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I don't mind replying to this as I have given it alot of thought since I am a pastor. I have drawn my line so that if one wants to attack me physically or vebally because of my faith and my belief in Jesus Christ I will accept what ever for the sake of the gospel in a martyr situation. However, if a lunatic with a gun, or someone off their meds picks my family or my church at random with no regard or reasoning (this seems to be the case most of the time in western culture, there is no resoning with people in this state of mind) then I feel the right to protect myself, my family and my congregation. I feel I have the upper hand because I see what is going on in the congregation so the element of suprise is in my favor. To die for no reason is just a statistic. We are also to protect from injustice and Old Testament laws are valid and still the basis of our country. It is a touchy situation and many may disagree, perhaps as many as agree. I have already told my church that there will never be an object lesson (I use these often) which involves anything resembling a real weapon, and if someone sees one to take appropriate action. We have had some distrubances but never an escalation of any kind.
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