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Should church parishioners be allowed to arm themselves?

SgtRock

Cancel Cancel Culture and Woke Supremacy
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Church shootings are nothing new. On June 22, 1980. Alvin Lee King III a former high school teacher killed five people and wounded 10 others at the First Baptist church in Dangerfield Texas. There was the mass shooting in Charleston SC, Antioch Tennessee, and now this terrible mass shooting by a lunatic at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs Texas. Is it time for churches to allow parishioners to arm themselves.
 
Church shootings are nothing new. On June 22, 1980. Alvin Lee King III a former high school teacher killed five people and wounded 10 others at the First Baptist church in Dangerfield Texas. There was the mass shooting in Charleston SC, Antioch Tennessee, and now this terrible mass shooting by a lunatic at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs Texas. Is it time for churches to allow parishioners to arm themselves.

Let's see... how many church services occur in the US on any given Sunday... verses how many shootings occur in churches? Well, my guess would be that this happens so infrequently that the number cannot be calculated by anyone without an advanced degree in Mathematics. So, based on statistics, I would say that your question is a complete over reaction and one that has no merit. NO parishioner should arm themselves based solely on this ridiculous tiny statistic.

Of course if someone wants to arm themselves, as long as they follow the laws in their state, there is no reason why they should not.
 
Let's see... how many church services occur in the US on any given Sunday... verses how many shootings occur in churches? Well, my guess would be that this happens so infrequently that the number cannot be calculated by anyone without an advanced degree in Mathematics. So, based on statistics, I would say that your question is a complete over reaction and one that has no merit. NO parishioner should arm themselves based solely on this ridiculous tiny statistic.

Of course if someone wants to arm themselves, as long as they follow the laws in their state, there is no reason why they should ?

First Baptist Dallas already do arm themselves. I arm myself when I attend church.
 
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Not that I frequent churches but can't recall ever seeing a church with a No Firearms sign at the front door.
 
Let's see... how many church services occur in the US on any given Sunday... verses how many shootings occur in churches? Well, my guess would be that this happens so infrequently that the number cannot be calculated by anyone without an advanced degree in Mathematics. So, based on statistics, I would say that your question is a complete over reaction and one that has no merit. NO parishioner should arm themselves based solely on this ridiculous tiny statistic.

Of course if someone wants to arm themselves, as long as they follow the laws in their state, there is no reason why they should not.

Let me tell you this much: a couple of Christmases ago our Archbishop received word (apparently from a government agency) that terrorists were planning on targeting churches celebrating Midnight Mass. To date no miidnight Mass in the US has ever been targeted, but we had two armed guards that year, one inside and one outside.
 
The Bible states "be not afraid" and it also states those that are fearful will not inherit the kingdom.
If one believes then it would seem living in fear would not be profitable after this life.
 
First Baptist Dallas already do arm themselves. I arm myself when I attend church.

That's nice. It's certainly your right. But if you are going to do it because of the stats regarding mass shootings at churches, then the Church of Chicken Little would be the best place to pray.
 
Let me tell you this much: a couple of Christmases ago our Archbishop received word (apparently from a government agency) that terrorists were planning on targeting churches celebrating Midnight Mass. To date no miidnight Mass in the US has ever been targeted, but we had two armed guards that year, one inside and one outside.

If it was a credible threat, that's a different matter.
 
That's nice. It's certainly your right. But if you are going to do it because of the stats regarding mass shootings at churches, then the Church of Chicken Little would be the best place to pray.

People protect themselves against things with very low probability of actually happening, all the time. Including you. Is it entirely necessary to mock someone for asking a question regarding church shootings and security? Geez.
 
The Bible states "be not afraid" and it also states those that are fearful will not inherit the kingdom.
If one believes then it would seem living in fear would not be profitable after this life.

Chapter and verse?
 
People protect themselves against things with very low probability of actually happening, all the time. Including you. Is it entirely necessary to mock someone for asking a question regarding church shootings and security? Geez.

In the context of the question, belittling such ridiculousness and not giving it credibility is certainly appropriate in my book. Of course, YMMV.
 
I liken the question in the OP to people who complain about police brutality. How many times per day in the US do police officers interact with citizens, verse how many times per day do incidents of police brutality occur. The percentage is idiotically low. People who rage about how horrible the police are because of the few incidents we hear about are about as credible as someone who wants to carry a gun into a church BECAUSE of what happened in Texas.
 
I don't see anything wrong with people arming themselves at church if they want to. However, as was pointed out earlier, the odds of ever needing a gun to defend yourself at church is extremely minuscule.

Humans are terrible judges of risk. People will worry about being shot at church, a tens of millions to one if not hundreds of millions to one risk, but will smoke which gives them 3 to 1 odds of dying a horrible death.

