Faith & Firearms

[JimT]

Remember that Rwanda was a Gun-Free Zone.

http://www.frontline.org.za/articles/Fa ... rearms.htm

[rjohns94]

excellent read and points. thanks for the post

[JerryB]

Thank you Jim for this good reading, more folks need to realize that our Lord expects us to protect our own.

[C. Cash]

Thanks Jim...looks like an excellent read!

[J Miller]

Very very good. I forwarded it to several on my list.


Joe

[Gary]

This article needs to be shared on every gun forum!

[Ysabel Kid]

This article needs to be shared on every gun forum!

Indeed!

[AJMD429]

Reminds me of the comment "How can a physician be against 'gun control'?" Same way a preacher can! 'Gun control' is dangerous, counterproductive, and symbolic nonsense designed to instill false faith and confidence in 'leadership' whose goal is amassing power, rather than protecting anyone.

My rebuttal is always - "How can anyone who values life or morality or justice NOT be actively pro-gun...?" To fail to do so for a physician is to me public health negligence - endangering society through ignorance.

[Doc Hudson]

As Cromwell allegedly said:

Put your Faith in God lads, but keep your powder dry!

[ByronG]

Remember that Rwanda was a Gun-Free Zone

Are you suggesting that the slaughter of the Tutsis was attributable to gun control?

[JimT]

Remember that Rwanda was a Gun-Free Zone

Are you suggesting that the slaughter of the Tutsis was attributable to gun control?

You did not read the article did you.

I quote:

"Rwanda was a Gun Free Zone

On 6 April 1994, one of the most dreadful campaigns of mass murder was unleashed upon the Tutsi people of Rwanda. In just over 6 weeks more people were killed with machetes and clubs than had died from atomic weapons in all of history. The MRND Hutu government of Rwanda instigated, organised and launched the systematic slaughter of the Christian Tutsi minority after enforcing a rigorous gun control. As the population had been previously disarmed, they were helpless to defend themselves against the state which now had a monopoly of weapons. Over 500,000 Tutsi Christians were murdered.

The confiscation of weapons made the massacres possible - by disarming the targeted victims. The holocaust in Rwanda again confirmed that limiting the ability of law-abiding citizens to defend themselves and their families is an open invitation to criminals to attack the innocent."

[ByronG]

Remember that Rwanda was a Gun-Free Zone

Are you suggesting that the slaughter of the Tutsis was attributable to gun control?

You did not read the article did you.

I quote:

"Rwanda was a Gun Free Zone

On 6 April 1994, one of the most dreadful campaigns of mass murder was unleashed upon the Tutsi people of Rwanda. In just over 6 weeks more people were killed with machetes and clubs than had died from atomic weapons in all of history. The MRND Hutu government of Rwanda instigated, organised and launched the systematic slaughter of the Christian Tutsi minority after enforcing a rigorous gun control. As the population had been previously disarmed, they were helpless to defend themselves against the state which now had a monopoly of weapons. Over 500,000 Tutsi Christians were murdered.

The confiscation of weapons made the massacres possible - by disarming the targeted victims. The holocaust in Rwanda again confirmed that limiting the ability of law-abiding citizens to defend themselves and their families is an open invitation to criminals to attack the innocent."

Wrong assumption. What troubles me with this sort of thing is the information that is not provided. When, for example, was the disarming legislation introduced - assuming there was legislation? What did it say? Did it really target only the Tutsi minority and Hutu moderates (this latter group were also included in the genocide). What was the gun ownership rate in Rwanda before the disarming occurred? According to the article, the weapons of choice in the massacres were clubs and machetes. How is that the Tutsi could not arm themselves in like manner - a club after all is only a lump of wood.

The article also indicates that this was the slaughter of a Christian Tutsi minority. That the Tutsi are a minority is a fact. It is also a fact that 65% of Rwandans are Roman Catholic and 9% Protestants.

Your article blames gun control for the Tutsi genocide. These articles offer different, and somewhat conflicting, reasons:

http://www.ianpaisley.org/article.asp?ArtKey=genocide

http://www.catholicculture.org/news/fea ... cnum=20654

[JimT]

Oh .. OK ... please forgive the assumption. I was wondering where you were coming from if you had read the article. I can't buy the anti-Catholic rhetoric though ..

http://www.jpfo.org/filegen-a-m/deathgc.htm

http://www.davekopel.com/2a/Foreign/gun ... nocide.htm

[adirondakjack]

It doesn't matter when or why disarming took place. Once the people are disarmed, it is a rather simple task to arm ONLY one faction (creating a government militia as opposed to a PEOPLE's militia, see Lexington and Concord) and slaughter the remaining unarmed group. Had the British been sucessful in controlling the storage and use of arms in New England, the "Tories" would have stamped out the "terrorists" (we call em patriots) and the US of A would never have been born. As it turned out, some of the fiercest resistance to the will of the crown came from some ragtag folks from VT toting squirrel guns..... See the battle of Saratoga.....

When the PEOPLE are armed and of a mind to defend themselves, such division and slaughter is nearly impossible.

[piller]

As Jesus told the disciples in Luke 22:36 if you do not have a sword sell your cloak and buy one. I understand this passage, the verses before and after, to mean that as a follower of Christ I must be willing, able, and prepared to defend the lives of others. Others may not see what I see in it, but I don't plan on ever going completely unarmed anywhere but in a courthouse, and I haven't been in one of those.