False teacher Chuck “Jesus is not the only way” Currie and the National Council of (mostly apostate) Churches get scripture wrong, as usual, in advancing their religion-disguised-as-politics agenda in Connecticut Mass Shooting Re-Affirms Need For Gun Control; End To Gun Violence.  Let’s examine the bad reasoning in selected portions:

The Brady Center notes this morning:

This morning at least 11 people lost their lives in two incidents of mass gun violence, one at a Connecticut workplace, another at an Indianapolis party….These two mass shootings are examples of the continual tragedy of gun violence in our country.  Every day in the United States, 300 people are shot and 85 die from gun violence.  We must do better.

Gun violence is a bad thing.  Agreed.  So are car accidents, but we don’t ban cars.  The issue is how to best deal with the bad things of the world.

The National Council of Churches USA (NCC) and other religious organizations have been outspoken advocates of ending gun violence in America.  Earlier this year NCC, a communion of “36 faith traditions encompassing 45 million Americans in 100,000 local congregations,” adopted a statement on gun violence saying:

When thinking about the problem of violence, Christian faith is both “idealistic” and “realistic.” On the one hand, there is a stream within the Christian tradition that counsels non-violence in all circumstances. A seminal text is the Sermon on the Mount,found in Matthew’s gospel, where Jesus instructs his followers to bear violence rather than inflict it.

Even if they get the biblical text right (hey, it could happen someday!) they ignore something obvious: How about all the non-Christians who may not want these (false) religious beliefs forced on them?  Where is the ACLU when you need them?

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also…. You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you . . . (Matt. 5: 38-39, 43-44).

Great passage, but it is about insults and not violence.  Note Jesus’ specificity in referring to the right cheek.  90% of people are right-handed, so a strike on the right cheek is probably a slap.  Jesus never said that if someone attacks you that it is a sin to defend yourself.

Pure pacifism is a moral evil.  To sit by while innocent people — including yourself — are violently attacked isn’t Christianity, it is cowardice.

It is difficult to imagine that the One whose own Passion models the redemptive power of non-violence would look favorably on the violence of contemporary U.S. society.

Yes, and it is difficult to imagine Jesus looking favorably on false teachers like Chuck and much of the NCC who are pro-abortion.  Abortion is as violent as it gets, but Chuck & Co. think the Constitution says you can crush and dismember innocent people in the womb but you can’t defend yourselves.  The hypocrisy of pro-abortion pacifists is astounding.

Present-day violence is made far worse than it otherwise would be by the prevalence of weapons on our streets. This stream of the Christian tradition insists that it is idolatry to trust in guns to make us secure, since that usually leads to mutual escalation while distracting us from the One whose love alone gives us security.

The facts speak otherwise.  Criminals aren’t totally stupid.  They understand risk-reward scenarios pretty well and prefer to go where people are unarmed.  If the NCC wants to preach to their members about guns, go ahead.  But again, why force their (false) religious beliefs on others?

. . . the stark reality is that such weapons end up taking more lives than they defend, and the reckless sale or use of these weapons refutes the gospel’s prohibition against violence.

That statement is pure fiction.  They have no way to support it.  And again, who said the gospel is opposed to self-defense?  People like Jim “the Gospel is all about wealth redistribution”Wallis make up new meanings for the Gospel all the time.  I’ll stick to the Bible, thanks.

They close with these stats. They should include the 4,000 per day who die from abortion, a much more preventable form of violence.

EVERY DAY (on average)

• Every day, 300 people in America, 67 of them children and teens are shot in murders, assaults, suicides, accidents, and police intervention.
• Every day, 85 people die from gun violence, 35 of them murdered.
• Every day, 9 children and teens die from gun violence.
• Every day, 215 people are shot, but survive their gun injuries.
• Every day, 57 children and teens are shot, but survive their gun injuries.