Understanding The Mind Of Someone Who Wants Guns OUT Of Church

To be sure, Sutherland Springs was horrific. I can only imagine what it was like inside that church. Whole families murdered in the one place they truly believed would be safe, the place they turned to for salvation. It’s mindboggling that we can’t be safe in our houses of worship, but on that Sunday in Texas, we were given a stern reminder that nowhere is safe.

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However, that doesn’t stop some people from thinking otherwise. Take linguistics professor Terese Thonus, who described some of her issues with guns in church in an interview with Spectrum, and Adventist publication. Thonus is an Adventist herself and outlines some of what set her off.

I am naive enough to expect that the churches I attend, especially Adventist churches, are places of refuge and safety, and I very much believe that the church sanctuary should be “a house of prayer for all people.” I am smart enough to know that my beliefs about guns are not shared by all Adventists and that some members of my congregation no doubt own firearms. When I realized that those same people might think it okay to bring those firearms into a sanctuary, I was shocked. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been, but I was. I no longer felt safe.

Your article talks about your son, who is now 20 and diagnosed with autism, and the fascination he has with guns, even going so far as stealing your credit card to buy a gun on Amazon. What can you do as a mother to protect your son and yourself?

I believe that the best protection I can give my son is to urge him not to carry a weapon. As an adult living in Kansas, David may or may not be able to own a weapon in future depending on enforcement of statutes regarding mental health status and background checks. He has received basic training in personal protection as a student of taekwondo. His limitations make it difficult for him to understand nuances, such as the difference between a police officer carrying a firearm on the job vs. carrying a firearm in church.

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I’m going to stop right here and call bovine excrement.

There is no way her son used a credit card to buy a gun on Amazon.

For one thing, Amazon doesn’t sell actual guns. Nothing that’s classified by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is currently available for sale on Amazon.

What Amazon does sell are airsoft guns, which are glorified toys. She’s either freaking out over an air gun or she’s lying. I’d hope, since she’s speaking with a faith-based publication, she’s not lying. That just means she’s dumb.

But, then again, she’s already admitted to being naive enough to believe a church is a safe place.

Despite a couple dozen people being gunned down in their pews in Sutherland Springs, TX, she’s naive enough to believe she’s safe sitting in her church.

Because that’s what it takes to oppose church carry. You have to be naive enough to think that evil will not entire that hallowed space and commit vile acts.

Later, she states, “The local church in Kansas decided that sticking our heads in the sand was the solution.”

I’m sorry, but I suspect the local church in Kansas was the one not sticking their heads in the sand. They were the ones who recognized that evil can come at you in many ways, up to and including a maniac with a rifle. Pretending it’s not so is the very definition of sticking your head in the sand.

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