DYING BY THE GUN AT LIBERTY U

“Put your sword back in its place, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.” ~Jesus of Nazareth

For centuries, scholars and theologians have debated the meaning behind Jesus’ statement to one of his companions who drew a sword and cut off a man’s ear when Jesus was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane. Did Jesus mean that his followers should refuse to take up arms or go to war, or was he simply telling one companion that now was not the time for violent resistance? The earliest Christian communities placed their faith in the former interpretation, but following the creation of the Holy Roman Empire in 313 A.D. by the Roman Emperor Constantine, Christ’s admonition has been steadily downgraded in status to that of a feel-good platitude with little application in a war-ravaged world. So far as the 21st Century is concerned, it seems like only the Amish find it relevant.

Last month, Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University, a self-proclaimed Christian University in Lynchburg, Virginia, amended its school policy to permit the carrying of concealed firearms on campus, including while in class, in student dorms and during church services. According to a statement issued by President Falwell to the press, the university's change in policy occurred at the behest of a significant number of students. Nine hundred and fifty of them have since secured permits to carry weapons on campus. That could make Liberty University the most heavily armed campus in America!

To be honest, I didn’t know that Liberty University was such a hotbed of criminal activity that the students attending that institution felt the need to protect themselves with firearms. It just goes to show that you can’t judge a book by its cover. Still, I would have thought that Divine protection or a well-trained campus police force was sufficient to handle any problems that might arise, but I guess I misjudged the power of Divine protection or the availability of good security personnel in the mountains of Virginia.

Years ago, my son attended the Virginia School of the Arts in Lynchburg and he didn’t experience any problems with violence on his campus, but admittedly that was a secular school without a high concentration of Christian students itching for a gunfight. Oh, there were plenty of Christians attending V.S.A., but they were singing and dancing and doing the kinds of things that artsy Christian students do. They just didn’t pack heat while doing so.

I get the fact that our Second Amendment has become the golden calf of American conservatives, but I figured that a university that calls itself a citadel of Christian thought and values would have had the moral strength to avoid falling under a metal firearm’s godless spell. I guess I was wrong. Apparently, nobody there realizes that all who draw the gun will die by the gun. Don’t quote me. Quote Jesus!