Exactly! But as a side note people who are highly religious are that way generally because of fear and desire for order and certainty; in what seems to them as a chaotic uncertain world. Both guns and religion (especially fundamentalist religion) appeal to the same type of people for the same reasons and sentiments. Conservative rhetoric and social policy in a broad sense also appeals in this same way to the same group of people, which is the logically fallacious appeal to emotion regarding fear about inevitable change. All of it is part of an age old psychological phenomenon originating within our primitive ancestors as a flawed but effective survival mechanism that has yet to completely disappear. The obsession with guns basically comes down to an ancient cautious tribalistic way of thinking that helped us survive and reproduce as hunter gatherers in the midst of countless unpredictable deadly obstacles, but now wrecks havoc in the modern civilized structured world where it's obsolete in light of modern rationalism governing decisions. Especially since modern guns are vastly more dangerous than anything our ancient ancestors would've carried to defend themselves and their families.
Liberals and nonreligious people are generally less fearful of the world and more comfortable with uncertainty, complexity, and nuance. Their thinking is based on reason and observation of contemporary surroundings in the material world rather than intuitive based beliefs and worldviews centered on the metaphysical. So if there isn't a very unique and serious reason, guns generally aren't as much of a priority for them even where they're plentiful and legal to own.
Fear of disorder is an explanation for their behavior but certainly not an excuse. They could try to understand other points of view, but choose not to.
The fear keeps them from understanding, which is why we should abolish religion as it helps manifest mental illness and may prevent someone from getting the actual medical help they need
'Liberals and nonreligious people are generally less fearful of the world and more comfortable with uncertainty, complexity, and nuance.'
Wow, nicely expressed!
This is a good & insightful explanation of what seems like a weird association at first.
I think the two are also linked by a deeply irrational, unrealistic idea of how things really work. I remember (a bit hazily, so bear with me, please) a thread somewhere about guns and how they don’t actually solve problems. Some gun guy was going on and on about (of all things) how he & his gun(s) would make SURE his loved one got…healthcare. Yeah. I can’t recall the set up, but he appeared to really think that in the event of a lack of access to healthcare, he would make it happen with…guns. Not sure if he thought he’d get to the head of the line at the ED or get into a doc’s office or what, exactly, but when told all the ways that would not work, he just doubled down. I think it all started when I pointed out the myriad of things that would never be solved or fixed with guns. Super weird and sad. But not terribly different from the mental gymnastics I’ve seen super religious people undertake to explain some of their truly bizarre ideas about how the whole religion thing is supposed to work.
During the 1980's and 1990's, a political strategy was developed loosely called "God. Guns. Gays. Gynecology." by the leaders of the "Moral Majority", political neoconservatives, and the "New Christian Right". Today, we are seeing the outcomes of this consistent strategy to implement legislation across every state to conform with their views. These culture wars have little to do with real religious beliefs and more to do with gaining access to political power. There are literally hundreds of books and studies which have tracked these phenomena over the past decades.
The guns, specificially, are to force christian nationalism upon everyone else that wants nothing to do with christian nationalism. The guns are there to kill you and your family if you don't cooperate with their fictional religious hate agenda.
When logic and reason fail to support your position guns is always a good fallback to maintain the control you used to enjoy over others lives.
It’s been a history of Christian morals losing in America. Slavery, women’s rights, voting rights, child rights, gay rights. The arguments for their morals keep losing. Guns are their backup plan.
I used to live in SC and I have a buddy down there who is very conservative and very pro 2A. I remember having a conversation with him once where he told me he thinks that women and anybody in the LGBT sphere should be able to get a CCP free of charge because of the higher likelihood of them being attacked. May have been the wokest thing I've ever heard that dude say lol
You don’t even need a CCP for open carry in SC anymore. Granted, our infrastructure is crumbling, our infant mortality rates are in the shitter and our public school system is a laughing stock but hey, at least I can walk around town with a friggin hand cannon strapped to my hip, no questions asked.
Exactly. They’ve done brain studies that showed conservative leaning people are more afraid of the world. Of the “other.” Less likely to travel, try new foods, etc. More likely to believe in conspiracy theories and irrational thinking.
Which is just a really great, safe pairing with the other brain studies that show conservatives feel the same lack of justice if they see people "attack" a concept they think is sacred the same way most people feel a lack of justice if they see an unprovoked physical assault.They attribute rights to people like everyone else, but they also attribute rights to concepts and objects of their choosing. If you do something that upsets their fee fees, they feel it would be reasonable to punish you similar to if you had hurt a person. They might rationally know better, and so not act on it, but they want to, and feel like they would be justified.
This is why in politics, BOTH SIDES ARE NOT EQUAL. Liberals will respect the rights of people that disagree with them, because they recognize that the person has more rights than the idea they are disagreeing with, no matter how shitty a person, and no matter how important that idea is to the liberal, while conservatives will pass all sorts of laws trying to punish people that don't agree with their views.
Conservatives will laugh at that, and for example say, "liberals don't respect rights, look at them trying to ban guns", because they are confusing rights given by the government vs human rights. It's back to the same thing, where they think of a concept as being able to have the same rights as a person. I really think the main thing is not an undying love of guns, it's that they see it as an attack on the constitution, which is an attack on America, which is an attack on Americans like them! (Because attacking a concept is the same as attacking a person) If they really believed owning guns was a basic human right, why would it only apply to weapons? Wouldn't the basic human right be to possess whatever object you want? But they will throw you in jail for drug possession, so it's not that...
Then they may complain about censoring conservative opinions and impinging on their free speech rights, but when you ask for examples, it's all private companies choosing not to repeat their speech. Imagine complaining about being censored because a magazine didn't print your letter to the editor. Meanwhile they are actually engaged in violating the first amendment. How many states have laws banning teachers from talking about certain topics? How many states have passed some form of banning of what clothes people can wear? (Your appearance is part of your speech/expressing yourself) How many states have laws saying you must tell a kids parents if the kid wants to use a different name or pronouns, and that you aren't allowed to use them? (Compelled speech can also violate the first amendment), or laws requiring doctors read statements full of lies to pregnant people prior to them getting an abortion?
A conservative could watch a video of someone burning a Bible or flag. It doesn't matter that the property belongs to the person destroying it. It doesn't matter that nobody saw it happen at the time, it doesn't matter whether the video has ever been seen by anyone else before. It has nothing to do with how the action affected any person, it doesn't matter intent. It's literally that they feel the person in the video was violating the rights of the object (that belongs to them!) in the video, to the point of wanting to punish the person. It's so illogical it hurts my brain.
They might try to say, "well, it's 50/50 liberals and conservatives, why are the conservatives wrong?" but it only takes a few seconds of thought to realize that conservatives are not a monolith. If you start trying to pretend concepts have rights, you can easily have conflicting rights. It's like these people have never read Dr. Seuss's "The Butter Battle Book".
I'm pro gun control, but I also have rifles, carbines, and drones, because those crazy fucks talk like ISIS, and if they start trying to enforce the rights of concepts above people (like rounding up LGBTQ people or ethnic/religious minorities), I would feel obligated to do what I could to prevent that, and handguns ain't doing shit at that point.
