Guns In Church? Really? Okay, who wants to spin this...

Clearly, this is a pressing issue for the people of Louisiana. They're not having an off-coast oil spill or anything.

Obvious, but if ever there was a thread that needed to be called Praise The Lord And Pass The Ammunition.....

The only gun that should be allowed in churches.

Fixed.

What I also love about this is that this was signed to protect people being mugged coming home from church. Because I know that if I was a mugger, the ideal time to strike is an open, public area filled with potential witnesses.

The way I read that, that isn't clearance for every gun-totin' yahoo to bring their gun to church. If you're part of a security detail -- say protecting a dignitary or government official -- you can bring your gun in. Otherwise, leave it at the door. Or am I not understanding "security force" properly?

During the day.

I'm just glad it's not Tennessee for once.

To me it reads if you claim you are part of a security force, even as small as a neighborhood watch. You have the right to bring your gun. That should be fun for any local mosque.

This and their love for the death penalty and pre-emptive war just confirms my suspicion that right-wingers don't actually like Jesus that much, they're simply terrified of death and grasp onto the promise of eternal life desperately. Why does Protestant Christianity appeal to them outside of all other religions? Most of these people believe in what Bonhoeffer calles "cheap Grace," i.e. the idea that merely having unblinking faith in the right idea about God will grant you eterntal life. Most other religions--including most other sects of the Christian religion--require much more of you than that.

Damn, Justin, that was my second choice...well played.

Yeah, this is a major reason why most other Christians I've met disgust me. Their contempt for the "least of these brothers of mine," love of violence, nationalism, and all that. It fucking disgusts me. To this day, I've never dated a Christian because of that and I only have two friends that are as religious as I am.

The second thing i thought off when hearing guns and church.

Look, I'm against guns, period. I think the second amendment has been wildly misinterpreted. IMHO, it has nothing to do with individual gun rights.

With that said though, I don't see how guns and religion are some big oddball mismatch. Violence and religiosity go together like PB & J!

This is an odd post for a person who frequently praises a conqueror and a total cunt who describes himself as "pro-death."

When did Alexander say that? "Pro-death"? That seems like curious language for an ancient Macedonian to use

Plus, Alexander lived over 2337 years ago (aprox, mental math is not my friend), and as such he lived in a different world with different rules. I am not going to pass judgment on choices and actions that I can't possibly understand or relate to. As far as conquerors go, Alexander was the bee's knees. A gentleman who had principals and did his best to live by them under the most extraordinary circumstances imaginable.

The conqueror is Alexander, the pro-death cunt is Bill Maher.

I thought we agreed to disagree about Maher a few months ago?

The issue isn't him, it's that you seem to revere two merchants of death at the same time that you claim to deplore violence.

Meanwhile, the gun industry never had it so good. Fearmongering has turned out to be wildly good for business! Quelle surprise!

Dont hate the players, hate the game, Chu.
Thats whats going there, i suppose.

Bill Maher is not a "merchant of death". I believe you're thinking of Nic Cage in LORD OF WAR Bill hosts a talk show.

As for Alexander, if you were being particularly unkind perhaps you could describe him as a merchant of death, but it was over 2300 years ago and it was a different world with different rules. Plus, he never killed anyone with a gun

ahahahahahahahahaha

I don't have a problem with people being able to own guns, but it is laws like this that make me wonder about my views on guns.

Frankly, I don't see how individual gun rights appear within the Second Amendment. That being said, I don't have a problem with people owning guns within reason. I see nothing wrong with the ability to own a handgun and keep it in a safe area within your home. In most states, the Castle Doctrine has been codified into law and being able to own a gun and store it within your home seems like a perfect compliment to the doctrine.

I'm incredibly wary of gun laws that allow people to carry guns outside of the home. It seems to me that because we live in such a potentially violent and (actually violent in some places) society, the ability to conceal and carry a gun on your person while walking the streets is very dangerous. Laws like this also confuse the hell out of me. Should our society really be creating laws to allow any individual with the privilege to own a weapon to carry it wherever they please? I'm not so convinced on that idea.

