WSOCTV.com:

“Nowhere in the Bible does it tell us that we should not protect individuals,” Rev. Don Stewart said.

[ … ]

It’s a decision the church said it wrestled with

[ … ]

Former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker said the chaos of an active shooter situation would be tough for an officer, let alone for a civilian, to deal with.

“I’m not a big fan of having private people inside churches or schools that are armed simply because first responders will not know who is the bad guy and who is the good guy,” Swecker said.

This is a remarkable and sad tale on the state of affairs within the Christian community, but also a recapitulation of what we already know about law enforcement.

First of all, if the church “wrestled” with this decision, the church has a poor teacher.  Framing this as being allowed to do something not expressly forbidden in the Scriptures is wrongheaded way to look at it, and theologically ignorant.

We’ve discussed this many times before, but it bears repeating.

The Holy writ is a unity, with Christ as the scarlet thread running throughout.  The words of the O.T. are no more in contradiction with Christ than the balance of the N.T.  There is progressive revelation and development of the covenant, but there isn’t any embarrassing contradiction.  We needn’t turn to obscure passages or tangential concerns to justify Biblical self defense.  As we’ve noted before, the basis for it is found in the Decalogue.

I am afraid there have been too many centuries of bad teaching endured by the church, but it makes sense to keep trying.  As I’ve explained before, the simplest and most compelling case for self defense lies in the decalogue.  Thou shall not murder means thou shall protect life.

God’s law requires [us] to be able to defend the children and helpless.  “Relying on Matthew Henry, John Calvin and the Westminster standards, we’ve observed that all Biblical law forbids the contrary of what it enjoins, and enjoins the contrary of what it forbids.”  I’ve tried to put this in the most visceral terms I can find.

God has laid the expectations at the feet of heads of families that they protect, provide for and defend their families and protect and defend their countries.  Little ones cannot do so, and rely solely on those who bore them.  God no more loves the willing neglect of their safety than He loves child abuse.  He no more appreciates the willingness to ignore the sanctity of our own lives than He approves of the abuse of our own bodies and souls.  God hasn’t called us to save the society by sacrificing our children or ourselves to robbers, home invaders, rapists or murderers. Self defense – and defense of the little ones – goes well beyond a right.  It is a duty based on the idea that man is made in God’s image.  It is His expectation that we do the utmost to preserve and defend ourselves when in danger, for it is He who is sovereign and who gives life, and He doesn’t expect us to be dismissive or cavalier about its loss.

And concerning John Calvin’s comments on this subject:

We do not need to prove that when a good thing is commanded, the evil thing that conflicts with it is forbidden.  There is no one who doesn’t concede this.  That the opposite duties are enjoined when evil things are forbidden will also be willingly admitted in common judgment.  Indeed, it is commonplace that when virtues are commended, their opposing vices are condemned.  But we demand something more than what these phrases commonly signify.  For by the virtue of contrary to the vice, men usually mean abstinence from that vice.  We say that the virtue goes beyond this to contrary duties and deeds.  Therefore in this commandment, “You shall not kill,” men’s common sense will see only that we must abstain from wronging anyone or desiring to do so.  Besides this, it contains, I say, the requirement that we give our neighbor’s life all the help we can … the purpose of the commandment always discloses to us whatever it there enjoins or forbids us to do” (Institutes of the Christian Religion, Vol. 1, Book 2, Chapter viii, Part 9).

If you’re willing to sacrifice the safety and health of your wife or children to the evils of abuse, kidnapping, sexual predation or death, God isn’t impressed with your fake morality.  Capable of stopping it and choosing not to, you’re no better than a child molester, and I wouldn’t allow you even to be around my grandchildren.

It’s not that the Scriptures don’t expressly forbid self defense, but rather, they command it on your behalf and on behalf of those who cannot do so themselves.  It is an ordinance from the Almighty.  This is true whether the state approves of your self defense or not.

As for Former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker, he is an evil man.  His position is that for no other reason than potential confusion among respondents to the crisis, he opposes self defense.  He’d rather see dead bodies and have Hazmat on the scene to clean up the blood than see confused LEOs when they get to the scene of a shooting.

It takes a special kind of hardness of heart to say such a thing.  He will suffer for this belief one day, but until then, ignore and even avoid such men.  They are dangerous and deadly wherever they go, whatever they do.