Like many of my entries on this blog, I'm including this not because I think it's all that unusual myself, but because I understand that a lot of other people do.
The New Bethel Church in Valley Station, KY has announced an "Open Carry Celebration" in which members of their flock are encouraged to bring their guns to Church on Saturday, June 27th. Keith Olbermann on MSNBC has been having a field day with this, heckling Pastor Ken Pagano for what they see as a laughable cognitive dissonance.
But speaking as someone who is NOT a big fan of guns, I still don't see what all the uproar is about. The guns have to be unloaded and holstered, so it's not like everyone's going to fire a shot every time the preacher says "can I get a Amen?"
Pagano says it's his way of celebrating the Second Amendment and America's freedoms. I can't really scoff at that. Since I care more about the Constitution than I do anyone's sense of religious decorum, I have to give it my blessing. Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition!
Anyway, there's no such thing as bad publicity, and Pagano's probably loving the attention. To answer his critics, I suggest that Pagano employ this variation on my own eternal favorite bottom-line conversation-ender: if you don't like it, go start your own church and then you can do it your way.
3 comments:
cool!! never been to church in my life but i could start now...........
Amen, Brother!
This piece of Kentucky Unusual-ness has gone nationwide: it is now being covered in the New York Times! Here's a hyperlink:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/26/us/26guns.html?_r=1&ref=us
Definitely worth checking out the photograph of Pastor Pagano toting a Heckler & Koch MP5.
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