I’ll also post the numbers of kids we get sponsors for at every concert here.
This past weekend? 29 kids sponsored. Thanks, Raleigh, NC.
]]>As I watched the news and Oprah’s show on the recovery effort, I thought about those neighborhoods and people, many still living in FEMA trailers that were only supposed to last a few weeks. Actually, I’m really missing being there and it’s hard for me to be here at school knowing what life is like for so many people there. Tonight, I’m praying.
What are your stories about this storm?
It was a really bizarre viewing experience. Strange short clips of celebrities accompanied videos of orphaned children and mothers losing their children to malaria.
In the end, they raised over 60 million dollars. WOW!! Seems like a lot of money, huh?
I’m interested in what others think of this form of fundraising and the amount that they raised and what’s the best way to help the poor and where does our greatest responbility lie and all of those things....
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]]>Beth
]]>Beyond the grief and heartbreak, there are a bunch of other issues that are bound to arise from this incident. This was the worst shooting rampage in the history of our country. Issues of campus security are sure to be debated. It will obviously also stir a number of gun rights discussions, and rightly so.
I understand that the right to bear arms is a fundamental part of our Constitution which is included to protect us from the threat of an armed tyrannical government. However, our founders could not have possibly imagined the kinds of firearms that are available in the world today. Our world is so vastly different from the one into which the Constitution was written that surely current reality demands we rethink some things. Can we still have the right to bear arms in order to stave off the threat of governmental abuse without having the right to buy any gun any time any where? Should the list of banned firearms be dramatically expanded? Should waiting periods be more strictly enforced or even lengthened? Or should we find some way apart from an armed populace to protect ourselves from the threat of tyranny and do away with private gun ownership altogether?
Moreover, can anyone offer a reason that a private individual would need to own a gun in a society where gun ownership was illegal? I know that the practical reality of disarming America is nightmarishly difficult, so let’s stick to the realm of theory at this point.
I have always said that I supported the existence of the Second Amendment but that I felt no need to own a gun and would discourage anyone I could from owning one as well. I’m now rethinking that stance. I don’t need to own a gun and I don’t think the right to bear arms is worth the price we’re paying in innocent blood. I think we have to figure out some other way to protect ourselves from our government. Make no mistake: the Second Amendment was not written to allow us to protect our homes from burglers. It was written to protect us from our government. We’ve got to find a better way to do that when faced with the world as it is today.
Also, and maybe most importantly here, how should Christians treat the topic of gun ownership? We are and must be Christians before we are Americans particularly when the two come into conflict. When it comes to owning a tool that is designed to wound at least and kill at most, I think we have a conflict between our faith and our nationality. Our faith teaches peace and non-violence as central tenets. How does that square with gun ownership?
I expect this discussion will take a number of turns that I haven’t even begun to address here. That’s fine and good. I know that no one here is going to claim to own a gun because they like to shoot people. I’m sure that it’s all about “self-defense.” But there must be better defenses and ones that don’t lead us down the path of killing each other.
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