I do several wilderness backpacking / climbing / backcountry fishing trips a year. Often off trail and sometimes solo. People are always asking me about bears, always worried about bears. First thing they will say is "do you carry a gun with you". No, I don't because I don't want to carry the extra weight. I do carry bear spray when in grizzly country, but that is it. People worry about being attacked and killed by a predator in the wilderness when the odds of that happening is tens of million to one. What kills people in the wilderness primarily is exposure. Yet keeping warm and dry is often way less of a priority with people in the wilderness than bears are. Like I say, most humans are terrible judges of risk.
 
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Church shootings are nothing new. On June 22, 1980. Alvin Lee King III a former high school teacher killed five people and wounded 10 others at the First Baptist church in Dangerfield Texas. There was the mass shooting in Charleston SC, Antioch Tennessee, and now this terrible mass shooting by a lunatic at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs Texas. Is it time for churches to allow parishioners to arm themselves.

Feeling the need to carry a gun to church doesn't say much for your faith or the god you allegedly worship.
 
In the context of the question, belittling such ridiculousness and not giving it credibility is certainly appropriate in my book. Of course, YMMV.

What book is that? How exactly is it ridiculous? Is the TSA ridiculous? Are life vests ridiculous? Is homeowner's insurance ridiculous? No, it's only ridiculous because you oppose concealed carry. Well that, and you're a smart ass (which I can appreciate, since I come from a long line of smart asses).
 
What book is that? How exactly is it ridiculous? Is the TSA ridiculous? Are life vests ridiculous? Is homeowner's insurance ridiculous? No, it's only ridiculous because you oppose concealed carry. Well that, and you're a smart ass (which I can appreciate, since I come from a long line of smart asses).

Plenty of incidents of drowning or near drowning. Happened to me, happened to several people I know. Lots of incidents where homeowner's insurance is needed. How many mass shootings in churches have occurred in the last, oh, 20 years? Yeah, my book is solid and the OP, in context is completely ludicrous.

Oh, and where do you get the idea that I oppose concealed carry? I couldn't give a crap whether or not someone owns a gun or carries one in a concealed manner. I have a problem with that accusation. You seem to think that because I've found the OP to be completely illogical that I am against concealed carry? That sounds like a stereotype and a biased assumption. You should know better.

And being a smart ass is one of my many gifts.
 
Feeling the need to carry a gun to church doesn't say much for your faith or the god you allegedly worship.

Utterly silly anti-theist nonsense. Where in the Bible does it say not to defend yourself? Where does it say not to protect your family? Where in the Bible does it say God will shield you from every danger on Earth? Oh, that's right, it doesn't. :roll:
 
Plenty of incidents of drowning or near drowning. Happened to me, happened to several people I know. Lots of incidents where homeowner's insurance is needed. How many mass shootings in churches have occurred in the last, oh, 20 years? Yeah, my book is solid and the OP, in context is completely ludicrous.

Oh, and where do you get the idea that I oppose concealed carry? I couldn't give a crap whether or not someone owns a gun or carries one in a concealed manner.

Whatever dude, if it makes you feel good to mock someone for bringing up a completely valid security concern, I guess that's your business. :shrug:

Oh and I noticed you left the TSA out of your comments. A massive endeavor over what, half a dozen guys who tried to blow up an airplane? ;)
 
Whatever dude, if it makes you feel good to mock someone for bringing up a completely valid security concern, I guess that's your business. :shrug:

I don't mock arguments to make me "feel good". I mock arguments when they have no merit and/or are illogical so that others can also see them for what they are. This is not a valid security concern.
 
Whatever dude, if it makes you feel good to mock someone for bringing up a completely valid security concern, I guess that's your business. :shrug:

Oh and I noticed you left the TSA out of your comments. A massive endeavor over what, half a dozen guys who tried to blow up an airplane? ;)

You want my comment on the TSA, too? OK. How often to people try to smuggle SOMETHING on an airplane?

You're going to lose this argument, countryboy. The OP is a complete over reaction, contextually. All my analogies prove it as do yours. And the neat thing is that my position has ZERO to do with gun control since I support gun rights, including anyone's right to carry a gun into a church. But for the reason that the OP states? Logically, it has no logic.
 
Church shootings are nothing new. On June 22, 1980. Alvin Lee King III a former high school teacher killed five people and wounded 10 others at the First Baptist church in Dangerfield Texas. There was the mass shooting in Charleston SC, Antioch Tennessee, and now this terrible mass shooting by a lunatic at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs Texas. Is it time for churches to allow parishioners to arm themselves.

What is stopping parishioners from coming to church armed? I can only think of two things:

1. Local/state laws

If this is a problem for church-goers, then they might want to go through the process of changing those laws.

2. Church rules

If this is a problem for church-goers, then they might want to convince their church to change those rules.

In either case, the only thing keeping the parishioners from coming to church armed is the parishioners, themselves.
 
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