In the face of all these heated arguments I have only one question that matters to me: Can I conceive of Jesus carrying a gun? That is literally all I have in a world that doesn't have any good answers to stopping violence.
Let me back up - Christmas is a season about God's answer to the world's problems. War? Jesus. Strife? Jesus. Sin? Jesus. In Jesus we see the complete realization of the nature of God.
So what does that have to do with gun control? Well if we really are going to put Christ back into Christmas (or into the Church or our faith or the world) then we have to believe Jesus used the best tools possible for the job.
In other words, Jesus didn't use violence to answer violence.*
What did Jesus use? Well, if Christmas as we Christians conceive it is any indication - Jesus came into this world the same way you and I did. People. People are how God will save this world. People who look like Jesus. People who love other people.
I don't want to go too far down the theological rabbit hole but I will say I can't conceive of a good God using guns to achieve God's ends. Just like I can't conceive of a good God using cancer to somehow bring the Kingdom of God onto this world.
I don't mind guns. Their use to instill fear, despair, and hate sicken me.
* - if you are really paying attention there at home, I fall squarely on the side of "humans kill humans" in the gun debate, but don't be naive - some guns are created to kill other humans. Hence, I see a benefit in gun control but not because guns kill people. I see benefit in gun control because people kill people and if they plan to do it we have to 1.) hinder their ability to do so. 2.) educate on the sanctity of life.
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