Now, I don’t mean to call Doug a liar, and certainly not a damned liar. It was Mark Twain who said, “there are lies, damned lies, and statistics.” Statistics certainly have a place in the discussion, but they must be used with great caution and with studious attention to any other possible statistic that could augment or confront the statistic used to support your view. Trust me, I’ve learned the hard way! 

I want to point out up front that the stuff Doug and I keep discussing—violence in self defense—lives at the fringes of the main topic. It’s common for people to race to the “killer at the door” scenario (and its variations) without stopping to consider the main problem of militarism in the church.

In Doug Wilson’s recent Q talk, he referenced this famed saying, and, no joke, integrated it as part of his defense. “The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” 

Last Friday, pastor Doug Wilson and I gave talks on guns and violence at the Q conference in Denver. 

I just finished James Atwood’s book America and Its Guns: A Theological Exposeand I’m sitting here stunned. The statistics, the stories, the indifference, the political power plays in the face of innocent deaths, the role of money in the whole debate—even when lives are at stake. 

As mentioned in my previous post, I’ve been combing through some recent books on violence and nonviolence. One of the most fascinating ones I’ve read on the topic is Ron Sider’s Nonviolent Action: What Christian Ethics Demands but Most Christians Have Never Really Tried (Baker, 2015). 

It’s been nearly three years since I published my book Fight: A Christian Case for Nonviolence. As a life-long student, I like to revisit topics I’ve written on, especially ones as volatile as nonviolence. I've been giving several talks on nonviolence this Spring, including the upcoming Q conference in Denver, where I’ll be dialoguing with fellow Idahoan (go Broncos!) Doug Wilson about gun control and enemy love. 

Gun control. If you ever want to spark a massive debate in your next Bible study, just mention those two words—gun control. As an owner of several guns myself (a 12 gauge, 20 gauge, .270, and .22), I’d be a hypocrite to say that Christians shouldn’t own guns. 

*The following post is written by my friend Sgt. Dean Meadows (USMCR). Dean served several years in the Marine Corps, but after coming to Christ and wrestling with what the Bible says about violence, he became a zealous advocate for nonviolence. Here's his story.

Luke 22 will come up. Supposedly, this passage supports the view that Jesus wants his followers to pack some heat while they go about preaching the kingdom of God. Jerry Fallwell Jr. recently used this passage to show that Christians should arm themselves so that "we could end those Muslims before they walked in..." Better think twice before bringing your muslim friends to hear the gospel at a Liberty chapel.

*The following is the complete manuscript of my paper I presented last Thursday at the annual Evangelical Theological Society's annual meeting. I was one of four participants who presented on "Just War in an Age of Terrorism." Two of the panelists were Just War theorists, and I was one of two "pacifists," though as you'll see, I don't prefer this term.   

I instantly got sick to my stomach after hearing about the massacre in Charleston last Wednesday. How in the world could a human being gun down 9 fellow human beings while sitting in a church?

The following post is written by my friend Joshua Ryan Butler and it's the second of three that he'll write this week. (His first one is HERE.)  Josh has written a killer book titled The Skeletons in God's Closet: The Mercy of Hell, the Surprise of Judgment, and the Hope of Holy War. In this second blog, Josh looks at God's judgment through a different lens.

Many people fear hell is a skeleton in God’s closet, an underground torture chamber that makes God look like a sadistic torturer. But I’ve found many people have a caricature of what’s actually happening in the biblical story.

It’s no secret that Christians, especially the evangelical right, have invested much energy into moving political decisions in the direction they want them to go. For instance, historian Andrew Bacevich examines the Christian influence on America’s growing fascination to military might and concludes

I’ve been asked by many people, “When are you going to blog about ISIS?” And my answer thus far as been, “Probably never.” Even though I have quite a few thoughts on Christians and violence, I don’t have much wisdom for how nations should fight against other (aspiring) nations, or the best tactic to rid the world of terrorists.