GUNS

From the beginning of this nation, guns have been an important instrument in the struggle for freedom, a freedom that is secure only in preservation of liberty and justice for all citizens. The Second Amendment provides citizens rights to bare arms. However, that does not substitute legal enforcement of laws by sworn authorized personal replaced by armed individuals, militia or posses. 

The National Rifle Association, supported mostly by conservatives, seems to believe that at some future time, guns will be needed to protect Americans from each other.  They want to make sure they are well fortified for that battle. The claim that weapons must be available for hunters can not be validated by demanding weapons designed for military conflict should be available to meet the standard of the 2nd Amendment. The framers of the constitution faced dangers of many kind in their daily lives. The muskets they used to win the Revolutionary War must now be used to protect their families. On the frontier, this gun may have been the only weapon to protect against wild animals and prowling Indians. Therefore, the right to keep and bear arms, was not infringed.

Those who support guns may believe stockpiling may assist them in a foreign invasion, but shot guns and automatic weapons in our home are no match for nuclear,  which might be the weapon to fear for the next war.  They may be preparing for next war at home.  Remember, we had a war like that. It was called “Civil War”...brother against brother. Could this really happen again in America? Think about it!

There are some individuals in the majority population who believe their right to be on top, number 1, the best, the head, has been compromised by the election of a Negro President. The people in this class will never accept him as the legitimate head of this nation and the most powerful man in the world is their boss.  Thank God, these people are few in number but the fuss they make is heard around the world. President Obama in the most vetted president in the history of this nation. Questions of his scholarship, citizenship and accomplishments are matters of public discussions each day. Opposition to his presidency comes from every area of society...Media-Fox news, Entertainers-recent Country / Western remarks encouraging assignation, Religion-Southern Baptist Dr. Richard Land’s suggesting the president’s comments on the Trayvon case is stirring racism. I know many Southern Baptist are great Christians but Dr. Land should remember the history of his church’s position on slavery and racism.

Guns and Negroes have been news in Clarksville. Many years ago when I was president of the NAACP, the chief of police published a statement because of many unresolved crimes that local police had been ordered to “shoot to kill.”  Protest from the NAACP caused that order to be canceled.  Clarksville was also rocked with the police shooting of a soldier in his back. City, county and military police officers surrounded the motel but he was shot in the back while jumping from the second floor of and could have been arrested by the officers on the ground. All parties arrested in this killing were exonerated   Guns, in the hand of police or criminals will continue to be a problem in America.

CONSERVATIVE AFRICAN AMERICAN PASTORS AND OBAMA

I am an African American, I am a pastor, and I am a citizen of two worlds. I have already stated in a former opinion letter that I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. On Monday July 2^nd, a party of 20 conservative African American pastors, headed by a Rev. William Owens, held a news conference in Nashville to express concern for President Obama’s approval of same sex marriage.  

According to the report, the group’s statement suggested that unless the President changed his decision, Owens’ group will ask their members to withhold support from President Obama. I do not know this Rev. Owens but he claims to have been involved in the Civil Rights movement.

I am sure there are many pastors and citizens who disagree with the decision of the president just as I and Rev. Owens disagree. And Rev. Owens and his group have every right to express themselves in whatever way they choose. I recognize that as a Christian, I am a citizen of two worlds. As a citizen of the U S A, I am bound by a constitution and laws of the Republic. As a Christian, I am bound by the Holy Bible. While Romans 13 advises me to be subject to authority, if there is conflict between God’s law and the state’s law, it is the Bible from which I take my directions. We should realize that President Obama’s decision is personal. He is president not pastor of the USA.

If Rev. Owens  suggest  that his members stay away from the polls, he will void any work he’s done in name of Civil Rights. If a single issue will stop anyone from voting their choice…not to vote is a proxy vote for their opposition. Consider the following statement from Pastor Otis Moss, Sr. “Our Ancestors prayer for 389 year to place a person of color in the White House. They led over 200 slave revolts, fought in 11 wars and over 600,000 people died in the Civil War. Our mothers fought and were killed for women’s suffrage, our grandparents were lynched for the civil rights bill of 1964 and the voting rights
act of 1965.

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