Sometimes a good guy with a gun in church can be as hazardous as a bad guy with a gun.

Evidently a good guy with a gun, can be just as dangerous to church congregants as a ,bad guy' with a gun.

“Good Guy with a Gun” Accidentally Shoots Himself and His Wife in Church
Husband and wife shot in church by accident
Man accidentally shoots himself, wife during gun discussion at church

Perhaps the octogenarian gun safety guru just wanted to be nearer to his god?

 

Oh so someone accidentally shooting them selves and one other person is as bad as a manic killing 20 some people then trying to get thousands more killed by "trying to start the next civil war".
You're really full of it today.

 

Injured or dead, is injured or dead....regardless of whether a person causing it is good, bad or just a blithering doofus......bad guys, have a range of victims...from one to many....even one dead or injured person, is one too many...likewise for a good guy incompetent doofus. Am I equating a mass murderer with a guy who shot himself and his wife?? I don't think that is a reasonable interpretation of what I wrote....certainly that is not a claim made in the accompanying links.

I note that no criticism is directed at the moron gun safety demonstrator....just quibbling about false equivalency nit pickery.

 

Meh. Simply proves that with billions of people running around you can always find an example of something that proves a supposed point.

 

I had conemplated that prospect often, when enduring a tedious, mind numbing sermon, back in the day when I was a devout theist. Deconversion to atheism has probably kept me out of prison.

Yep.....that is frequently the thought going through my mind when i read much of the harrumphin' that goes on here justifying conservative contentions.

 

Church doesn't equal good ,some people go there as cover, or to feed their argument, or kill time , or political approval.
. Some one that want's to honor God, does it with his day to day life, seeking God's direction .
So far as those with guns ,no matter where they are , if you see some one showing off their/a gun, remind them to treat it as though it is loaded even if it is missing the major components that make it fire.
Good habits lengthen ones life .
We as responsible gun owners need to police our selves and make those of us that are not so inclined, to be made aware of the rules . Those whom are against guns are always looking for ammunition to use against us.

 

You are of course right, as this fellow (Ralph Shortey) attests


“Family Values” GOP Ex-State Senator Pleads Guilty to Child Sex Trafficking

......possibly one reason why I no longer tend to frequent such places.

Perhaps the TN fellow was a well intentioned guy of unknown commitment to a supreme creator, as hazardous to fellow congregants as a criminally bad guy: Lets give him the benefit of the doubt....one can be good without god...inside a church or out....He was apparently an 'open carry' advocate, demonstrating how a pistol safety catch worked.....just, very badly!

Those who advocate for guns, are also not so shy in searching for ammunition to use in favour of gun ownership. Every massacre has its silver lining.

 

Well, we know how effective prayer is in the real world And I don't find nihilism very appealing, which ruled out suicide, so apostasy was the best option. I haven't looked back.

I haven't been tormented with the dilemma of whether or not to open carry my sling shot, Vs concealed carry in church.

Meetings of ex theists anonymous are very safe...and secure....we of course only have an 11 step program. Appealing to a higher power to help us to quit theism would be a little superfluous and silly.

 

If you were asking God to take something away you were not actually WILLING TO LET GO OF , GOD IS NOT GOING TO DO THAT.
Prayer is not simply making your demands on God .
Effective prayer starts with an honest relationship , not a superficial incantation .
One thing God taught me very clear , is that if all ones words have little value, God regards all his words with that same value .
If one chooses one words with great value (promises kept),God's regard for what is said with greater value .
A man that is superficially penitent, is likely not to know any change in his life. in contrast men that are honestly desperate and penitent ,usually receive the mercy they seek.
I know a man, afraid to submit to God because he was afraid God would ask him to give up his wealth.
He lost more than his wealth any way, and struggles to this day .
I know so many others that chose in their life to seek after God's approval in an interactive personal level ,
and their needs are met .
Academics are not equal to spiritual life .they are an illusion ,a distraction much as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden .
Churches often get distracted with trivia and academic argument, rather than ones interactive relationship with God.
Jesus provided the Holy spirit to teach born of the Spirit believers God's will , and guidance in daily living .
But if the Holy Spirit's own influence is excluded from parishioners, all they have left is academic hearsay. Not God's design ,in view of what Jesus provided .