I don't own a gun. Will I ever? Maybe. But coming from an area where hunting is not only encouraged, but is also mandatory (too many people are killed in my area by car accidents caused by deer, without hunting they would overpopulate and wreak havoc), I don't want the State to create laws preventing responsible (defined by laws of the jurisdiction) people from owning a gun responsibly.

Pompoussory Estoppel: The conservative anomaly. Please run for Republican office, Pomp.

Well said, sir.

I think it's easy to say that guns have no other purpose than to kill, but coming from an area where guns are very popular, I can tell you that guns serve a purpose outside of killing.

There's a lot of shooting ranges where I'm from. Practice shooting is very popular as a sport in certain parts of America. Also, I don't see a problem with using a gun if you're hunting. I don't come from a hunting family, but there are plenty of hunters in America that abide by the laws of their states and hunt responsibly. Some families do it for the sport, but many do it for food too.

I don't want to sit in judgment against other people who wish to hunt. I choose not to, but I'm sure some people have no interest in doing some of the things I do regularly too. Hunting is a rite of passage for many fathers to their sons. Teaching someone to use a gun requires both parties to have a great deal of responsibility. The teacher needs to properly educate the use of the gun, while the student needs to learn the responsibility attached to said gun.

I think it's a reasonable restriction to ban ownership of assault weapons. Clearly, there's no other reason to own an AK-47 except to kill. But a rifle can be used to hunt. It can also be used to fend off predators attacking your farmland. A handgun can be used to protect you from potential burglars. Guns are inherently dangerous instruments, but I don't think all should be painted with the same brush.

Lord of War. God of War is a video game.

My bad. The heat wave is wreaking havoc on my mental faculties.

We forgive you.

A talk show on which he describes himself as "pro-death," provides a platform for every bullshit holistic health theory under the sun, actively attacks actually proven Western medicine, advocates abortion as a birth control method rather than a last resort, advocates the death penalty, and frequently joins Christopher Hitchens in putting down non-violence as not only bad idea but an immoral one. The guy sells the idea that the end of a human life is sometimes a good thing. That is, he sells the idea that killing certain people is awesome. He's a merchant of death.

I've seen every episode of his show since 2005, plenty of older episodes via the internet and also episode of Politically Incorrect. I've read all his books, seen all his specials, and will drop whatever I'm doing whenever he turns up on Larry King.

I can't for the life of me remember a time he came out as pro "abortion for birth control", and he's never said that Non-Violence is an immoral idea. He has said that it's not always right for every situation. Case in point, Gandhi and his take on Hitler.

Anyway, why are we talking about this again? We agreed to disagree.....

EDIT: I also need to clarify something: when I said that you could describe Alexander as a "merchant of death", I said that only because Alexander's journey resulted in alot of deaths. I don't say that as part of any kind of negative value judgement on Sekander

Hypocrisy riles me, as does the bullshit claim that religious faith is an inherently violent mindset. When someone puts forward the claim that religion is inherently violent--and therefore bad--and then, in the next breath, talks about how awesome it is to kill certain kinds of people and life, it pisses me off. (This isn't even getting into the hypocrisy of supposedly objecting to the meat industry on moral grounds and then reveling in the suffering and death of higher forms of life.) It's only an issue because it seems to be the same standpoint you are currently advocating, which pisses me off.

This is off topic and I'm not going to have a second argument about Bill Maher with you. We already had that argument and we agreed to disagree. Case closed.

I have no problem with carrying a gun into a church. No one's likely to fire it, and it's not as if churches are special buildings, they're home to gambling, hate speech, and the odd child molestation. Guns at sporting events or in bars or at public functions like, oh, political speeches would be bad news.

But carrying a blue blankie would probably be cheaper. I can't see any other reason to carry a gun to a place where guns aren't fired other than making the carrier feel better.

You don't post here nearly often enough, Seabass.

What, 10 000 posts isn't enough?

But I mean it. What's the big deal about some guy wearing a gun in church when he's already wearing it on the street outside anyway? I'd find it weird because no one here carries guns ever, but if you live somewhere people can already carry why would churches be exempt? And this isn't even concerning general concealed carry, but specific to people who carry weapons in their line of work, announced beforehand. All in all, this is one of the least odious things I've heard of Jindal doing.

ETA: I guess there are two reasons; to make the carrier feel better, or because it's part of the carrier's job.