Churches With Armed Guards
By lancingboy
@lancingboy (1385)
United States
December 11, 2007 3:57am CST
I've just started thinking about this yesterday after hearing about that 24 year old guy who went to a church in Ohio (or was it Colorado?) and went on a shooting spree. It was a tragedy that this happened and I don't condone this kind of behavior. The man was stated as saying he hated Christians or something like that.
I'm not all into organized religion and all, but this is something that shouldn't happen in the church. But on to the point of this discussion. The news stated that an armed guard at the church shot and killed the man before he could do anymore damage. Why in the world would there be armed guards in a church?
This is very alarming to me because religions in the United States shouldn't have armed guards in the congregation. I wasn't alive back then, but does anyone remember Jonestown? The preacher there had armed guards and at the end, he ordered them to shoot and kill anyone who wouldn't drink the poisoned punch.
Many Christians would say that that Jones guy wasn't a real preacher or Christian. Well, he preached for many years before he set up Jonestown and got a big following. There are good Christians, churches and preachers out there, but this church in the news isn't one of them in my opinion.
7 people like this
8 responses
@haroldg_slasher (94)
• Philippines
11 Dec 07
huh really, i dont know that!!!!
but i dont agree in that
they are degrading the image of the churces!!
am i right????
hmmmmmm,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
@lancingboy (1385)
• United States
11 Dec 07
Personally, I do think it is degrading to the image of the church. Thanks for the response!
@lancingboy (1385)
• United States
12 Dec 07
Hi ljegbers. I am not sure I can post links into my posts yet. I keep trying but it won't work. The best bet is to go to ABC, CBS, FOX, or NBC news websites. All of the information should be on the first page somewhere. CBS evening news has had a story about this every night since it happened.
@deebomb (15304)
• United States
11 Dec 07
It was in Colorado and your right it shouldn't happen in a church or church sponsored program. It shouldn't have happened at the Omaha Mall ether. but the times are perilous and any where that large groups of people gather there is this danger now days. More and more of the large churches have been putting security guards in place since 9-11. This incidents in Colorado just goes to show that No place is completely safe and is a sign of the times. And churches shouldn't have to have security guards but in an era of mass-casualty shootings and terrorism threats What else should they do? I remember Jim Jones and the Jonestown massicure. You can read about it here http://www.religioustolerance.org/dc_jones.htm
@erminiasanjose (1588)
• Philippines
13 Dec 07
We are living in a a world of evil and even religious people need protection. Wisdom dictates that. We are not to test and tempt the Lord to come down to protect His children. But if we are His children, whatever happens, He will give us a way to get away from any problem.
@mermaid911 (798)
• Philippines
11 Dec 07
That's tragic! It is odd to see guards at the church but aren't you glad they were at the church during that incident? What if there wasn't? more people would have been killed. What if you were in the church? It would have been a big relief for you that the guards were there. I think that due to the unpredictable times that we have today, guards are already necessary in different public establishments -- not just the church. The church needs to be included as it involves public concern too. The people within have to be protected as well. Let's not think about the Jonestown incident, that's only one among many incidents. There's a very slim chance that would happen again but the chance of shooting sprees to happen is quite bigger. Let's just hope not but in the meantime, guards will help us feel secure.
@lancingboy (1385)
• United States
12 Dec 07
I agree that for this incident the church having armed guards was a good thing. Many people had their lives saved because of it.
I'm only worried about if there was a church with crazy pastors who hire armed guards. That could be a really bad thing if they think they were told by God to kill the non-Christians. I've heard many sermons about this very thing and that is the reason I'm concerned.
@imadriscoll (2228)
• United States
12 Dec 07
It's hard to say if this is a good church or not on the basis of them having an armed guard. I'm wondering if things in the past have brought them to the point where they felt it was necessary for their safety? Perhaps they've been threatened before? Even with that said, I cannot imagine going to or being a member of a church that has armed guards.
@sid556 (30960)
• United States
12 Dec 07
unfortunately this is not an isolated incident and it happens more frequently than you would imagine. There was a similar incident near where I live a couple of years ago. The police showed up and shot and killed the man. The churches don't seem to be any safer than schools or malls these days.