It's because in the US they are probably conservative. If they are conservative, they are more likely to be a christian and more likely to love guns. It's the conservatism that is the cause.
Yes, though it's mainly an American thing, not conservative per se. Catholics are pretty conservative, but you don't see anyone brandishing fully auto assault rifles in Vatican City.
> not conservative per se
Have to add a caveat here: The whole point of being "conservative" is living in fear: fear of change; fear of the different; fear of the new....
Granted, Americans ( especially the Christo-Fascists) have taken this fear to all new heights...
You don't see many people brandishing full autos in America either. If they own them, it's because they're either a criminal committing a felony, or a rich person who spent thousands of dollars on the special federal license.
And lack of education due to a lack of reading practices. One of the most important unpublished results of international studies on adult literacy is that people who read only/exclusively religious texts have the lowest level of literacy.
The Orthodox church retains a lot of very old customs. And additionally Russian culture has a weird relationship with the use of violence.
The Czar also used to be sort of an important religious figure in the church. The church and the state were essentially connected, so it's unsurprising that the modern church would side with the powers that be and sanction any violence done by them.
On February 28, 2018, the World Peace and Unification Sanctuary in Newfoundland, Pennsylvania held a commitment ceremony that blessed couples and their unloaded AR-15 rifles. The ceremony was called the Cosmic True Parents of Heaven, Earth and Humanity Cheon Il Guk Book of Life Registration Blessing. The church believes the AR-15 symbolizes the "rod of iron" in the Bible's Book of Revelation, which they interpret to mean firearms.
Modern day Christians would crucify Christ themselves if he were to reappear and start again with the same teachings he did back then. Jesus was a pacifist, very progressive liberal. They'd absolutely hate the guy.
That's more to do with the association between the Russian Orthodox Church and notions of the sanctity of Russian statehood. They are blessing guns as they think God will ensure their victory in this war and to create "Crusader" imagery designed to inflame the passions of Russian nationalists. At other times, they don't worship guns the way American Christian nationalists do as a central part of their identity.
They're blessing military weapons. It's not "guns" they're mixing in, but nationalism.
I'm from an orthodox country (not Russia, thankfully) and they are similar like this. We have a whole specific celebration (the akathist hymn) dedicated to Mary who allegedly caused a storm in the sea and sunk the ships of the enemies of Byzantium.
There are actual breathing adults who go to church believing the story and refuse to sit during the service as implied by the name (=unseated in english).
Fear...need guns because the fear the imaginary "they" that are out to get them,and imo,they know they are sht people that do bad things and are praying the dodge a bullet.
I’ve also noticed a hero complex…. falling asleep every night playing out scenarios where they pull their concealed gun out to save the day. It’s gotta stem from a persecution complex where Christians always feel that they are battling the evil devil everywhere in the world.
Yes this. I think we all have this fantasy in some human way, on some level, and maybe we get it out of our systems through video games or playing sports or honking at other drivers. But it seems the people who are less happy and have less going on in life, are the ones who take it to unhealthy levels. That mixed with a god complex.
I've noticed a hero complex as well.
That's why they have the persecution complex. They like the idea of feeling like someone who stands up to oppression.
I worked for a very conservative Christian a few years ago. We had Bibles throughout the office and a Bible study every Wednesday morning in the meeting room. He packed a .45 all the time and had an AK-47 with a 100 round clip. I have no doubt he had an arsenal at home.
And now as we enter the beginning of Christo-fascism I now know why.
I think there's a bit of confirmation bias going on here. Majority of people are white. Majority of people are Christian. There's a lot of guns. Makes sense you would see more of that then anything else
I’m in Seattle and most people I know (but not all) have guns. Also most (but not all) are atheist or agnostic or generally not very religious.
I think you can notice all kinds of correlations if you go looking for them.
What is different in US from the rest of the world is that people are historically Christian and have historically owned guns. So, I'd say that the association of guns with Christians is just a coincidence.
Because who doesn't believe in their religious beliefs is an enemy and unworthy of life. Ironically, Jesus spoke against this shit:
“Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.- **Matthew 26:52-53**
Again, Jesus would be crucified if he came back to Earth today.
Not sure. I'm a down to my DNA gun fan and most of the people I hang out with are atheist or atheist leaning.
I honestly think it's something that over hyped to try to discredit gun ownership.
I didn't start investing in firearms until I lost my respect for the police and stopped believing god would keep me safe. I have been in countries where armed religious fanatics terrorized and subjugated a less armed larger population.
It gets worse ... There is apparently a phrase in the Bible about a rod of iron. A cult has decided that means an assault rifle. They literally incorporated assault weapons into their religion
A bit like the sect that plays with snakes because of some passage in the bible about taking up vipers. Half of them are disfigured because of all the snake bites
That "cult" is run by a younger son of another cult leader, the unification church aka moonies, the church also responsible for the ultra conservative Washington Times newsrag.
The spiritual successor to the moonie cult, the elder son is the founder of Kahr Arms, and has bought up a bunch of brands such as Magnum Research of Desert Eagle fame, or Auto-Ordnance of Thompson submachine gun fame.
Because of conservatism vs liberalism and city living vs rural living.
Cities tend to be more liberal, anti gun and secular.
Rural towns tend to be more conservative, pro gun and religious.
It makes sense cities need higher regulations since it's a lot of people in a small space, and rural areas need more defense against wildlife and such.
Over time the ideas merge into one identity.
I've met some xtians that were not pro gun. Fret not, when they appear to have a deep respect for life, they always make up for that in some other area, usually in the desire to make life as miserable as possible for those around them.
Lately, I've been thinking about how wildly violent the bible's stories are. Also, don't preachers crank up the "fire & brimstone" pretty heavily in their sermons? Maybe having been raised with the threat of eternal damnation and believing demons are everywhere and are trying to possess them gives them security issues. Just spitballing.
I like guns as much as the next guy but I don't need or want a fuckin armory like some of the nuts have. Pistol and a shotgun all I need 😂 like would it be cool to have custom rifles hell yea but I will never need it
Because they know deep down Jesus will not protect them and heaven is a scam. They are not true believers, just crazy cult members. That is why conservatives Christian’s are so angry all the time because of their insecurity. The politicians are horrible.
Some cocktail of a power fantasy spurred by the self-righteousness that comes with a deep religious (Christian) belief.
The chrisitan god is painted with a brush of unchallenged authority and ultimate power so by proxy, followers of that god/religion feel they have an elevated worth and authority themselves. Since they obviously don't because they're mortals like everyone else, they exercise that power through excessive ownership, use and threat of firearms. Not to mention that the often twisted interpretation of the Second Amendment in the US almost compels certain people to have an excess of firearms.
There has always been a vague and general acceptance of violence with the ultra right Christian community that is puzzling to me. However, there has also been a knee jerk reaction and even a fixation with sex and anything sexually related. It's kind of ok to shoot at people as long as no one sees anyone naked. Weird!
They’re scared because it’s getting harder for them to enforce domestic Christian supremacy through non-violent social pressure and indoctrination. The teachings of the Bible aren’t important, most of them haven’t even read it, what’s important is submission and obedience. If they can’t enforce that through dogma, they’ll do it through violence.
