This is a letter to the editor that I wrote in answer to "Who would Jesus shoot,"
which was published by the Northwest Arkansas Times on 3/31/08. I don't know if they will
publish my letter or not, I want to get it out how so I can, feel fee to pass around if you think it says anything good!

To the Editor: A friend recently e-mailed me the
March 31, 2008 article you published titled "Who would Jesus shoot?" by Episcopal priest Lowell Grisham. My response: Mr. Grisham implies that Jesus always advocated and practiced total disarmament and non-violence. Not true! At Luke 22:36, Jesus instructs the disciples to sell a garment and buy a sword if they did not have one.
At Luke 22:38, just before Jesus's arrest, the disciples, seeking to defend Him, say, "Lord, behold, here are two swords. And he (Jesus) said unto them, It is enough." Jesus did not tell them to discard or renounce these swords.

At Luke 22:49, when Judas comes to kiss Jesus, the disciples ask, "Lord, shall we smite with the
sword?" indicating the disciples were armed and Jesus did not object. When Peter cut off the servant's ear, Jesus merely told Peter to re-sheath his sword, not give it up altogether. And Jesus threw the money-changers out of the temple rather violently. And with parables such as the wheat and the tares, and the vineyard-keepers who wouldn't pay their rent, Jesus showed He anticipated, with approval, a day when God would no longer be gentle with men who opposed His plan,
but would deal with them forcibly and harshly.

When Jesus talked to the centurion who sought his servant's healing, He expressed admiration for the man and did not tell him to renounce all military activities. And Jesus merely told soldiers not to
abuse their power to extort money, but not to abandon military activities altogether. So the image of a Jesus who totally opposed all weaponry and violence is false! Jesus certainly did urge a more peaceable approach at times. But here is the
crucial difference between Jesus and Mr. Grisham: George Washington said, "Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force!- and like fire, it is a dangerous servant and fearful master." Jesus never sought to use the power of government to disarm people or make them behave more peaceably; Jesus used only His reason and eloquence. In saying that those who live by the sword die by the sword, Jesus sought only to warn people of the consequences of their choices, not to forcibly disarm them. Jesus totally renounced the political power that Mr. Grisham craves. Jesus refused the devil's temptation of political power! And He resisted all efforts of His followers to make Him a worldly king. So the real question is, not who would Jesus shoot, but: Would Jesus seek to command a heavily armed military-type force, to disarm His countrymen, and imprison or kill them for any resistance?

Jesus sought no such power, but Mr. Grisham's support of the Brady Center shows that he does! We are warned, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. History shows that when a heavily armed government has such absolute
power over a disarmed population, it always becomes very oppressive and frequently
murders them by the millions and tens of millions, such as in Mao's China, Stalin's USSR, Hitler's Germany, Pol Pot's Cambodia, Armenia and Guatemala. It's precisely this that our wise U.S. founders sought to prevent with the Second Amendment. But Mr. Grisham and the Brady Center seek to put us in precisely this most dangerous
possible position! I suggest Mr. Grisham take note that Jesus gave His harshest condemnations to those who hypocritically posed as spiritual authorities to mislead the people for money and political power.