It’s hard enough standing against the onslaught of progressives intent on running roughshod over the Constitution. Idiot gun owners who are nonsensically tone deaf don’t help matters. Case in point: a church in Pennsylvania held a commitment ceremony that included AR-15 rifles.
CBS Pittsburg reveals some of the sad details: “Crown-wearing worshippers clutching AR-15 rifles drank holy wine and exchanged or renewed wedding vows in a commitment ceremony at a Pennsylvania church on Wednesday, prompting a nearby school to cancel classes.”
The “church” is a breakaway church of the Unification Church, which was founded by Sun Myung Moon, many consider the Unification Church—whose members are sometimes called “Moonies”—a cult. Pennsylvania’s World Peace and Unification Sanctuary is pastored by Sean Moon, who is the son of the late Sun Myung Moon. Despite the connection, the larger Unification Church decried the event. When a cult thinks you’re weird, some soul-searching is in order.
CBS Pittsburg explained further:
The church, which has a worldwide following, believes the AR-15 symbolizes the “rod of iron” in the book of Revelation, and encouraged couples to bring the weapons. … The Rev. Sean Moon, who leads the church, prayed for “a kingdom of peace police and peace militia where the citizens, through the right given to them by almighty God to keep and bear arms, will be able to protect one another and protect human flourishing.”
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Tim Elder, Unification Sanctuary’s director of world missions, told worshippers the ceremony was meant to be a blessing of couples, not “inanimate objects,” calling the AR-15 a “religious accoutrement.” The church has held at least one other ceremony featuring assault-style rifles.
Some common sense prevailed, though, and the guns were checked at the entrance to make sure that they were unloaded and zip-tied in a secure manner. Understandably, protestors were not placated by the “church’s” eye towards safety.
“It’s scaring people in the community,” one protester told a church member. “Are you aware of that?”
The ceremony prompted Wallenpaupack Area School District to move students at an elementary school down the street to other campuses.
Lisa Desiena, from Scranton, protested outside the church with a sign that called the group an “armed religious cult.” She said she owns a gun, but “I don’t need a freaking assault weapon to defend myself. Only thing they’re good for is killing. Period. That’s all that weapon is good for, mass killing. And you want to bless it? Shame on you.”
But Sreymom Ouk, 41, who attended the ceremony with her husband, Sort Ouk, and came with their AR-15, said the weapon is useful for defending her family against “sickos and evil psychopaths. People have the right to bear arms, and in God’s kingdom, you have to protect that,” she said. “You have to protect against evil.”
It’s not necessary to take sides in the specifics of the argument between the protestors and the “church” members to recognize that this was a bad idea. Churches have been entrusted with the final solution for violence and hatred—the gospel of Jesus Christ. Doing anything that distracts from the preaching of the gospel is a betrayal of why Jesus instituted his Church. This Pennsylvania “church” is simply providing more ammunition for critics who claim that churches are more interested in politics than in the gospel.
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