Having said all that ,
I agree that many churches today are dead spiritually and rely completely on academic design and entertainment . but thankfully not all .
It takes seeking desperately after God for this direction .
Many churches endeavor to make a difference in the lives of their people, but people still choose in them selves how much they are going to invest of their lives . doesn't make the church it's self bad .
Most churches are glad to see strangers darken their door, and do things to improve that opportunity . churches have compromised a lot in the last few decades in their quest to invite people in , but that does not mean these are real believers even though they appear to go through the motions even magnanimous supporters .
I've known a lot of "conservatives" that at actually liberal at heart .

 

That seems to be a convenient post hoc explanation for why some prayers are answered, and some are not. Obviously all the prayers that are answered are the consequences of "honest (god) relationships", and all the failed ones were mere "superficial incantations" i.e. counting all the hits as genuine prayers, and all the misses as insincere prayers....it is an unfalsifiable claim, that presupposes (without any compelling substantiated evidence) that god actually exists beyond the imaginations of those who believe in their preferred deity / deities.

 

I am satisfied with my relationship with the Lord for over 60 years .
And though out those years have enjoyed innumerable answers to prayer and miracles beyond all natural means and even defying science and nature and medicine .
Part of a prayer life is seeking God for His direction in prayer, not always petitioning my own needs .
The most important thing Jesus disciples said was," teach us to pray"
Not just how to pray, but the motivation behind it.
One does not manipulate God .
One cooperates with Him .
His perspective is far greater than mine . and the perspective He gives proves it regularly .
Because you can't manipulate God does not negate His existence.
There are millions of people for that matter in this world you are not going to manipulate, does that negate their existence ?

 

A Muslim might well say the same of his / her god; likewise Jews also and, undoubtedly, the deities of other faiths - miracles, inexplicable occurrences, ........it is remarkable how the theists of each faith can make similar claims, while citing much the same personal testimony, and reasoning, It is possible that they can all be false, but unlikely that they can all be true.

Demonstrating the existence or non existence of god, by testing his / her / its / their manipulability is not my argument. The claims concerning failed intercessory prayers are unfalsifiable, and are immune to empirical testing. There is a seemingly endless supply of post hoc explanations as to why prayers are not answered....the god in question not being subject to manipulation by mere mortals, is but one of them

As non sequiturs go, that is a pretty impressive example. The existence of millions of people in this world is independent of whether I can manipulate them or not, and is readily verifiable from multiple sources as a mundane fact. The truth claims about gods are extraordinary, given the examples cited in various accounts of different deities' involvements in the affairs of mankind....such extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence...the onus is on the claimant to provide it.

 

How does one make peace within himself by not believing in God?

 

That can be a challenge at times, but a belief in supernatural agency isn't necessary to that project. The humility to recognise that one is human, imperfect and that one can, and should draw upon one's better nature, than one's baser inclinations helps. Much comfort can be drawn from stoics and existentialists in dealing with the difficult times in life; and with the prospect that one's life is finite. Being dead does not fill me with dread....though there are better, and worse ways of negotiating that particular transit.

 

So in essence what your saying is, you don't wish to seek God's approval .

 

You seem to be labouring under the misapprehension that it is just your god who's approval I am not seeking.

I have no sound reason to believe that supernatural agents (aka a god or gods) exist. (Let alone that his / her / its /their approval is necessary). When the existence of such entities has been demonstrated, then my evaluation of the necessity of seeking their approval may possibly change.

I'd be loathe to seek the approval of a god who is despotic, capricious, jealous, vengeful, cruel, and inhumane.....what is the worth of such approval if it costs one's humanity to gain it?