Letter to the Editor by
Mark Weller
With the renewed interest in debating the theoretical wisdom of gun control it seems appropriate to recount its historical “benefits”. The results of gun control in the past 100 years include:
1 ½ million dead Armenian Christians in Turkey [1915-1917];
10 million Ukrainians dead by forced starvation in the Soviet Union [1929-1934];
35+ million defenseless dead people in China [1934-1976];
20 million dead in Europe courtesy of Nazi Germany [1933-1945];
2 million dead in Cambodia [1975-1979];
300,000 in Uganda [1971-1979];
800,000 perished in the 100 days of slaughter in Rwanda [1994];
200,000 Mayan Indians dead in Guatemala in the 1980’s;
Tibet – 1 million slain;
and Bangladesh 1 ½ million.
These 70+ million people all died in the past 100 years and owe their senseless demise to the helplessness imposed upon them by gun control laws. No way this could happen in America! Or could it? The fact is it already has. Four million slaves were rendered defenseless and forced into servitude during the 1800’s. And though I have never seen a statistic on how many American Indians perished in the “Trail of Tears” we all know the number is significant. Additionally, the American government has disarmed and forced the German, Italian and Japanese heritage citizens of OUR OWN NATION into interment camps during times of war. Only the most naive citizens – only the most historically ignorant people – only the most diabolical leaders would attempt to place their fellow man under such a lethal disability as defenselessness. The above statistics teach us that the primary reason for a government disarming its citizens is so they can safely commit atrocities that the people would undoubtedly shoot them for.
Letter to the Editor
Please use this as a sample letter and send it to your own local newspaper to oppose gun control.
Mark Weller is a former Baptist Pastor in Ohio
Monthly Archives: December 2012
GUN CONTROL FOR THE NAIVE
Filed under Politics
363 – Dec. 29 – THIS DAY IN BAPTIST HISTORY PAST
His powerful singing voice came to the attention of D.L. Moody
December 29, 1876 – Philip P. Bliss (P.P.) perished along with his wife in a train crash near Ashtabula, Ohio. A bridge collapsed and the Pacific Express on which they were riding plunged 60 feet into a ravine and burst into flames. Bliss survived the fall and escaped through a window but returned to rescue his wife but neither of them made it out. He was only 38 years old. He had been born in Rome, PA on July 9, 1838, in the home of praying and singing parents. He spent his youth on a farm and was limited in a formal education. At 12 years old he was saved and joined the Tioga, Pennsylvania Baptist church by baptism. He was most familiar with the camp meetings and revival meetings of his times and taught school while he studied music. In 1859 he married a young woman who was a musician-poet in her own right. He and his wife moved to Chicago where he became involved in the music publishing business. He also composed music for Sunday schools. His powerful singing voice came to the attention of D.L. Moody who related that the ‘power of solo singing of Gospel songs at evangelistic meetings dated from that time.’ Bliss then united with Evangelist D.W. Whittle and served as soloist, song leader, and children’s worker. Bliss wrote the following songs: “Man of Sorrows! What a Savior,” “Almost Persuaded,” “Hold The Fort,” “The Light of the World is Jesus,” “Wonderful Words of Life,” “Jesus Loves Even Me,” and “Cursed by the law and bruised by the fall, Christ hath redeemed us, once for all!”
Dr. Greg J. Dixon from: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I: Cummins Thompson /, pp. 545-47.
Filed under Church History
362 – Dec. 28 – THIS DAY IN BAPTIST HISTORY PAST
Krishna Pal preached the gospel among his people with great success.
December 28, 1800 – Krishna Pal, a Hindu from India, along with Felix, the son of William Carey, the pioneer missionary to that land was immersed and received believer’s baptism in the Ganges River before a great crowd, including the Governor of India. Krishna’s wife and daughter had also made a profession of faith in Christ but had faltered when they saw the large crowds. Dr. Carey had served for six years before he had seen his first convert and now it was Dr. John Thomas, his companion, who had faithfully served for 16 years to finally see some fruit from his labors. Krishna Pal, a carpenter, fell and broke his arm, and Dr. Thomas was called on to set it. After his work was done, he fervently preached the gospel to Krishna and his neighbors and set forth the folly of idolatry and set forth the great truths of Christianity. Krishna was moved to tears and sought further instruction and before long he openly renounced idolatry and the caste, professing faith in Jesus Christ. He in turn reached his wife and daughter and the three of them presented themselves for believer’s immersion. This news stirred up the natives and soon there was a mob of 2,000, who poured out vicious words upon him, and then dragged him to the magistrate, who immediately released him and commended him for the piety of his course, and commanded the mob to dispense. He even placed a guard at his house and offered armed protection during the baptism. For more than twenty years, Krishna Pal preached the gospel among his people with great success. He also composed a beautiful poem: “O Thou my soul, forget no more. The Friend who all thy misery bore; Let every idol be forgot, But, O my soul, forget Him not. Jesus for Thee a body takes; thy guilt assumes, thy fetters breaks, Discharging all thy dreadful debt: And canst thou e’er such love forget.”
