the rix mix

Pastor invites flock to bring guns to church

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Ken Pagano, the pastor of the New Bethel Church here, is passionate about gun rights. He shoots regularly at the local firing range, and his sermon two weeks ago was on “God, Guns, Gospel and Geometry.” And on Saturday night, he is inviting his congregation of 150 and others to wear or carry their firearms into the sanctuary to “celebrate our rights as Americans!” as a promotional flier for the “open carry celebration” puts it.

“God and guns were part of the foundation of this country,” Mr. Pagano, 49, said Wednesday in the small brick Assembly of God church, where a large wooden cross hung over the altar and two American flags jutted from side walls. “I don’t see any contradiction in this. Not every Christian denomination is pacifist.”

Ironically, the Assemblies of God grew out of a movement that had a strong, if nondoctrinal, antiwar sentiment among rural adherents, & which has produced many wartime conscientious objectors; young men who saw a great difference between carrying a gun to hunt animals & using a gun to kill people.

The Methodist circuit preacher packing a Bible & a pistol & bringing Jesus & civilization to the frontier is an old story for Sunday school kids. Most American protestants don't think guns belong in church even if they support the right to carry guns to church. What's surprising, maybe, is how few pastors there are like Pagano. In a competitive market for conservative churches, he's desperate to put more people in his pews. Look around, you can find a church for every kind of bullshit. A few years ago, a local preacher pressured all the men & boys in his congregation to wear army fatigues to church one Sunday to show they were Soldiers for Christ. That was a predominantly Black evangelical church. I was a new blogger & criticised it, & it was one of the few times my blog generated a lot of angry comments (& an e mail from the assistant pastor) defending the practice. If folks would rather be sheep than shepherds, they'll be herded & usually shorn of their money. Cynically, I figured the pastor recommended exactly where to purchase the fatigues, or had his own supply he was glad to sell his "soldiers."

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