, if they didn't have a sword...

to sell their cloak and buy one. So I can understand those who might interpret that in a modern light to see it as encouraging gun ownership.

I certainly can't prove them wrong, I mean, that's their religious beliefs.

[okasha]

8. The only word for this law is witless.

Guns in bars--this will not end well.

[cbayer]

9. Honestly, I would welcome a law that said that every building that allowed

guns would be clearly labeled as such.

Given other options, I would avoid that building at every opportunity.

And I would definitely avoid a drinking establishment that allowed weapons.

[AtheistCrusader]

11. Still not allowed to drink while in possession of a firearm.

Yesterday, I went to a bar and had dinner. No alcohol was consumed.

(But my state does not allow concealed carry in that part of a bar/restaurant.)