Dr. Greg J. Dixon from: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I: Cummins Thompson /, pp. 544-45.
Filed under Church History
It is Dangerous to be Right When the Government is Wrong!
Don Boys, Ph.D.
Few statements by Bible hater Voltaire are worth repeating but this one is worthwhile: “It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong!” People have lost their jobs, been fined, and placed in prison because they dared to tell the truth about their government. There is a big difference in your country and the ruling party. However, principled people have no choice but to tell the truth and accept the consequences.
It is the responsibility of all thinking, honest people to stand against those who want to do them harm or imprison them! Or simply to steal some of their freedom “for their own sake” of course. I am not blaming Obama and his czars for seeking to rule since that is what wicked men have always tried to do to lazy, listless, and languid people. I am blaming those who so quickly submitted to his rule with very little or no protest. There are still Christians who defend voting for Obama!
I resist, I reject, and I refuse to keep quiet. I will not whimper my objections lying in a fetal position in a semi-dark bedroom but will scream them, almost incoherently, from a mountain top or more precisely from my computer, radio and television, church pulpit, magazines, and street corner if necessary. Obviously, I’m a little appalled, agitated, and angry.
George Orwell said, “In times of universal deceit, telling the truth will be a revolutionary act.” George was right!
America has been stolen from us by the public school system, the media, Hollywood lowlifes, academia, and Liberal politicians. Because lies have been told so often, for so long, and in such enormity, our enemy is perceived as correct and exemplary while common, calm, and cautious people are thought to be corrupt and extremists!
It is shocking that so many people think it is wrong to speak out against their government when that is exactly what all patriots should be doing. It is not disloyal to criticize your president. An informed, indignant, and impatient patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government. Theodore Roosevelt said, “That we are to stand by the president, right or wrong is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.” That’s one Roosevelt who was right.
My government is wrong and I am right about welfare. How can any thinking person defend, let alone promote, taking money from the rich and giving it to the poor? However, Obama, socialistic Democrats, and RINOs make that argument without shame or apology. Obama seems to think he is the Sheriff of Nottingham one day and Robin Hood the next day. Of course, the Sheriff was a tyrant and Robin was a thief. Obama is more like the winsome “Thief of Bagdad,” who somehow conjured, cheated, and cajoled enough people to elect him President of the United States. Maybe we will all wake up, rub our eyes, stretch, then realize that it has all been a bad dream or, more appropriately, a bone-chilling nightmare!
How can principled people permit government to continue taking care of them into eternity? Don’t they have any self-respect, ambition, or character? It is difficult to justify even a temporary handout but a perpetual handout that is thought to be deserved is shocking, shameless, and stupid. It is time to stop taking from the producers and giving to the parasites. To continue is illegal, insane, and insipid. If government continues to take from Peter to give to Paul, it can always expect Paul to be its supporter. My name is “Peter” and I want Obama’s hand out of my back pocket.
We have lived so long with the butchering of innocent babies that even Christians are insensitive to the slaughter. Yet “normal” people defend that sinful act as if it is noble, if not nice. The sin/crime is compounded by forcing taxpayers to fund the killings! Obama even voted against a bill to protect the life of aborted babies that somehow managed to live. Moreover, his wife lobbied for a partial birth abortion bill! Pharaoh of Egypt waited until after the babies were born to butcher them!
We are told that perversion is now legal, even respectable. You can call perversion (sodomy) by any name you want but it is still abnormal, aberrant, and abominable. You can put lipstick, rouge, and eye shadow on a dirty hog, but it is still a dirty hog–and sane, honest people can see what it is. By declaring that it is a dirty, fat, gross hog, does not mean we hate the hog. No, we simply see before us a dirty, fat, gross hog and calling it something else changes nothing. It only makes the “hogs are beautiful” crowd look silly, blind, or dishonest. Maybe all three!
Now we are told that homosexuals not only have a right to sleep together but we must respect and appreciate their “many contributions” to society (such as AIDS?). Of course, they demand the “right” to get married, (don’t expect a wedding gift from me) adopt children, join our churches (without repentance), teach our children and be accepted as normal people. No, not as long as Christian people exist, but then that could change also with the lack of commitment of modern Christians.
If Obama has the power to make you believe in absurdities such as welfare, abortion, and sodomy, he has the power to justify and force you to believe and agree to anything. However, Christians don’t permit government to decide what is right; that is God’s decision as expressed in the scriptures.
We must never confuse principled disagreement with government policies, people, and programs with pernicious disloyalty to your country. The first should be promoted and the second prosecuted. Whatever the result, I will decide, not anyone else, what is right for me and if the government is wrong, I will tell them they are–whatever the result.
(Dr. Don Boys is a former member of the Indiana House of Representatives, author of 14 books, frequent guest on television and radio talk shows, and wrote columns for USA Today for 8 years. Three years ago, the second edition of ISLAM: America’s Trojan Horse! was published, and his new eBook, The God Haters isavailable for $9.99 from http://www.thegodhaters.com. These columns go to newspapers, magazines, television, and radio stations. His other web sites are http://www.cstnews.com and http://www.Muslimfact.com. Contact Don for an interview or talk show.)
