witness

Interesting thread.

I am not ordained ... simply a layman.

I have been riding motorcycles most of my life (turn 53 in Dec.). I have been riding with a Christian backpatch since about '93. I have rode with two previous Christian organization. I am currently the elder for Chapter Eight (SE Texas around the greater Houston area) of Born Again Motorcycle Ministry. I have been riding with BAMM since the beginning of this year. We are a Texas only 3-piece patch M/M (that may or may not mean anything to ya, depending on your knowledge of the biker world).

The wife and I consider this a blessed calling ... a chance to do what we enjoy (riding bikes) mixed with who we are (children of God with a mission). It is an interesting world ... few in Christian ministries get to put "a sign on their back" (our patch) advertising to the world that they are "available" ... and that is a good part of who we are ... We don't beat people over the head with a Bible ... we make ourselves available to those whom God calls; many of whom are people that would never consider crossing the doorway of a church, and have (to them at least) valid reasons to trust no one outside their "community" (in some cases particularly anyone who is "churchy"). It is all about slowly building trust, not swooping in with a Bible in one hand and a sword in the other <LOL>.

I never carried (or owned) a handgun until this year ... and I have traveled in circles and to places where many would not consider going, much less consider going unarmed. That is not a boast about my bravery ... more a statement of my rash stupidity in the days before I became an active Christian, and a statement of God's ability to look after His own (or in my case at times, the ability to look out after fools - LOL). In all the years I have spent on the road on two wheels (most times camping on the way) I have only experienced about 4 events where I thought that having a gun might be nice ... only two of those occasions were really serious events where a handgun might have been an advantage ...

In the above statement I am talking about encounters with people ... last year I had an encounter on the bike with some dogs ... long story short, if the dogs had not been more chicken than I, I would have been in deep trouble ... that got me thinking about a handgun.

As others have quoted here ... I believe it is Biblically "OK" to pack a weapon ... I grew up around long guns, and have generally always packed a knife that might be useful ... my father did not believe in having handguns around the house (personal preference based on his own hot temper and an act of stupidity when he was young that permanently parted another guys hair). Truthfully, in my younger days it would have been a very bad mistake for me to have a gun handy ... not a problem with guns ... but problems with mixing a drunk with a hot temper and a readily available gun.

Well, I am of a different temperament now ... the dog thing got me to looking at concealed carry ... being a biker, I am sensitive to the safety-nazis trying to "help me" by eroding my rights ... the more I looked the more I began to see that, as a Christian in our free society (that I believe is a blessing from God), I really have an obligation to protect what this country stands for and was founded upon ... the mentality that wants to destroy our society from within with "political correctness" is the same mentality that must first erode our freedoms ... and I believe our founders (guided by God) fully understood that the greatest need for an armed society may be in the need to protect our other freedoms from the very people we select to govern us.

So ... owning a tool like a handgun is really an obligation in our free society, particularly for those of us who see the need to protect the founding Christian freedoms of our nation ... it is no less an obligation than for a farmer or the cattleman to possess the proper implements to produce the food to feed us ...

Well this is getting long ... will just add that I believe people are foolish if they believe the government or those with a badge will "protect them" (no slight intended for those with a badge ... it is a tough and often thankless profession ... my statement is simply a matter of practical logistics - it is simply not realistic to expect you guys to be there to intervene in advance, the situation often puts you in the position of responding to the felony that has already happened) ... I have come to understand that being prepared and trained to use the necessary tool to protect one's self, family, and the innocent victim really is part of the foundation of a free society, and should be an expectation for responsible members of a society.

Chuck
Witness-Too
Chapter Eight
Born Again M/M