Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
History and Religion
Sacrificing Our Children To The God of AR-15

Sacrificing Our Children To The God of AR-15

Last updated on: September 6, 2024 at 5:20 pm by William T. Orr, Jr.

0 Comments

Sacrificing Our Children To The God of AR-15 2024-09-06T17:20:49-04:00 William T. Orr, Jr.

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

In the U.S., we wave the flag, sing the anthem, threaten anyone who disagrees with us, and sacrifice our children on the altar of the NRA.

Child hiding from danger

Children in school should not have to be afraid Pixabay Image

What have we become?

We hear the screaming of the gun worshipers, bolstered up by misguided and misinformed law enforcement officers who want to arm the public and politicians in the employ of Russia and the NRA who are willing and seemingly eager to sacrifice my grandchildren (and yours) at school.

“The King James Bible and the Second Amendment are my guidepost,” they bellow.

“America is a Christian nation and Jesus wants us all to have assault rifles.”

Are we to give in to this unholy insanity?

No child should face fear in school Pixabay Image by Raquel Candia

To assert that the U.S. is a Christian nation is to insult every Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Sikh, and everyone who does not fit into a narrow mold of what an “American Christian” looks like.

There is nothing in the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth that could, in any possible interpretation, justify the love and affection we Americans have for guns.

There is nothing in the teaching of Judaism that could, in any possible interpretation, justify the love and affection we Americans have for guns.

Nothing justifies this insanity.

Some numbers:

Columbine 13 killed

Sandy Hook 26 killed

Santa Fe 10 killed

Parkland 17 killed

Uvalde 21 killed

Atlanta 4 killed this week

What does the Bible teach?

If you are a person of faith, you must ask yourself where your faith lies.

Leviticus 20: 2-5:

“Say to the Israelites: ‘Any Israelite or any foreigner residing in Israel who sacrifices any of his children to Molek is to be put to death. The members of the community are to stone him. 3 I myself will set my face against him and will cut him off from his people; for by sacrificing his children to Molek, he has defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name. 4 If the members of the community close their eyes when that man sacrifices one of his children to Molek and if they fail to put him to death, 5 I myself will set my face against him and his family and will cut them off from their people together with all who follow him in prostituting themselves to Molek.

Deuteronomy 12:29-31

29 The Lord your God will cut off before you the nations you are about to invade and dispossess. But when you have driven them out and settled in their land, 30 and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, “How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same.” 31 You must not worship the Lord your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the Lord hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.

Jeremiah 7:30-31

30 “‘The people of Judah have done evil in my eyes, declares the Lord. They have set up their detestable idols in the house that bears my Name and have defiled it. 31 They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire—something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind.

If you do not see these school shootings as child sacrifice, I fear for your soul.

If guns supersede your God, I would suggest that you examine your heart. I suspect that your faith is a false one.

If I am tired of this, what can I do?

If you find, like I do, that this insanity of gun worship and child sacrifice is unacceptable, there are steps you can take.

Talk to your faith leader. If he or she is not ready to put children before guns, find a new faith leader
Pray to your God that we somehow find a way to value children over guns
Make certain that any firearms under your control are safe and unavailable to others
Vote for politicians who believe in sane gun laws and reasonable controls
Report anyone who displays tendencies that would likely produce a school shooter (anger, instability, paranoia)

There is no excuse for this.

There is no justification for this.

There is no room to negotiate, no space to equivocate, no occasion to evade.

If we do not value our children above everything else on Earth, it is we who are guilty.

I would like to hear from you. How do you feel about saving our children in school? Please leave a comment, positive or negative, below in the comment section.

About William T. Orr, Jr.

William T. Orr, Jr. is a retired educator, most recently the principal of a high school named in the Top 10 in the nation by Newsweek magazine. Orr has a B.A. in English Language and Literature, a M.Ed. in Education Administration and Supervision, and an Ed.D. in Education leadership. He’s also completed Postdoctoral study at Yale Divinity School and Dallas Theological Seminary. You can read more about the author here.

Previous Post

August 31, 2024

Religion Is Harming Public Schools In The U.S.