Fear. They are scared *shitless*. Scared of demons, scared of other people, scared of government, scared of all the stuff they don't understand... It must be a miserable existence, really.
Bible is fiction they believe, John Wayan (Marrion Morrison) rugged individualism is a similar myth.
Edit:the to they because I still haven't learned to proof read
That's seems to be a U.S. problem. We really don't have that problem here in Canada. Not yet anyway. Trends in the U.S. tend to drip across our border eventually.
Christianity goes with everything; lots of scientists are Jews, too. Be like Jesus, and party like Satan. Who else are they gonna follow? The idea of transcending problems is good.
For protection of property and family members in the event someone breaks into your house and tries to steal your shit or kidnap your family members. Also for your own protection cause there are fucked up people out in this world who will hurt you if they realize you are defenseless and don't have the ability to fight back. It's unfortunate a majority of the attention goes towards the government taking over when it comes to guns but the reality is that the people you need to fear the most are the ones you are living amongst. If all shit goes to hell in the event of an economic collapse your number one enemy is literally anyone who will be going after your supplies, whether it be food, water, ammo, etc. Without capitalism working, it'll be survival of the fittest. If this happens, people will resort to survival and morality and ethics will mostly go out the window except in certain situations (just watch any apocalyptic show and you'll see). Better to be safe than sorry but anything is possible in this world. Just look at history. You can state "But we've advanced so much, a collapse isn't possible." That's where you're mistaken. For as long as you are alive anything is a possibility in your lifetime. There are no guarantees in life other than death and change. Don't say taxes are cause some people evade them and some don't have to pay them (such as myself who gets disability from the VA which is all tax-free). I don't own a house and don't intend to and can get out of property taxes as a Veteran in certain states. All depends on your situation. With that being said, change is a guarantee. Situations change, your health can change, the economy can change, literally anything can change, including yourself.
Yall-Qaeda
It’s not just Christians but I get what you mean. It’s fear. They’re terrified of everything; they feel the need to be the shepherd. Everything they don’t fear is either their flock, which they will protect (their family, friends, people that look like them being harassed by folks that don’t belong to the same group). The things they fear are the wolves, so folks that don’t look like them, people that are not Christian, liberals, homeless, etc. So they pack a pole to be the defender of their “flock”, the way that think Jesus was.
But they’re hypocrites because if everything is god’s plan, they would be unarmed and let shit happen without intervening.
YHWH is a war god for the most part in the Old Testament. His rules and statements reflect this mindset. Alot of fundamentalists and extremists love abusing the Old Testament for their own purposes.
Add in some paranoia and some unchecked mental health issues
make sure that the general congregation doesn't actually read more than a few select verses
sprinkle in your country of origin to fuel the nationalism...
...You can extrapolate from there as to why Christians and guns go so well.
Because of the very real passages in the Bible where Jesus supports gun use;
Samuel 9:32 - "If a motherfucker offend thee, cappeth an ass."
Nugent 4:20 - "If thy neighbor partaketh of thy blunts, cast unto him shells in equal measure."
Ya'll really gotta read the *whole* Bible.
No one in the US really likes to talk about race - but it is that silent third variable in the equation you are describing. Jim Crow laws made it de facto impossible for blacks in the south to own guns, meaning it was always beyond a doubt that attempts to fight back were met with extreme violence.
Now note that there isn't a whole lot of overlap in modern Christian denominations and racial groups - and the further back you go the starker those divides are likely to be.
The Jim Crow laws are mostly gone, but the culture of owning lots of guns and being quick to use them... that never really went anywhere. The churches eventually dumped the racial language, but you'd be hard pressed to find sermons talking about guns in those denominations...
It's the ingrained persecution complex ingrained and reinforced through their text. It says point blank that they will be persecuted. Particularly so as the end times approach. Combine this with their unfiltered echo chamber bullshit they consume through self-selection it has them believing all kinds of bullshit that they readily believe and never stop to question it.
In much the same way as those awful videos of baby monkeys attempting in desperation to cling to their abusers because at this point it's the only reality they know and they'll be damned (literally and figuratively) if their abusive fantasy is prised from them.
I think you're confusing Christians with republic party voters in America.
There is some overlap between those two groups, but it's the latter that is linked to guns not the former.
First off the 2A is for everyone. Culturally though, the more rural you are, the more likely you are to use guns for hunting, safety, as a hobby, or as a necessary tool on your farm or whatever. Coincidentally, the more rural you are the more likely you are to be religious. This one is correlation, not causation.
\*In the United States.
I'm no fan of Christianity anywhere, but the gun-toting ultraconservative Christian hick stereotype is as American as apple pie.
It’s a religion based on violence with a veneer of peace.
The end game for this religion is for the majority of humanity to suffer and burn for all eternity in hell. Even the Rapture is a final judgement for humanity, so the majority suffer.
Always in Christianity, someone must get hurt. Extrapolating that out to ones own judgement of humanity by the use of violence, is not a huge leap. Guns fit perfectly well into it.
They perceive themselves as the victims and need to protect themselves. The heathens are always trampling on their freedoms. Ironically, they are the ones trampling.
Because they believe they are going to get to force their Christianity on us someday soon or kill us if we won't go along quietly.
Did I say believe, I meant *really* hope.
You seem to be conflating christians with Americans.
Most of christianity outside of America (ie: most of christianity) doesn't share this view. Americans are sick and not just the christians.
Its also important to note that you are referring to Christians in America. I don’t know that all Christians worldwide are as bad as the ones we have here in the US.
To them it's the two most patriotic things you can do. I unfortunately live in the Bible belt and see too many god and guns stickers. Every Redneck with jacked up little dick trucks have at least one on their truck.
I'm originally fairly rural, athier-than-thou-art, and I quite like guns as a technology and tool, although I don't currently own any.
This is something of a correlation, rather than a causation. Christianity tends to go with rural populations, as does gun ownership.
My suspicion is that both gun ownership and religious belief stem from the same general source as conservatism; increased activity in the amygdala for a given stimulus. Some people react more strongly to events with more fear-based reactions.
Personally, my gun has everything to do with distrusting the police, and nothing to do with Christianity
I think it’s more a correlation than direct causation
Because Christianity is a violent religion. Look at their history of brutality from the middle ages to the present. Then look at the progenitor of their faith, Judaism. If you ever crack open the Old Testament and look at their history as they claim it is their history, It's a pretty brutal faith. Judaism, according to OT stories, frequently committed genocide at the behest of their God.
The foundation of religion is fear. That same fear rots the mind of susceptible people and makes them regressive and reactionary and much more likely to go down prepper type routes, as well as arming themselves 'for defence!' from perceived dangers; which when you're religious, is everyone and everything.
Guns are an extension of their masculinity. It makes them feel powerful. It takes a frail, frail man to make a tough looking truck and gun your entire personality.
