Let me make a statement loud and clear. I could yell it from the housetops, in front of our U.S. Congress, in front of Presidents Biden, Trump, Obama, Bush and all the others. Whatever else I write throughout the year, don't forget this statement: Murdering people with guns is a detestable sin against God, country and humanity, and I abhor murdering people!
Whether the news media is talking about murdering kids in schools, murdering people in grocery stores, theaters, post offices, in cars driving down the highways, or anywhere else in the world, murder is absolutely wrong!
By the way, where did we discover that law? Straight from the Bible, and don't forget that. God loves His creation -- which includes you. He created that law to help mankind live a decent life.
What should we do about the problem of murder?
Many of our politicians are considering banning guns from the general population. Related to that, I have a simple question: Will that stop people from murdering people? The answer is: No!
Have you heard of Cain and Abel? They are the first children the Bible mentions. Cain killed Abel with a big rock or a club. Throughout the history of humanity, people were murdered with whatever the murderer could get his/her hands on: Rocks, clubs, spears, bows & arrows, swords, poison, guns and a lot more. In the 10th century, the Chinese invented the fire lance. That was a bamboo tube from which a dart or spear was propelled by gunpowder. Some people used blow-guns -- propelling a poisoned dart with simple lung power.
On the other hand, I have many friends who have pistols and rifles. I can assure you that those items have never hurt anyone. Rocks, spears and guns do not kill anyone. People kill people.
Please hear this. A God-fearing, Christ-honoring, people-loving person will not murder anyone. But people who have hatred in their hearts and minds, people who feast on the evil, inane garbage the world produces, people who dwell on evil will manifest that evil mentality in many ways ... including shooting people.
It is not mental sickness and it is not a secular educational problem. It is the absence of Godliness and the presence of an evil mindset.
America's general population does not want to murder people, nor do they endorse murder with guns. Murder is done by those who've rejected God, who reject civil authority and who refuse to live by the rules. Murder is done by those who choose to kill and destroy.
Hey, let's stop lying to ourselves and get honest: The extreme violence of murdering babies before, during and after birth is just as evil as killing with guns!
John 8:44 says, "You [who reject God] belong to your father the devil, and you want to do what he wants. He was a murderer from the beginning and was against the truth, because there is no truth in him...." (NCV).
When someone has decided to break the law, no new law will change his mind. Therefore, if pistols and rifles are outlawed, the law-abiding citizens may obey, but those who live outside the law will still have pistols and rifles. And therefore -- please hear this! -- therefore, people who want to kill will continue to murder others. And with our police departments overloaded with crime, and burdened with regulations that protect the lawbreakers, the citizenry will be in greater danger.
Unless we develop a police state.
And that, my friends, is the direction some of our government leaders are going. And if we morph into a police state, the lawbreakers will have no rights at all. When they break the law in a police state, the criminals may be summarily executed or put in jail without a trial.
But that creates another problem. Whoever our government decides is a criminal -- even if he's a Christian who chooses to live by biblical standards -- will be treated the same as a robber or a murderer.
Believe me: Ownership of firearms, such as assault rifles, should never be allowed outside the military! Those kinds of guns should be used only in war and never for any other purpose!
The cure for gun violence -- sin -- is not the general abolition of gun ownership. Our only hope is to bring godliness back into our society. There is no other fix to the problem.
But if we refuse to publicly bring God back into our society, things will get worse.
-- S. Eugene Linzey is an author, mentor and speaker. Send comments and questions to [email protected]. Visit his web site at www.genelinzey.com. The opinions expressed are those of the author.