The First Amendment NRA Vs. The Second Amendment NRA
Anyone who is not living under a rock these days should see and know what’s happening. We have discrimination; who? We have inequity; what? We have injustice; where? We have protesters; when? We have murders; why? Now, HOW do we overcome it all? We know the symptoms and we see the result of the deadly disease, but is there a balm?
America is mighty, but has lost her might because she no longer enjoys the presence of the Almighty!
Has America abandoned the basic tenets of Christianity? Are we now so self-absorbed, self-sufficient, and self-propelled that we are wholly leaning on our own limited understanding instead of trusting and relying on God? Do we honestly believe it is our appointed duty to support God, not in obedience and goodwill, but as vigilantes, forgetting that the branch does not support the root, but rather the root supports the branch?
Some of us identify with (dare I say skin color?) our heritage in terms of shared ethnicity and culture defined as ethnic nationalism, rather than shared citizenship, values and institutions defined as civic nationalism, which is being framed by some as “socialism” – the gateway to communism; like the gateway hypothesis that marijuana will likely lead to more hardcore drugs.
One of the off-center slogans we hear today is, “God and Guns,” but consider this biblical account: In order to arrest Jesus, Judas led a band of men and officers of the chief priests and Pharisees to identify Jesus in the garden. When Jesus presented Himself [His powerful presence], they went backward and fell to the ground.
When Jesus’ followers [perceived what was about to go down] they said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” And one of them – Peter, whom God gave the revelation of who Jesus was – struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.
Then Jesus said, “Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.” And He touched the man’s ear and healed him. America, we need a touch of Jesus not another assault weapon.
Why are so many so-called Christians stockpiling so many weapons? Why is there so much senseless violence in America usually associated with skin color and other biases? By comparison, what could any man-made weapon do when Jesus could have called upon legions of angels for His defense?
But he did not; He was willing to die to fulfill His calling to reconcile mankind to God. Remember Christians: “The battle is not yours, it’s the Lord’s.” Jesus went to trial, was falsely accused and sentenced by what’s known as a “kangaroo court” to die a horrible, violent death on the cross. Was that justice? No! But, Jesus’ shed blood paid the ransom for our freedom from sin and for a debt we could not pay, for God is holy, righteous and just. We were bought with a price and the choice is ours to either be a servant (slave) to sin, or a servant of the Lord.
Now, to reconcile the subtitle to this article: Until today, I did not realize there are at least two “NRA” organizations that serve to polarize our country – the National Reform Association (which I’ll refer to in this article as NRA1), and the National Rifle Association (NRA2).
It lines up perfectly – whereas NRA1, founded in 1864, is steeped in the first amendment “freedom of speech;” NRA2, founded in 1871, is steeped in the second amendment, “the right to bear arms.”
NRA1 is proposing to amend the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution to read: We, the people of the United States, recognizing the being and attributes of Almighty God, the Divine Authority of the Holy Scriptures, the law of God as the paramount rule, and Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Savior and Lord of all, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessing of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
If NRA2 were to propose such an amendment, it might preface the Preamble with their own mission statement: We, the National Rifle Association, to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, especially with reference to the inalienable right of the individual American citizen guaranteed by such Constitution to acquire, possess, collect, exhibit, transport, carry, transfer ownership of, and enjoy the right to use arms, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessing of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
As a nation, we are sorely divided. Will America survive as a democracy? As it was with Moses in battle, who among us will help lift up the hands of “Lady Liberty?”
Remember the Golden Rule precept in Matthew 7:12: “In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.” This is the Christian’s fundamental duty and rule of conduct towards his neighbor. And above all else, Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
Larry Buford is a Los Angeles-based contributing writer and author of “Things Are Gettin’ Outta Hand” and “Book To The Future.” Email: [email protected]