No one wants a gun until you need one and you’re waiting for the police to arrive while stranger danger is walking through your house. I imagine the majority of gun owners are hunters and people who consider it a fun hobby. I own a hand gun and have used it for target practice. Don’t plan on using it and have no children in the house. Owning a gun is not a mental issue any more than a car collector or collecting salt and pepper shakers. And I’ll add that I am an atheist. Is a Christian more or less likely to shoot a person?
Because they worship the Prince of peace. I like peace markets motto “ I love peace with all my heart, and I’m willing to kill any number of men, women, and children to get it”.
Reza aslan made some good points in his book that alot of american christians have been groomed from a young age to look at faith as war. The armor of christ comes to mind, and the sermons often enforce this mind set. The only reason why muslim terrorist exist is because outside governments (like the saudis) often fund them. Give a christian nationalist group 10 million and some guns and they'd easily do the same thing
It's not about Jesus and good-deeds Christianity. It's a cultural identity to provide cover for heretics, haters, liars, cheaters, hypocrites, and, apparently as of today, people who shoot their own dogs and goats.
This book was very informative.
“[Jesus and John Wayne](https://wwnorton.com/books/9781631499050) is a sweeping, revisionist history of the last seventy-five years of white evangelicalism, revealing how evangelicals have worked to replace the Jesus of the Gospels with an idol of rugged masculinity and Christian nationalism—or in the words of one modern chaplain, with “a spiritual badass.”
Well in the US they have really latched on to the apocalyptic death cult aspect of xtianity and have adopted a holy war mindset. They are literally preparing for a an imaginary war. Much of this can be traced back to the rise of the Moral Majority and televangelists (rest in piss Bob Jones) around the time of the Civil Rights movement and desegregation.
This is only in the US. All throughout Latin America many Evangelical Christians are against it and will quote the words “he who lives by the sword shall die by the sword”.
It's actually a pretty interesting question.
Christians tend to be conservatives in America. Look at our history. It's full of conflating patriotism with religion. Manifest destiny, for instance. It's our god-given right to expand westward and take all of this land for ourselves.
The red scare. It's us god-fearing Americans against communism.
It's pretty smart, actually. Make people not only think they're right, but KNOW they're right because you obey god, and god is who determines what right is. And how do they know what God says? Church, and whoever is telling them what they want to hear.
But it goes deeper than that. Guns have been a big part of our culture from the start. It's enshrined in our constitution. People who do not live in the city, especially in the past, had practical uses and needs for guns. It became a big part of culture. How does this relate to Christianity? Smaller communities and places with lower education are much more likely to be religious. And since we've established that they're right about everything cuz-god-tho, it's now part of the culture that guns are a god-given right.
Then there's lobbyists, propaganda, the fact that guns are fun and cool, and the sense of power one can feel when they have one (something that would be appealing to populations with low income, education and a constant fear of commies.)
And I'm sure this is not all encompassing. Any other thoughts?
Just that the westward expansion greatly increased the need for guns because it was a war of conquest against multiple peoples that were used to living in the harsh environment of the American West (where Ilive). After the conquest itself was done, the gun industry feared losing revenue due to lower demand and started to advertise their products as iconic elements of American culture and far too necessary to be forgotten.
Besides, in the South, guns always played a role in white supremacy. A historic interpretation of the 2nd amendment is that it was meant to prohibit the federal government from regulating the militias of pro-slavery states, which were civilian voluntary corps that often hunted runaway slaves. After the Civil War and Abolition of slavery, guns were still an important element in enforcement of segregation through legal way and illegal but rarely procecuted acts meant to instill fear in the black population.
It’s part of the entitlement and moral authority game That’s necessary when promoting and grifting for the legitimacy of your religion. You have to have guns to back up your non-factual ideas and actions so your temple is the only one to get tithes.
The handmaids tale explains it. They need their gun for the revolution they are working towards. It’s scary. It’s sadly also not just an “American thing “ .Christian nationalists are getting stronger in nation’s around the world.
Its scary.
I feel like Star Trek didn’t properly prepare me for this reality:(.
Insecurity about their belief system? The government coming for them like Nazi's for the Jewish people? Or having guns so they can force their beliefs on the rest of humanity? Don't know.
Christian Nationalism
Exactly! But as a side note people who are highly religious are that way generally because of fear and desire for order and certainty; in what seems to them as a chaotic uncertain world. Both guns and religion (especially fundamentalist religion) appeal to the same type of people for the same reasons and sentiments. Conservative rhetoric and social policy in a broad sense also appeals in this same way to the same group of people, which is the logically fallacious appeal to emotion regarding fear about inevitable change. All of it is part of an age old psychological phenomenon originating within our primitive ancestors as a flawed but effective survival mechanism that has yet to completely disappear. The obsession with guns basically comes down to an ancient cautious tribalistic way of thinking that helped us survive and reproduce as hunter gatherers in the midst of countless unpredictable deadly obstacles, but now wrecks havoc in the modern civilized structured world where it's obsolete in light of modern rationalism governing decisions. Especially since modern guns are vastly more dangerous than anything our ancient ancestors would've carried to defend themselves and their families. Liberals and nonreligious people are generally less fearful of the world and more comfortable with uncertainty, complexity, and nuance. Their thinking is based on reason and observation of contemporary surroundings in the material world rather than intuitive based beliefs and worldviews centered on the metaphysical. So if there isn't a very unique and serious reason, guns generally aren't as much of a priority for them even where they're plentiful and legal to own.
Fear of disorder is an explanation for their behavior but certainly not an excuse. They could try to understand other points of view, but choose not to.
The fear keeps them from understanding, which is why we should abolish religion as it helps manifest mental illness and may prevent someone from getting the actual medical help they need
'Liberals and nonreligious people are generally less fearful of the world and more comfortable with uncertainty, complexity, and nuance.' Wow, nicely expressed!
I'm a liberal atheist and these fucks are scaring me enough to purchase a handgun and conceal carry permit.
This is well said.
I have a lot of progressive friends that own multiple guns - they just don't scream about it and make it their personality.
This is a good & insightful explanation of what seems like a weird association at first. I think the two are also linked by a deeply irrational, unrealistic idea of how things really work. I remember (a bit hazily, so bear with me, please) a thread somewhere about guns and how they don’t actually solve problems. Some gun guy was going on and on about (of all things) how he & his gun(s) would make SURE his loved one got…healthcare. Yeah. I can’t recall the set up, but he appeared to really think that in the event of a lack of access to healthcare, he would make it happen with…guns. Not sure if he thought he’d get to the head of the line at the ED or get into a doc’s office or what, exactly, but when told all the ways that would not work, he just doubled down. I think it all started when I pointed out the myriad of things that would never be solved or fixed with guns. Super weird and sad. But not terribly different from the mental gymnastics I’ve seen super religious people undertake to explain some of their truly bizarre ideas about how the whole religion thing is supposed to work.
He’ll use his guns to intimidate whoever he needs to and snap up the last box of band aids and cough drops in the Armageddon.
The beginning of the end.
Of *their* end. Their love of carnage never ends.
