Jesus Christ And The Right To Keep And Bear Arms

What does Jesus Christ and his authorized prophets believe about the right to keep and bear arms? Consider these passages:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. (US Declaration of Independence. 1776)

We are all born with a right from our Creator to life and liberty.  Because we have a God-given right to life, we also have a right of self-defense.

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A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. (Constitution of the United States of America, Bill of Rights, Amendment II)

Because arms are essential for defending our lives, we have a right to bear arms.

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And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood. (Jesus Christ as recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 101:80)

Here our Savior Jesus Christ who gave us these rights of self-defense and bearing arms tells us that he inspired the Constitution and Bill of Rights which guarantee those rights.

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I am hereby resolved that under no circumstances shall the freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights be infringed. In particular I am opposed to any attempt on the part of the federal government to deny the people their right to bear arms, to worship, and to pray when and where they choose, or to own and control private property. (Ezra Taft Benson, a prophet of God. The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 617)

And here an authorized prophet of Jesus Christ tell us the government must not deny these rights to us, his children.

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Others have a different opinion. Of course. Satan rages in the hearts of men in these last days. They value their own opinions above those of the Lord. All they can do is protest and state their contrary opinion.  But the truth cannot be successfully refuted.

Jesus Christ: The God of Battles Not Mr. Rogers

Gentle Jesus, Meek and Mild. Some saints and many traditional Christians have this view of Christ. But if we are to know God [Jesus Christ], we must know all sides of his personality.  We must know him to become like him.  And that is the main purpose of our existence. We cannot know him if we have in our minds a distorted, superficial understanding of the Savior’s character and personality. Jesus Christ is not like Mr. Rogers who for many years talked down to the children in his audience and taught them in patronizing, weak, insipid, mild, soft and schmaltzy words. Rogers wore soft, fuzzy cardigan sweaters. The Savior did not.

There is a hard, warlike side to Jesus. And we cannot know him unless we understand that along with his kindness and gentleness he was a man of war. Both are part of his personality and character.

Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote this in his book, Mormon Doctrine:

Christ is the God of Battles. (D. & C. 98:23-48; 105:14.) Anciently he commanded his people to engage in righteous wars (Ex. 23:27-33; 1 Sam. 15:2-3), and whenever they were so engaged, he was entreated of them and fought their battles. (1 Chron. 5:20; 2 Chron. 20:15; 32:7-8.) The whole Nephite history is one of the Lord giving frequent direction to them in their battles, whenever they sought such guidance in faith. In the day of his Second Coming the promise is that he again will fight the battles of his saints, “as when he fought in the day of battle.” (Zech. 14:1-5; Ezek. 38; 39; Zeph. 3:8.) Despite the false sensitivities of those who cannot conceive of the meek and lowly Nazarene as a Man of War (Ex. 15:3), yet the inspired answer to the query: Who is the King of Glory? is, “The Lord strong and mighty, and Lord mighty in battle.” (Ps. 24:8.)

Sometimes a man or woman prefers to think of Jesus as Mr. Nice Guy because he hopes to inherit eternal life and avoid spirit prison in the next life without being required to repent of their sins.  They do err.  They have not read the scriptures, or if they have, they did not understand them.  Yes, he is the God of love, kind, gentle, forgiving, and merciful.  But he is also fierce towards his enemies and full of wrath toward those who rebel against him by refusing to follow him and repent of their sins.  Mercy cannot rob justice.

Since the Fall of Adam, Satan has been loose in the world, performing his duty as a tempter and deceiver.  For that reason there has been wickedness in the world from the beginning, and wicked men who cause that wickedness.   These men will be damned if they don’t repent, just as we will if we don’t repent.  How great is God’s punishment of the wicked if they refuse to repent?  Consider this passage from the 63rd chapter of Isaiah and see if you can find any of the qualities of Mr. Rogers there:

2 Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat?

3 I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment.

What does this passage mean? Similar language inspired by these words of Isaiah are part of that great hymn, The Battle Hymn of the Republic.

Who drowned the whole world except for Noah and his family?  God did.  And God is Jehovah also known as Jesus Christ.  What did the Savior do at the beginning of his brief visit to his covenant people in ancient America?  He burned cities, buried them up in the earth, caused cities to be swallowed up in the ocean.  All these things he takes personal credit for as he explains them in the Book of Mormon.

No the Savior is not Mr. Rogers or anything like him.  He is kind, gentle, wrathful and terrifying toward his enemies.  He is the God of Battles.

The devil made me do it!

I know that is false doctrine.  The devil cannot make us do anything without our consent.  But the phrase perfectly describes my feelings when I am being mischievous.  One of the things I like to do is trick my fellow bloggers and those I hang out with on email discussion lists.  I find a scriptural verse or several that teach a true principle.  Then I paraphrase it so that it is no longer recognizable as scripture while staying as close as possible to the intent or meaning.  Finally, I post it in blog comments, in a post here on the Iron Rod, or send it to one of the email discussion lists, and I post it as my personal opinion.  Then I sit back and see who agrees and who disagrees.  It is informal test to see if the reader can recognize truth when he sees it.

This actually does not always tell me who does and does not believe the scriptures.  There are too many argumentative know-it-alls on the Internet who would take issue with anything that I or anyone else posted online even if they knew it was true.  Others who know and dislike me would take issue with the “opinion” just because I said it.  Were I to say, “Grass is green, and the sky is blue,” they would point out that sometimes grass is brown and the sky is gray.  Were I to say, “Trees are taller than grass,” they would point out that a Japanese bonsai tree is shorter than bamboo, a type of grass.  Some people just cannot stand agreeing with me.  Others cannot stand agreeing with anyone.

Yes, I know that the devil does not make me do this, but I am mischievous online from time to time.

Spiritual Wickedness In High Places

In my last post I reviewed some of what the prophets have taught about “churches” and the fact that ultimately there are only two: the church of Jesus Christ, and the church of the devil. Today, I would like to add what I consider to be a related scripture from the New Testament. I think it is especially pertinent today because of the primary campaigns being waged here in the USA by both the Republicans and the Democrats who are vying for the office of President of the United States.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:12)

This is the Apostle Paul, of course. But what was he writing about, and how is it relevant to our day? Is it relevant? On the official Church website, this verse is cross referenced in the Topical Guide to Darkness, Spiritual; Secret Combinations, Governments, and Wickedness among others. Does Paul imply by this that governments are or can be a threat to the gospel of Jesus Christ? Is the Church in danger from such threats around the world? How about here at home? What can we learn from Church History? I personally feel it likely that our national elections are very much influenced by the machinations of evil men combined to get power over the people. What to do about it is much less clear to me. But I am weary of our elected leaders obviously serving someone else rather than those who voted for them and put them in office.

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