You may recall that Joe is a member of the NRA, I am not. Recently we attended, nay, worked the committee for a Friends of the NRA dinner, I even wrote about here.
Last weekend the NRA threw a ‘thank you’ party for all the committees in the state who had put on fundraising events. Fast forward to “WE” attended the event. After the normal chit chat with other attendees, some ogling of the guns to be auctioned and decisions about which NRA piece of merchandise to use our free raffle tickets on, lunch was ready ( donated by a fellow gun worshipper/chef).
First order of business: find the American flag for the Pledge of Allegiance. Mandatory for gun-toters apparently. Then the NRA Field Rep wanted to say a blessing. I was raised as an Episcopalian -a Christian- and I’ve lived in the Deep South for over 14 years. I know my prayers. This one, however, was a little over the top. I have friends who are not Christian, a few are Jewish, some are non-believers. So, I’m always a bit offended at a prayer to Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior (say those last 4 words fast w/ emphasis) outside of a Christian setting. Why can’t we just settle for a more generic God prayer?
Well imagine that same type of prayer… incredibly long winded, rambling, and poorly done. It was one of those “we just wanna thank you for this…. and we just wanna thank you for that….. ” Somewhere in there ole Dave or BillyBob, I forget his name, thanked the Good Lord for our right to bear arms!
Did Jesus bear arms? Did he preach to the Apostles about their right to fight back? To pick up those stones as their given right, and carry them- with permission for concealing of course. To defend themselves? I’ve read my Bible.. I even own a Bible. Was that chapter omitted? Because I can’t imagine Jesus and guns. If Jesus had carried a weapon when Lazarus rose from the dead he could have shot him, saving us from a zombie. Or Judas? He needed to have been popped. Pontius Pilate, the money traders, even Peter. Jesus Carries a Gun would have been a totally different Sunday morning precious moment!
It was a most uncomfortable prayer moment… minutes actually. And what saved me was thinking about this post! Forget Jesus, I had post material.
Our penitent soul then went on to talk about the Americans.. he added in a moment of thanks for those who were not born in the USA but had come to our country, praise the Lord. Those who had become citizens and supported this nation and our way of life- maybe not my way of life. That’s like pointing out your children but noting out loud which ones are the bastards! WTF…
It was quite an experience. Scary on one level for me. The quiet determination to nourish and develop this way of thinking. People talking about their country with such rigid, non-inclusive terms. Assuming that everyone was Christian while noting a clear divide between native Americans- and I don’t mean Indians- and immigrants, though the word immigrant was not used. And, these people have guns! Lots of them.
I saw lots of NRA merchandise. I bet they produce NRA bibles… if not, then I might have a second book coming! Not to be confused with The second coming, or the other type of second coming we can rejoice for!