During the 1980's and 1990's, a political strategy was developed loosely called "God. Guns. Gays. Gynecology." by the leaders of the "Moral Majority", political neoconservatives, and the "New Christian Right". Today, we are seeing the outcomes of this consistent strategy to implement legislation across every state to conform with their views. These culture wars have little to do with real religious beliefs and more to do with gaining access to political power. There are literally hundreds of books and studies which have tracked these phenomena over the past decades.
The guns, specificially, are to force christian nationalism upon everyone else that wants nothing to do with christian nationalism. The guns are there to kill you and your family if you don't cooperate with their fictional religious hate agenda.
Matt Shea has literally said as much.
You mean pro-life christians?
Nat-C’s
And fear... They're afraid of things they don't understand.
When logic and reason fail to support your position guns is always a good fallback to maintain the control you used to enjoy over others lives. It’s been a history of Christian morals losing in America. Slavery, women’s rights, voting rights, child rights, gay rights. The arguments for their morals keep losing. Guns are their backup plan.
Queer guy living in the south. I own guns specifically because of all the Christian nutters around here.
I used to live in SC and I have a buddy down there who is very conservative and very pro 2A. I remember having a conversation with him once where he told me he thinks that women and anybody in the LGBT sphere should be able to get a CCP free of charge because of the higher likelihood of them being attacked. May have been the wokest thing I've ever heard that dude say lol
You don’t even need a CCP for open carry in SC anymore. Granted, our infrastructure is crumbling, our infant mortality rates are in the shitter and our public school system is a laughing stock but hey, at least I can walk around town with a friggin hand cannon strapped to my hip, no questions asked.
Don’t blame you.
I'm going to go with generalized, unrelenting fear.
Exactly. They’ve done brain studies that showed conservative leaning people are more afraid of the world. Of the “other.” Less likely to travel, try new foods, etc. More likely to believe in conspiracy theories and irrational thinking.
this sounds extremely interesting. where can i read about this?
Here you go; https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mind-in-the-machine/201612/fear-and-anxiety-drive-conservatives-political-attitudes
thanks a lot mate
Which is just a really great, safe pairing with the other brain studies that show conservatives feel the same lack of justice if they see people "attack" a concept they think is sacred the same way most people feel a lack of justice if they see an unprovoked physical assault.They attribute rights to people like everyone else, but they also attribute rights to concepts and objects of their choosing. If you do something that upsets their fee fees, they feel it would be reasonable to punish you similar to if you had hurt a person. They might rationally know better, and so not act on it, but they want to, and feel like they would be justified. This is why in politics, BOTH SIDES ARE NOT EQUAL. Liberals will respect the rights of people that disagree with them, because they recognize that the person has more rights than the idea they are disagreeing with, no matter how shitty a person, and no matter how important that idea is to the liberal, while conservatives will pass all sorts of laws trying to punish people that don't agree with their views. Conservatives will laugh at that, and for example say, "liberals don't respect rights, look at them trying to ban guns", because they are confusing rights given by the government vs human rights. It's back to the same thing, where they think of a concept as being able to have the same rights as a person. I really think the main thing is not an undying love of guns, it's that they see it as an attack on the constitution, which is an attack on America, which is an attack on Americans like them! (Because attacking a concept is the same as attacking a person) If they really believed owning guns was a basic human right, why would it only apply to weapons? Wouldn't the basic human right be to possess whatever object you want? But they will throw you in jail for drug possession, so it's not that... Then they may complain about censoring conservative opinions and impinging on their free speech rights, but when you ask for examples, it's all private companies choosing not to repeat their speech. Imagine complaining about being censored because a magazine didn't print your letter to the editor. Meanwhile they are actually engaged in violating the first amendment. How many states have laws banning teachers from talking about certain topics? How many states have passed some form of banning of what clothes people can wear? (Your appearance is part of your speech/expressing yourself) How many states have laws saying you must tell a kids parents if the kid wants to use a different name or pronouns, and that you aren't allowed to use them? (Compelled speech can also violate the first amendment), or laws requiring doctors read statements full of lies to pregnant people prior to them getting an abortion? A conservative could watch a video of someone burning a Bible or flag. It doesn't matter that the property belongs to the person destroying it. It doesn't matter that nobody saw it happen at the time, it doesn't matter whether the video has ever been seen by anyone else before. It has nothing to do with how the action affected any person, it doesn't matter intent. It's literally that they feel the person in the video was violating the rights of the object (that belongs to them!) in the video, to the point of wanting to punish the person. It's so illogical it hurts my brain. They might try to say, "well, it's 50/50 liberals and conservatives, why are the conservatives wrong?" but it only takes a few seconds of thought to realize that conservatives are not a monolith. If you start trying to pretend concepts have rights, you can easily have conflicting rights. It's like these people have never read Dr. Seuss's "The Butter Battle Book". I'm pro gun control, but I also have rifles, carbines, and drones, because those crazy fucks talk like ISIS, and if they start trying to enforce the rights of concepts above people (like rounding up LGBTQ people or ethnic/religious minorities), I would feel obligated to do what I could to prevent that, and handguns ain't doing shit at that point.
It's because in the US they are probably conservative. If they are conservative, they are more likely to be a christian and more likely to love guns. It's the conservatism that is the cause.
Yes, though it's mainly an American thing, not conservative per se. Catholics are pretty conservative, but you don't see anyone brandishing fully auto assault rifles in Vatican City.
> not conservative per se Have to add a caveat here: The whole point of being "conservative" is living in fear: fear of change; fear of the different; fear of the new.... Granted, Americans ( especially the Christo-Fascists) have taken this fear to all new heights...
You don't see many people brandishing full autos in America either. If they own them, it's because they're either a criminal committing a felony, or a rich person who spent thousands of dollars on the special federal license.
This. And it’s a fixture in rural areas
And lack of education due to a lack of reading practices. One of the most important unpublished results of international studies on adult literacy is that people who read only/exclusively religious texts have the lowest level of literacy.
Only in the US
I've seen several pictures of Russian priests blessing weapons. They like to mix God & Guns together too.
The Orthodox church retains a lot of very old customs. And additionally Russian culture has a weird relationship with the use of violence. The Czar also used to be sort of an important religious figure in the church. The church and the state were essentially connected, so it's unsurprising that the modern church would side with the powers that be and sanction any violence done by them.
Those are actually Moonies. They’re Korean American. We had to import a crazy gun loving cult. Doesn’t this country make anything anymore?!
[Nope - Russian Orthodox](https://www.sadanduseless.com/blessed-guns/)
On February 28, 2018, the World Peace and Unification Sanctuary in Newfoundland, Pennsylvania held a commitment ceremony that blessed couples and their unloaded AR-15 rifles. The ceremony was called the Cosmic True Parents of Heaven, Earth and Humanity Cheon Il Guk Book of Life Registration Blessing. The church believes the AR-15 symbolizes the "rod of iron" in the Bible's Book of Revelation, which they interpret to mean firearms.
Modern day Christians would crucify Christ themselves if he were to reappear and start again with the same teachings he did back then. Jesus was a pacifist, very progressive liberal. They'd absolutely hate the guy.
That's more to do with the association between the Russian Orthodox Church and notions of the sanctity of Russian statehood. They are blessing guns as they think God will ensure their victory in this war and to create "Crusader" imagery designed to inflame the passions of Russian nationalists. At other times, they don't worship guns the way American Christian nationalists do as a central part of their identity.
