Arm thy neighbor campaign, guns for Jesus.

[marylander1940]

When Christians sounds just like fundamentalist Muslims!

 

[+ Robster]

Praise the lord and pass the ammunition.

[marylander1940]

http://40.media.tumblr.com/8635840f96b05be8d44102e86f0b33c4/tumblr_ml2oiibpnQ1rdwnd7o1_400.jpg http://wonkette.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/santa-guns-arizona.jpg http://images1.westword.com/imager/reader-gun-nuts-who-think-americas-tryin/u/original/6536743/shooters.grill.facebook.3_thumb_565x300.jpg http://www.guns.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/joburg2.jpg

[rvwnsd]

We could send 'em to fight ISIL.

[mike carey]

Marylander, what could possibly go wrong?!?

 

We could send 'em to fight ISIL.

 

That could be a win-win outcome. Bring forward the battle of Dabiq.

[Boink]

Sometimes when I visit my beloved elderly aunt back in my hometown, I'll escort her to (Presbyterian) church service on Sunday for no other reason than respect and love for her. Sometimes I expect the sky to split with thunder and lightning, so infrequent is the event of me crossing the threshold of a church. But, when in Rome...

 

The church has 'modernized' through the years - one noticeable change to me is their ability to now project the words to the endless hymns they sing on the walls so one can sing along more easily. What stands out to me is how militant and violent many of these old-timey hymns are. Songs I've heard since childhood but never really comprehended then. So many dealing with recruiting and battles and vengeance and blood of Jesus. "Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war..." And what strikes me as funny and sad is that these songs are being 'sung' by a dwindling congregation of elderly, gray-haired, sweet little old (mostly) ladies who can now barely stay awake. They've sat in the same seats in the same pews, spewing out the same hymns-by-rote their entire lives. Makes me wonder if they've ever really paid attention to the divisive, violent rhetoric these songs advocate.

[mike carey]

So many dealing with recruiting and battles and vengeance and blood of Jesus. "Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war..."

I would say that as is the key word. They are not saying that it is a war, rather that the church militant treats its struggle with the same seriousness as one would treat a war. The hymn says marching as to war not marching to war. Some Christians would say the two are the same but I suspect most would not.

[AdamSmith]

The original purpose of 'Onward Christian Soldiers' was to stir some life into sleepy English choirboys.

 

The lyric was written as a processional hymn for children walking from Horbury Bridge, where Baring-Gould was curate, to Horbury St Peter's Church near Wakefield, Yorkshire, at Whitsuntide in 1865. It was originally entitled, "Hymn for Procession with Cross and Banners."[4] According to the Center for Church Music, Baring-Gould reportedly wrote "Onward, Christian Soldiers" in about 15 minutes, later apologizing, "It was written in great haste, and I am afraid that some of the lines are faulty."[5]

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onward,_Christian_Soldiers