PHOTO: Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado
Speaking last month at a Christian event at the Charis Christian Center, Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado explained that “little Twitter trolls” have been challenging her pro-gun-rights stance, by asking her if Jesus should have been carrying an AR-15.
Quote:
“They like to say: ‘Oh, Jesus didn’t need an AR-15. How many AR-15s do you think Jesus would have had?’ Well, he didn’t have enough to keep his government from killing him.”
Reportedly, some in the crowd responded with laughter.
I wouldn’t have laughed. Obviously, God was teaching us all a lesson, as Rep. Boebert so clearly pointed out. If you don’t have an AR-15, or at the very least, a Concealed Carry Permit, the government is going to nail you to the cross.
Of course, the young shepherd boy David killed the Philistine warrior Goliath (dressed in full armor) with a slingshot and a stone. So apparently God allows for a great deal of flexibility, in terms of our choice of weapons. I suppose if we all kept a slingshot handy, and a few stones in our pocket, we’d still have a fighting chance when the government comes for us.
If you’ve been paying attention to the news — from reliable news outlets — you already know that the U.S. government is very similar to the Roman government that was occupying Israel back in the day when Jesus didn’t own an AR-15.
In fact, according to my reading of the Bible, Jesus didn’t own much of anything. Maybe a robe, and some sandals? He was constantly telling people to give whatever they owned to the poor, and live like the lilies of the field. Lilies of the field don’t own anything — they don’t even have jobs — but they are still beautiful.
But to get back to the subject at hand. The current U.S. government is a lot like the ancient Roman government, in so many ways. For example, taxes. Lots of taxes. And they both put pictures of famous government leaders on their money.
And they both constructed buildings with big pillars.
Apparently, Jesus wasn’t terribly fond of weapons. In the Book of Matthew, He told his disciples, “Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?”
That’s pretty impressive access. Twelve legions of angels is a lot of angels.
A Roman legion typically consisted of more than 6,000 fully-armed soldiers. So twelve legions (of fully-armed angels?) would be in excess of 72,000. But Jesus could call on more than twelve legions.
So he actually didn’t need an AR-15.
But the rest of us may not have that kind of access to legions of angels. (Speaking, specifically, for myself.) So obviously, God wants us to have guns. And so does Rep. Lauren Boebert.
What is somewhat weird about this whole situation, is that Rep. Boebert is actually part of the government that we need to defend ourselves against.
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all.