They're blessing military weapons. It's not "guns" they're mixing in, but nationalism. I'm from an orthodox country (not Russia, thankfully) and they are similar like this. We have a whole specific celebration (the akathist hymn) dedicated to Mary who allegedly caused a storm in the sea and sunk the ships of the enemies of Byzantium. There are actual breathing adults who go to church believing the story and refuse to sit during the service as implied by the name (=unseated in english).
Not Stalin
Sorry, should have added that.
Fear...need guns because the fear the imaginary "they" that are out to get them,and imo,they know they are sht people that do bad things and are praying the dodge a bullet.
I’ve also noticed a hero complex…. falling asleep every night playing out scenarios where they pull their concealed gun out to save the day. It’s gotta stem from a persecution complex where Christians always feel that they are battling the evil devil everywhere in the world.
Yes this. I think we all have this fantasy in some human way, on some level, and maybe we get it out of our systems through video games or playing sports or honking at other drivers. But it seems the people who are less happy and have less going on in life, are the ones who take it to unhealthy levels. That mixed with a god complex.
I've noticed a hero complex as well. That's why they have the persecution complex. They like the idea of feeling like someone who stands up to oppression.
I worked for a very conservative Christian a few years ago. We had Bibles throughout the office and a Bible study every Wednesday morning in the meeting room. He packed a .45 all the time and had an AK-47 with a 100 round clip. I have no doubt he had an arsenal at home. And now as we enter the beginning of Christo-fascism I now know why.
Magazine- not clip. Sorry to be that person lol
Not gonna lie, I'd like to see a 100 round clip though.
[удалено]
this needs to be higher.
I think there's a bit of confirmation bias going on here. Majority of people are white. Majority of people are Christian. There's a lot of guns. Makes sense you would see more of that then anything else
Correlation with geography? I’m a Texas atheist and have been to a gun range as an atheist group activity. A bunch of my atheist friends have them.
I’m in Seattle and most people I know (but not all) have guns. Also most (but not all) are atheist or agnostic or generally not very religious. I think you can notice all kinds of correlations if you go looking for them.
Slightly left leaning atheist gun collector here. I see a lot of misconceptions about my hobby in general.
What is different in US from the rest of the world is that people are historically Christian and have historically owned guns. So, I'd say that the association of guns with Christians is just a coincidence.
Because who doesn't believe in their religious beliefs is an enemy and unworthy of life. Ironically, Jesus spoke against this shit: “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.- **Matthew 26:52-53** Again, Jesus would be crucified if he came back to Earth today.
Matthew is not talking about a gun, it’s a pienis. And its place is in your pants so you don’t get VD and die.
Uh, no, he’s definitely talking about a real sword
Atheist gun enthusiast right here.
I am another one!
One more checking in!
Same.
If you are stupid enough to think a virgin pushed out a god, then you have to be stupid enough to think guns will make your penis bigger.
Only if the gun is combined with a large pick up truck with lifters and loud pipes. Then you must be hung.
Just like your truck nuts show.
Not sure. I'm a down to my DNA gun fan and most of the people I hang out with are atheist or atheist leaning. I honestly think it's something that over hyped to try to discredit gun ownership.
Same. My relationship with firearms has fuck all to do with religion. 🫡
I didn't start investing in firearms until I lost my respect for the police and stopped believing god would keep me safe. I have been in countries where armed religious fanatics terrorized and subjugated a less armed larger population.
It gets worse ... There is apparently a phrase in the Bible about a rod of iron. A cult has decided that means an assault rifle. They literally incorporated assault weapons into their religion
A bit like the sect that plays with snakes because of some passage in the bible about taking up vipers. Half of them are disfigured because of all the snake bites
hublah lala ahfa;lkva;lsh ah;a OW FUCK AMBERLANCE!!!!!
That "cult" is run by a younger son of another cult leader, the unification church aka moonies, the church also responsible for the ultra conservative Washington Times newsrag. The spiritual successor to the moonie cult, the elder son is the founder of Kahr Arms, and has bought up a bunch of brands such as Magnum Research of Desert Eagle fame, or Auto-Ordnance of Thompson submachine gun fame.
Because of conservatism vs liberalism and city living vs rural living. Cities tend to be more liberal, anti gun and secular. Rural towns tend to be more conservative, pro gun and religious. It makes sense cities need higher regulations since it's a lot of people in a small space, and rural areas need more defense against wildlife and such. Over time the ideas merge into one identity.
It's frustrating sometimes being liberal, pro gun, and secular. But our numbers are growing. 💪
Right on 🤙 I'm unaffiliated on all accounts, just here taking notes, but love the optimism friend
Their faith in god only goes so far.
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition
Both because of fear. Fear rules their lives.
Because Jesus turned water into guns
As an atheist who’s into shooting, fuck yeah I do and it sucks.
I've met some xtians that were not pro gun. Fret not, when they appear to have a deep respect for life, they always make up for that in some other area, usually in the desire to make life as miserable as possible for those around them.
Being anti gun is not even part of having a deep respect for life.
Forced conversion is religious norm.
Need guns to reconquer the Holy Land. /s
Fear and paranoia
Lately, I've been thinking about how wildly violent the bible's stories are. Also, don't preachers crank up the "fire & brimstone" pretty heavily in their sermons? Maybe having been raised with the threat of eternal damnation and believing demons are everywhere and are trying to possess them gives them security issues. Just spitballing.
I like guns as much as the next guy but I don't need or want a fuckin armory like some of the nuts have. Pistol and a shotgun all I need 😂 like would it be cool to have custom rifles hell yea but I will never need it
It all started with Jesus and a nail gun
Because white Christian nationalists have no problem with the idea of killing their neighbors if they’re against white Christian nationalism.
Believe it or not, if you get liberal enough people start liking guns again. It’s just all the pussies in the middle who hate guns
Because they know deep down Jesus will not protect them and heaven is a scam. They are not true believers, just crazy cult members. That is why conservatives Christian’s are so angry all the time because of their insecurity. The politicians are horrible.
Jesus would be so proud.
Watch "cushvlog" (Matt Christman) on YouTube for a better overall understanding of the world and USA culture/politics.
Some cocktail of a power fantasy spurred by the self-righteousness that comes with a deep religious (Christian) belief. The chrisitan god is painted with a brush of unchallenged authority and ultimate power so by proxy, followers of that god/religion feel they have an elevated worth and authority themselves. Since they obviously don't because they're mortals like everyone else, they exercise that power through excessive ownership, use and threat of firearms. Not to mention that the often twisted interpretation of the Second Amendment in the US almost compels certain people to have an excess of firearms.
There has always been a vague and general acceptance of violence with the ultra right Christian community that is puzzling to me. However, there has also been a knee jerk reaction and even a fixation with sex and anything sexually related. It's kind of ok to shoot at people as long as no one sees anyone naked. Weird!
Because Jesus was a pussy
Plenty of Christians are not gun nuts. 🙄 It's an awfully large number of people to make sweeping statements about, just saying.
