I liked Cindy’s take on the matter. From my view, In the USA, our constitution was created around a group of people who wanted certain freedoms, and realized that at some time armed conflict might ensue. So the idea of our 2cnd amendment was both for the intrusion of outside forces as well as the well being of the citizens against a tyrannical government like they left in England. This does bring up different cultures and views here in the 21st century.
sven said:
I opinion that, (and I think others have waxed greatly on the point) opposition to harmful force (thugs) in a defensive position makes the use of firearms of utmost value. And from my view, totally within Gods natural rights as He has established. It gets fuzzy with Paul and Peter’s talk about conforming to the rulers. Which once again leans me toward the pantelistic/historic reading of the bible, to where they were talking to a specific group at a specific time. So how we use deadly force today may be different than how the first century Christians looked at it. Very basic to many of you but very befuddling to some.
Peace.