Copyright 2012, Don Boys, Ph.D.
360 – Dec. 26 – THIS DAY IN BAPTIST HISTORY PAST
“…they have increased their number above all sects in the land.”
December 26, 1646 – The Presbyterian Parliament in England under Cromwell passed an ordinance that called for severe penalties against anyone who would “preach or expound the scriptures in any church, or any other public place, except they may be ordained, either here or some other reformed church, as it is already prohibited in both houses of the 26th of April, 1645, and likewise against all such ministers, or others, as shall publish or maintain, by preaching, or writing or any other way, anything against, or in derogation of church government which is now established by authority of both houses of parliament.” It went on to tell how the authorities were to enforce and punish the offenders. The persecutions were directed mainly against the Baptists because they denied the necessity of infant baptism. Almost every prominent Baptist preacher was sooner or later committed to prison. The troubled times of the civil war gave the Baptists in England an opportunity for real growth. Robert Baillie, one of their enemies said, “…they have increased their number above all sects in the land. They have 46 churches in and about London. They are a people very fond of religious liberty, and very unwilling to be brought under bondage of the judgment of any other.” The Baptists joined in great numbers to Cromwell’s army. Many officers were accustomed to preaching, and both commanders and privates were continually searching the scriptures and praying in meetings. Because of this, many more became Baptists. One of the distinguished leaders, Major General Harrison was a Baptist. Cromwell had him thrown into prison when Harrison became disenchanted with Cromwell’s commitment to liberty. Baptists soon realized that the Parliamentary Party was not a real friend to the Baptists.
Dr. Greg J. Dixon from: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I: Cummins Thompson /, pp. 541-42.
Filed under Church History
359 – Dec. 25 – THIS DAY IN BAPTIST HISTORY PAST
December 25, 1821 – William Ashmore was born in Putnam, Ohio. He graduated from Granville College and took his theological training in the Covington Theological Institution in Kentucky. In 1848 he was ordained by the Baptist church in Hamilton, Ohio, and became pastor of that church. After applying for missionary service in China, Ashmore was appointed the following year and sailed on August 17, 1850, for the field. He arrived at Hong Kong on Jan. 4, 1851, and at Bangkok on April 14. Applying himself to the language, he was soon able to work among the people and continued his labors there until 1858, when he transferred to Hong Kong. His wife’s health failed at that time and she sailed for America in May of that year, but died at sea off of the Cape of Good Hope, and was buried at sea. Two years later Ashmores ill health compelled him to return to the States. Upon recovering, he returned in 1864 to China with his second wife. They went to Kak-Chie and were successful in 1870 in teaching the indigenous policy that he had developed. He held that the primary need was not for “mission stations” and “professional missionaries,” such as professors and writers, but for evangelists and church planters. Two national missionaries were sent out to be supported by the funds raised in the church that Dr. Ashmore led. That church with 142 members, paid almost all the expenses of their own two countrymen. The poor heath of Mrs. Ashmore caused them to return to America in 1875, but they went back in 1877. They were delighted to find the church in good condition with growing influence. Dr. Ashmore had translated four portions of the N.T. into the language of the common people. His son, William Ashmore, Jr. continued his ministry after his death.
Dr. Greg J. Dixon from: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I: Cummins Thompson /, pp. 539-40.
Filed under Church History
358 – Dec. 24 – THIS DAY IN BAPTIST HISTORY PAST
December 24, 1912 – Death came to the frail servant of Christ, Lottie Moon, on Christmas Eve aboard ship in the harbor of Kobe, Japan. A simple monument is to be found in the cemetery of her home church near Crewe, Virginia. This little woman who stood barely above 4’ stands as tall as any missionary ever sent out by the Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, and to this day is their most famous missionary, having served in China for nearly 40 years. She was born in Albermarle County, Virginia, on Dec. 12, 1840 and had a broad educational background. She was also trained in the Female Seminary and the Albermarle Female Institute. She proved to be adept in several languages. She had no interest in the things of God until her conversion under the ministry of John Albert Broadus, pastor at Charlottesville, VA in 1859. In 1873 Lottie heard a challenge from the text, “Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.” Miss Moon volunteered for service in China. She was appointed by the Foreign Mission Board on July 7, 1873. She had also considered marriage to Crawford H. Foy. Years later she explained that she had passed up the love of her life because of “doctrinal conflicts”, and that “God had first claim on her life.” Miss Moon is best remembered because of her suggestion in 1887 that Southern Baptist Women institute a week of prayer and sacrificial offering for foreign missions in connection with Christmas. This money was to assist in sending reinforcements for the work. In 1918 the annual offering was named the “Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for Foreign Missions.” The Boxer Rebellion took a heavy toll on Lottie as she sacrificed her own food during the time of famine. No doubt all of this hastened her death.
Dr. Greg J. Dixon from: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I: Cummins Thompson /, pp. 537-39.
Filed under Church History
In Spirit and In Truth The Word 