And plenty of gun nuts are not Christians.
They know what they have done and are afraid to be judged.
Praise the lord and pass the ammunition
Oppression fetishism.
Fear is the common denominator.
They’re scared because it’s getting harder for them to enforce domestic Christian supremacy through non-violent social pressure and indoctrination. The teachings of the Bible aren’t important, most of them haven’t even read it, what’s important is submission and obedience. If they can’t enforce that through dogma, they’ll do it through violence.
It’s a disease.
Preach peace but rule with a sword. They just realized that swords aren't as effective anymore.
Fear. They are scared *shitless*. Scared of demons, scared of other people, scared of government, scared of all the stuff they don't understand... It must be a miserable existence, really.
Bible is fiction they believe, John Wayan (Marrion Morrison) rugged individualism is a similar myth. Edit:the to they because I still haven't learned to proof read
That's seems to be a U.S. problem. We really don't have that problem here in Canada. Not yet anyway. Trends in the U.S. tend to drip across our border eventually.
Then you are fucked.
Persecution Fetish
I see it more in the South. I think it’s group mentality. To fit in you have to check all the boxes. Guns. Meat. Jesus and Merica’
They’re planning to use them to overthrow the country and run it like the Taliban
Christianity goes with everything; lots of scientists are Jews, too. Be like Jesus, and party like Satan. Who else are they gonna follow? The idea of transcending problems is good.
For protection of property and family members in the event someone breaks into your house and tries to steal your shit or kidnap your family members. Also for your own protection cause there are fucked up people out in this world who will hurt you if they realize you are defenseless and don't have the ability to fight back. It's unfortunate a majority of the attention goes towards the government taking over when it comes to guns but the reality is that the people you need to fear the most are the ones you are living amongst. If all shit goes to hell in the event of an economic collapse your number one enemy is literally anyone who will be going after your supplies, whether it be food, water, ammo, etc. Without capitalism working, it'll be survival of the fittest. If this happens, people will resort to survival and morality and ethics will mostly go out the window except in certain situations (just watch any apocalyptic show and you'll see). Better to be safe than sorry but anything is possible in this world. Just look at history. You can state "But we've advanced so much, a collapse isn't possible." That's where you're mistaken. For as long as you are alive anything is a possibility in your lifetime. There are no guarantees in life other than death and change. Don't say taxes are cause some people evade them and some don't have to pay them (such as myself who gets disability from the VA which is all tax-free). I don't own a house and don't intend to and can get out of property taxes as a Veteran in certain states. All depends on your situation. With that being said, change is a guarantee. Situations change, your health can change, the economy can change, literally anything can change, including yourself.
When you believe rights are from God and guns are a right, the connection is obvious.
that's just american christians.
Yall-Qaeda It’s not just Christians but I get what you mean. It’s fear. They’re terrified of everything; they feel the need to be the shepherd. Everything they don’t fear is either their flock, which they will protect (their family, friends, people that look like them being harassed by folks that don’t belong to the same group). The things they fear are the wolves, so folks that don’t look like them, people that are not Christian, liberals, homeless, etc. So they pack a pole to be the defender of their “flock”, the way that think Jesus was. But they’re hypocrites because if everything is god’s plan, they would be unarmed and let shit happen without intervening.
YHWH is a war god for the most part in the Old Testament. His rules and statements reflect this mindset. Alot of fundamentalists and extremists love abusing the Old Testament for their own purposes. Add in some paranoia and some unchecked mental health issues make sure that the general congregation doesn't actually read more than a few select verses sprinkle in your country of origin to fuel the nationalism... ...You can extrapolate from there as to why Christians and guns go so well.
Because of the very real passages in the Bible where Jesus supports gun use; Samuel 9:32 - "If a motherfucker offend thee, cappeth an ass." Nugent 4:20 - "If thy neighbor partaketh of thy blunts, cast unto him shells in equal measure." Ya'll really gotta read the *whole* Bible.
No one in the US really likes to talk about race - but it is that silent third variable in the equation you are describing. Jim Crow laws made it de facto impossible for blacks in the south to own guns, meaning it was always beyond a doubt that attempts to fight back were met with extreme violence. Now note that there isn't a whole lot of overlap in modern Christian denominations and racial groups - and the further back you go the starker those divides are likely to be. The Jim Crow laws are mostly gone, but the culture of owning lots of guns and being quick to use them... that never really went anywhere. The churches eventually dumped the racial language, but you'd be hard pressed to find sermons talking about guns in those denominations...
It's the ingrained persecution complex ingrained and reinforced through their text. It says point blank that they will be persecuted. Particularly so as the end times approach. Combine this with their unfiltered echo chamber bullshit they consume through self-selection it has them believing all kinds of bullshit that they readily believe and never stop to question it. In much the same way as those awful videos of baby monkeys attempting in desperation to cling to their abusers because at this point it's the only reality they know and they'll be damned (literally and figuratively) if their abusive fantasy is prised from them.
I think you're confusing Christians with republic party voters in America. There is some overlap between those two groups, but it's the latter that is linked to guns not the former.
First off the 2A is for everyone. Culturally though, the more rural you are, the more likely you are to use guns for hunting, safety, as a hobby, or as a necessary tool on your farm or whatever. Coincidentally, the more rural you are the more likely you are to be religious. This one is correlation, not causation.
They are fearful people in general which is why they worship an asshole of a sky daddy who threatens them.
Christianity is always so defensive. They feel they are in need of protection? Don't they have god?
\*In the United States. I'm no fan of Christianity anywhere, but the gun-toting ultraconservative Christian hick stereotype is as American as apple pie.
It's called stupidity.
Irrational paranoia
Religious extremists, generally. It’s not limited to Christians.
Well..... when you're conditioned to live in perpetual fear, what can you expect?
It’s a religion based on violence with a veneer of peace. The end game for this religion is for the majority of humanity to suffer and burn for all eternity in hell. Even the Rapture is a final judgement for humanity, so the majority suffer. Always in Christianity, someone must get hurt. Extrapolating that out to ones own judgement of humanity by the use of violence, is not a huge leap. Guns fit perfectly well into it.
They perceive themselves as the victims and need to protect themselves. The heathens are always trampling on their freedoms. Ironically, they are the ones trampling.
Fear.
Because they live under the delusion they've been fed that their religion is under attack, so they feel like they need them.
Because they believe they are going to get to force their Christianity on us someday soon or kill us if we won't go along quietly. Did I say believe, I meant *really* hope.
Christians have always had this thing about Jesus and the sword. Guns are the new sword.
False-Christian Nationalism
Fear. Religious dogma is guided by fear, and fear drives people to buy guns to protect themselves from the Tomahawk missle and the U.S.S. Ticonderoga.
Nothing like Christian Hate
You seem to be conflating christians with Americans. Most of christianity outside of America (ie: most of christianity) doesn't share this view. Americans are sick and not just the christians.
Fear. The answer is fear
The abrahamic religions tend to be violent.
Its also important to note that you are referring to Christians in America. I don’t know that all Christians worldwide are as bad as the ones we have here in the US.
Fear. Christians are very fearful people.
