Once I found your blog, I started looking at some of your other posts. As I was skimming I realized I was reading words that seemed vaguely familiar…and here we are.

I linked your July 14th post entitled “Where was her gun?” both on my blog (http://sailorcurt.blogspot.com) and the Virginia Citizen’s Defense League blog, The Sentinel (http://blog.vcdl.org), and I’ve added you to my RSS feed reader, so I’ll be reading daily now. Neither my blog, nor the VCDL blog have huge readerships (They each only get about 200 unique visitors a day), but getting linked will hopefully get you some attention in the future.

Keep up the good work and more people will discover your little corner of the interwebs.

[Editor's note: I, too, have Google Alerts emailed to me on certain keywords. I notice that when you typed the URLs directly into my comment box without HTML, they were recognized as links.]

How cool is that? Does that mean I’m famous now?

One aspect of Jesus’ story I didn’t mention that is often cited by the opposition as “evidence” that Jesus was a pacifist is the story of Peter and the servant in the Garden of Gethsemane as Jesus was being arrested.

Peter pulled out his sword and cut off the servant’s ear. Jesus told Peter to put his weapon away and said (to paraphrase), “he who lives by the sword will die by the sword”.

The problem with this as evidence of Jesus’ pacifism is that Peter had the sword to begin with. Why would Jesus countenance his disciples carrying swords if they were never to be used? He also didn’t tell Peter to “cast it away” or “throw it away” or get rid of it in any way…he told him to “PUT it away”. In some translations, I’ve seen it as “put it back into its place”. Implying, of course, that the sword does have a proper place, this just wasn’t it.

As far as the famous quote: what does it mean to “live by” something?

I own several fire extinguishers. Do I “live by the fire extinguisher?” I also own several television sets and use them regularly. Do I “live by the television?”.

Obviously, “living by” something is a completely different standard than just simply owning one or using one occasionally…or even regularly.

What Jesus was referring to here was people to whom violence is the FIRST resort, rather than the last. People who use violence inappropriately in order to attain their goals, impose their will, or avoid legitimate consequences. People to whom violence is a “way of life”. THAT’s what He was talking about. Not self defense.

He didn’t tell Peter to cast his sword away because the Sword is a good tool to have around and its use is sometimes appropriate. But using it inappropriately is a sin, the wages of which is death.

At any rate, much of my opinions about the Bible in reference to self defense and the Second Amendment comes from my own logic and reasoning, combined with counsel from my pastor. But there are also a number of good sources of information on the subject.

• Here’s one from Larry Pratt of Gun Owners of America.
• Criminologist Dave Kopel’s take on it.
• [Editor's note: this was an incorrectly coded link. The URL was "Jesus and gun control". Based on the title, I did a search and I've linked to the page that I believe Sailorcurt was referencing.]
  The view of another humble blogger much like ourselves.
• A Judaic perspective which, in my mind, is relevant considering that Judaism is the foundation of Christianity.
• The Catholic Church considers self defense (even to the level of deadly force) a right, and even goes further in determining that the defense of others is a duty and obligation.
• And, finally, another good analysis from a Reverend.

There’s a lot more out there, but those cover the main points…sometimes redundantly.

Thanks for thinking enough of my comment to quote it. I’m humbled by the honor.