A family moved into the neighborhood not too long ago. Shortly after they moved in a sign appeared in their front window proclaiming that Jesus Christ and the Second Amendment was protecting their new home. I thought this is an absurd statement. I also thought is there a crime wave in the neighborhood that I don’t know about. A year or so ago we did have bears in a neighbor’s backyard.

There is a mutual compatibility in believing in both Jesus and the right to own a gun, and protect your property. When Jesus sent out 70 or so of his disciples to spread the word he sent them out as lambs among wolves, and unarmed. He also told them when they enter somebody’s home they should first say, “‘Peace to this house.’ If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them…”

I just can’t help thinking there appears to be some sort of fallacious reasoning going on behind the window. First off, I am not questioning or condemning anyone’s Christian beliefs or the Constitutional right to bear arms. It is the mutual exclusivity that confuses me. It is the lumping Jesus Christ with the Second Amendment as protectors of a house.

I thought maybe it was the Fourth Amendment, the one guaranteeing us the right “to be secure in their (our) persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches…” But for some reason this does not include internet searches and hacking–something Madison and Friends were unaware of at the time of ratification. After all, this was a time of Mercantilism. The Industrial Revolution was just on the horizon and the information age a space age away.

But the Fourth Amendment really deals with government warrants and the “deep state.” Those who wrote the Constitution, in their infinite wisdom, foresaw a billowing government turning into a hidden futuristic monster. The Fourth, however, lacks the punch that the Second provides. I do not think the Fourth protects you from someone busting through your sliding glass door at 4 a.m. It would be at this time the Second Amendment might kick in.

What I find fallacious in the above sign is we are comparing a man, notably the Son of God, to 27 words in a Constitution. This fallacious equivalence makes it almost impossible to make a sane comparison. It goes way beyond “apples and oranges.” It is more like apples and orangutans. It is this sort of reasoning that is running rampant today, particularly among politicians who operate in the thin, upper stratosphere of reasoning. In this case, there is not a single shared characteristic or attribute that I can see between Jesus Christ and the Second Amendment. It is as if Jesus Christ sat on the First Congress’s Joint House Senate Conference Committee of the United States and voted to send the 12 proposed Bill of Rights Amendments to the States for ratification.

Believe me, if you are a devout Christian and you believe that you can never be out of God’s or Jesus’ watchful eye, I get it. I will not argue that point. As the song goes: “He’s got the whole world in his hands…” Using that logic it would seem to indicate if he has the whole world in his hands, and if the house is part of the world then I can see how Jesus would protect the house and those inside it, even at 4 a.m. As the psalmist says: “if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.”

It reminds me of when his disciples were huddled on a boat in a “great tempest.” Nothing like water coming in over the gunnels and no life preservers on board to get your heart racing, to put the fear of God in a man’s soul. Those swimming lessons at the YMCA would have come in handy right about now. For those disciples they did not have to search far for God. At some point in the storm they decided it was time to wake Jesus up yelling, “Lord, save us: we perish.” Jesus sat up, looked around and said, “‘Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?’ Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.” If you have faith that Jesus can calm a storm I think you can go ahead and cancel your homeowner’s insurance. Unfortunately, mortgage companies do not have that kind of faith.

There is so much going on in that sign. I just don’t get the juxtaposition of a cross with a gun, and not just any cross, the symbol of Christianity. As if one is dependent on the other. If this were a Venn Diagram where would the Jesus circle intersect with the Second Amendment circle? It would seem to me that if Jesus was protecting the house, Jesus, a man who could cast multiple devils out of one man, head those demons into a herd of swine and then off a cliff; a man who could feed thousands would have little need of a gun. If guns were around in 33 AD. So, protecting a house would be nothing to him.

Then there is the Second Amendment. It is only 27 words:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

It could easily be said that they are the most picked over 27 words written in the Constitution. Some argue that the Amendment is anachronistic and incongruous with the present times. The Second Amendment was written when powerful European countries were perched on our borders like alligators hanging under an Egret’s nest waiting for a falling fledgling. It was a time when a well armed “regulated “(and I use regulated losely) citizenry was the first line of defense. Taxing for a standing Army and a 300 ship navy, national defense, wouldn’t come until post WWII.

The British have come and gone and we have been at peace with Canada for the better part of 200 years. The National Guard is our well regulated militia today. If the Russians are coming they are not coming by land or by sea. Red Dawn was a great movie but I do not think Cubans and Russians–Iranians or North Koreans–are going to be falling out of the sky any time soon. It will more likely be through cyberspace.

Yes, it could be argued that things are not so swell south of the Rio Grande. We are dealing with what some would call a “crisis,” an invasion at our Southern border. However, it is not an armed-hostile attack. It is not even like 1916 when General John Pershing and the 13th Cavalry were chasing Pancho Villa all over Mexico after Villa raided Columbus, New Mexico. The Second Amendment may have kicked in with armed citizens rallying in a moments notice to defend hearth and home. Villa wasn’t escorting new settlers. It was probably the last time individual Americans had to face down a foreign attack. My question is why did Villa pick a town where an US Army base was.

But it really is not so much about foreign invasions today that our personal weapons would supposedly be used for. Some will argue the Second Amendment is the only thing keeping the “deep state” from enslaving us all into some sort of socialistic, DEI, wokism state. Take away our guns and you take away the right to protect our freedoms. This sort circular reasoning is pointless. The Second Amendment will never be repealed so we will never know if owning guns or not goes beyond fending off Big Brother or Pancho Villa. If anything, it enhances the belief without any real proof that God, guns and guts made America free–let’s fight to keep all three–and Jesus will lead the charge. A nifty statement but is it really provable.

Now here is where it really gets dicey. Some Second Amendment advocates try to use the Bible to back up their beliefs that Jesus would be an advocate of gun ownership. Depending on what Bible you want to use there are nearly 800,000 words, give or take a couple thousand in both Books. The Old Testament ,”eye-for-an eye, has more than 600,000 words compared to the New Testament’s “love thy neighbor’s” 180,000.

Now it is obvious there were no handguns, long rifles, assault rifles in First Century AD. In the Holy Land during this era it’s more than likely that the Roman short sword was the personal weapon of choice. Easily concealed under a tunic or a cloak, and possibly easily acquired on the black market. In fact when the Jews came to arrest Jesus it was Peter who pulled out a sword “and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear”. It would not be until the 1850s that the pistol would be the real choice for in close killing. But a cross? You don’t hear about too many people being clubbed to death with a cross. And crucifictions went out with the Romans.

Of the 180,000 words in the New Testament it is 30 that basically form the intersection of Jesus and the Second Amendment. Luke 22:36: He (Jesus) said to them, ‘But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.’” Biblical scholars can pick that verse apart much like Constitutional scholars pick apart the Second Amendment. And since I am neither I am going to let it go at that.

And now it is my turn to make a ridiculous comparison. One might channel Han Solo just after eluding Imperial forces. He tells Luke Skywalker that: “Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a blaster at your side.” In our time and galaxy that might be a Glock 19. Or you can channel the father who was seeking out Jesus for relief of his son, who was afflicted with “a dumb spirit.” Granted, it was not Darth Vader. The father said:  “And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us.”

Jesus said unto him, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” If you believe Jesus protects your house why do you need a gun. Or if you have a gun do you really need Jesus. I am just asking.