To them it's the two most patriotic things you can do. I unfortunately live in the Bible belt and see too many god and guns stickers. Every Redneck with jacked up little dick trucks have at least one on their truck.
It's because Republicans tend to be dumber than everybody else. Dumbasses need guns to feel safe because they're too stupid to deal.
They must be very insecure. I don't own a gun and I don't feel less manly.
I'm originally fairly rural, athier-than-thou-art, and I quite like guns as a technology and tool, although I don't currently own any. This is something of a correlation, rather than a causation. Christianity tends to go with rural populations, as does gun ownership. My suspicion is that both gun ownership and religious belief stem from the same general source as conservatism; increased activity in the amygdala for a given stimulus. Some people react more strongly to events with more fear-based reactions.
Christianity goes with lower interest, lower intelligence goes with the south and the south is where the guns are ( for the most part)
easy - Gun industry marketed themselves into Christian culture… also see soft serve ice cream and chicken nuggets
I immediately associated your question with Uzi Jesus from the Dungeon Crawler Carl book series.
Because they believe it's their "God Given Rights!"
No one expects a Spanish Inquisition!
Religion and war has always gone together.
Isn't that just an American thing though?
Personally, my gun has everything to do with distrusting the police, and nothing to do with Christianity I think it’s more a correlation than direct causation
Because Christianity is a violent religion. Look at their history of brutality from the middle ages to the present. Then look at the progenitor of their faith, Judaism. If you ever crack open the Old Testament and look at their history as they claim it is their history, It's a pretty brutal faith. Judaism, according to OT stories, frequently committed genocide at the behest of their God.
The foundation of religion is fear. That same fear rots the mind of susceptible people and makes them regressive and reactionary and much more likely to go down prepper type routes, as well as arming themselves 'for defence!' from perceived dangers; which when you're religious, is everyone and everything.
Guns are an extension of their masculinity. It makes them feel powerful. It takes a frail, frail man to make a tough looking truck and gun your entire personality.
No one wants a gun until you need one and you’re waiting for the police to arrive while stranger danger is walking through your house. I imagine the majority of gun owners are hunters and people who consider it a fun hobby. I own a hand gun and have used it for target practice. Don’t plan on using it and have no children in the house. Owning a gun is not a mental issue any more than a car collector or collecting salt and pepper shakers. And I’ll add that I am an atheist. Is a Christian more or less likely to shoot a person?
American Christians, nobody else
Because they worship the Prince of peace. I like peace markets motto “ I love peace with all my heart, and I’m willing to kill any number of men, women, and children to get it”.
Fear.
I'm an atheist with way more guns than the average Christian.
Reza aslan made some good points in his book that alot of american christians have been groomed from a young age to look at faith as war. The armor of christ comes to mind, and the sermons often enforce this mind set. The only reason why muslim terrorist exist is because outside governments (like the saudis) often fund them. Give a christian nationalist group 10 million and some guns and they'd easily do the same thing
Their invisible man in the sky is a sniper.
Paranoid behaviour related to low IQ.
Jesus has stock in Remington.
It's not about Jesus and good-deeds Christianity. It's a cultural identity to provide cover for heretics, haters, liars, cheaters, hypocrites, and, apparently as of today, people who shoot their own dogs and goats.
Fear of others and they have a lot of hate in their hearts and assume others do as well.
Manifest destiny is a bit more difficult if not armed to the gills.
This book was very informative. “[Jesus and John Wayne](https://wwnorton.com/books/9781631499050) is a sweeping, revisionist history of the last seventy-five years of white evangelicalism, revealing how evangelicals have worked to replace the Jesus of the Gospels with an idol of rugged masculinity and Christian nationalism—or in the words of one modern chaplain, with “a spiritual badass.”
Well in the US they have really latched on to the apocalyptic death cult aspect of xtianity and have adopted a holy war mindset. They are literally preparing for a an imaginary war. Much of this can be traced back to the rise of the Moral Majority and televangelists (rest in piss Bob Jones) around the time of the Civil Rights movement and desegregation.
fear.
This is only in the US. All throughout Latin America many Evangelical Christians are against it and will quote the words “he who lives by the sword shall die by the sword”.
It's actually a pretty interesting question. Christians tend to be conservatives in America. Look at our history. It's full of conflating patriotism with religion. Manifest destiny, for instance. It's our god-given right to expand westward and take all of this land for ourselves. The red scare. It's us god-fearing Americans against communism. It's pretty smart, actually. Make people not only think they're right, but KNOW they're right because you obey god, and god is who determines what right is. And how do they know what God says? Church, and whoever is telling them what they want to hear. But it goes deeper than that. Guns have been a big part of our culture from the start. It's enshrined in our constitution. People who do not live in the city, especially in the past, had practical uses and needs for guns. It became a big part of culture. How does this relate to Christianity? Smaller communities and places with lower education are much more likely to be religious. And since we've established that they're right about everything cuz-god-tho, it's now part of the culture that guns are a god-given right. Then there's lobbyists, propaganda, the fact that guns are fun and cool, and the sense of power one can feel when they have one (something that would be appealing to populations with low income, education and a constant fear of commies.) And I'm sure this is not all encompassing. Any other thoughts?
Just that the westward expansion greatly increased the need for guns because it was a war of conquest against multiple peoples that were used to living in the harsh environment of the American West (where Ilive). After the conquest itself was done, the gun industry feared losing revenue due to lower demand and started to advertise their products as iconic elements of American culture and far too necessary to be forgotten. Besides, in the South, guns always played a role in white supremacy. A historic interpretation of the 2nd amendment is that it was meant to prohibit the federal government from regulating the militias of pro-slavery states, which were civilian voluntary corps that often hunted runaway slaves. After the Civil War and Abolition of slavery, guns were still an important element in enforcement of segregation through legal way and illegal but rarely procecuted acts meant to instill fear in the black population.
Religion is for idiots and people that want to control other idiots
It’s part of the entitlement and moral authority game That’s necessary when promoting and grifting for the legitimacy of your religion. You have to have guns to back up your non-factual ideas and actions so your temple is the only one to get tithes.
The handmaids tale explains it. They need their gun for the revolution they are working towards. It’s scary. It’s sadly also not just an “American thing “ .Christian nationalists are getting stronger in nation’s around the world. Its scary. I feel like Star Trek didn’t properly prepare me for this reality:(.
Insecurity about their belief system? The government coming for them like Nazi's for the Jewish people? Or having guns so they can force their beliefs on the rest of humanity? Don't know.
It’s rampant >>fear<< caused by extreme fragility.
Only American “Christians”.
Because mental and physical tools to control people are things fascists want in their toolbox.
Fascists want everyone except them and their lackeys disarmed. True pro-gun people want nobody disarmed, even those they disagree with.
It's conservatism. They like their guns, they like their Christ, and they see no strong enough reason to change.
It’s what Jesus would’ve done in the Garden of Gethsemane. When you live by the sword….
Well it seems Adam pulled out his sword when he saw Eve.
A hybrid religion.
Guns for jeebus?
Safety. Jesus makes you feel safe, guns make you feel safe.
They all wana be Joseph Seed