Evangelical Preacher Rob Schenck’s Road Away from Damascus Moment on Gun Control

By Robert Farago

“For most of my adult life . . . I believed that we had a God-given right to defend ourselves,” evengeliical pastor Rob Schenck writes at washingtonpost.com. “I also believed that the Second Amendment guarantees a right to bear arms, and that anyone should be able to obtain a gun.” Awesome. Can we go home now? Apparently not . . .

Then, I saw the after-effects of gun violence firsthand. In Pennsylvania, I visited the families of five murdered Amish schoolgirls, as well as the family of the shooter. And I watched as a mass shooting unfolded at the Washington Navy Yard, across from where I lived at the time. These experiences, followed by careful theological and moral reflection, left me convinced that my family of faith is wrong on guns.

Oy vey. I find it disappointing that a man of the cloth can’t confront evil without losing his belief in our “God-given right to defend ourselves” – by whatever means necessary. Shouldn’t his experiences with the after-effects of violence reaffirm his belief in that right? It should. But Pastor Schenck is plagued by prevarication.

I disagree with my community’s wholesale embrace of the idea that anyone should be able …Read the Rest

Source:: Truth About Guns